:^.\ 


X        J 


^  \  ?P)>-/ 


Ex  ICtbrtfi 


SEYMOUR    DURST 


-t '  Tert  ntnuif    ^rtOftrJem.  eji  Je  Heniatant 


t&KC    M8W   AMeTSKBAM,, 


(MSW  VeRK)  ,     I6jt 


S' 


TI'fj^H  yoM  jgdue,  please  le^u^  Ibis  t?oole 

"fu^r'tbiM^  comf5 1'  bi'w  wbo  m;<ii(5 
£xcept  a  haw^d  hook." 


x^ 


S 


;|^ 


\s 


% 


IVV. 


piM. 


xs 


:  1 


/ 


%«Sft.« 


l..«?''« 


p> 


..r^i^ii 


i< 


\i 


^j^^ 


rw 


>^^ 


r; 


^^'^ 


k 


^m 


r^Jft^ 


y 


\ 


\\ 


^5HI 


(1^ 


V 


N 


N  «>< 


y/ 


4",   — 


Avery  Architectural  and  Fine  Arts  Library- 
Gift  OF  Seymour  B.  Durst  Old  York  Library 


UNIVERSITIES 


AND 


THEIR  SONS 


UNIVERSITIES  AND  THEIR  SONS 


NEW   YORK 
UNIVERSITY 

ITS  HISTORY,  INFLUENCE,  EQUIPMENT  AND 

CHARACTERISTICS 

WITH 

BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES  AND    PORTRAITS    OF    FOUNDERS, 
BENEFACTORS,  OFFICERS    AND    ALUMNI 


EDITOR-IN-CHIEF 

GENERAL   JOSHUA    L.    CHAMBERLAIN,   LL.D. 

KX-PRi;SIDKNT   OF    HOWDOIN    (.OLLfeGt    AND    KX-GUVKKNOR   OK    MAINK 


SPECIAL    EDITORS 

Appro-ved  by   Authorities  of  the    University 

HISTORICAL 

BIOGRAPHICAL 

HENRY    M.    MacCRACKEN,    D.D.,    LL.D. 
PROFESSOR  ERNEST    G.   SIHLER,   Ph.D. 

WILLIS  FLETCHER  JOHNSON,  A.M.,  L.H.D. 

Class  or  '-9                           Member   of    the    UstvERsiTY   CoiNCiL 

INrRODUCriON  BT 
HON.   WILLIAM   T.   HARRIS,   Ph.D.,  LL.D. 

UNITED    STAI'KS    COMMISSIONER    OK    EDICAIION 


ILLUSTRATED 


BOSTON 

R.    HERNDON    COMPANY 

1901 


w 


Copyright,  igOI ,  by 
R.    HERNDON    COMPJNT 


Typography  iy  C.  y.  Peters  &^  Son 

Presswork  by  University  Press 
Cambridge,  U.  S.  A. 


CONTENTS 


PUBLISHERS'   PREFACE vii-viii 

PART  I -HISTORICAL 

HIGHER   EDUCATION    IN    THE    UNITED   STATES     .     .        3-21 

By   Hon.  WILLIAM    T.   HARRIS,   I'm. I).,  LL.D. 

UNIVERSITIES    OF    LEARNING 23-42 

By   JOSHUA    L.  CHAMBERLAIN,  LL.D. 

NEW    YORK    UNIVERSITY 43  -  2C6 

By   Chancellor    HENRY   M.    MacCRACKEN,    D.U.,  LL.D. 
Professor    ERNEST   G.    SIHI.ER,    Pii.D. 

PART   II -BIOGRAPHICAL 

INTRODUCTION iii-vi 

By   the    EDITOR-IN-CHIEF 

FOUNDERS.    OFFICERS    AND    BENEFACTORS    .     .     .     .     1-227 
Edited  by    WILLIS   FLETCHER   JOHNSON,   A.M.,    L.H.D. 


INDEXES 

General   Index,    Part   I 
Indkx  of  Subjects,   Part   I 
List  of  Illustrations,    Part   I 
Biographical   Subjects,    Part    II 


The  Concord,  Washington,  D.  C,  April  i,  1897. 
R.  Herndon  Company, 

Sirs,  —  Your  plan  for  "  Universities  and  their  Sons "  greatly  interests  me.  An 
effort  was  made  by  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Education  in  preparing  for  the 
exhibition  at  the  Centennial  in  Philadelphia  to  arouse  among  these  institutions  an 
interest  in  their  own  history  and  in  the  work  accomplished  by  their  alumni ;  plans 
were  carefully  prepared  and  circulars  issued,  and  gentlemen  specially  qualified  were 
employed  to  visit  and  confer  with  trustees  and  faculties  of  a  considerable  number 
of  institutions.  This  effort,  in  connection  with  that  previously  made,  to  make  such 
study  of  the  lives  of  the  alumni  as  would  enable  us  to  find  the  true  value  of  this 
grade  of  instruction,  brought  out  surprising  deficiencies  in  the  records  of  many 
institutions.  Some  had  no  complete  set  of  their  catalogues,  much  less  could  they 
give  any  satisfactory  account  of  the  lives  of  their  alumni. 

Much  has  been  done  since,  by  the  publishers  of  college  books  and  journals, 
and  specially  by  the  issue  of  college  histories  by  the  Bureau,  to  disseminate  this 
information.  These  results  have  been  increased  by  the  multiplication  of  alumni 
associations.  But  all  that  has  been  done  does  not  set  forth  the  needs  which 
remain,  which  your  plan  will  so  far  meet.  The  struggle  to  do  the  most  imperative 
work  has  forced  omissions  which  it  would  seem  should  now  cease. 

How  often  do  both  the  faculty  and  the  students  of  a  generation  fail  to  gain 
the  inspiration  justly  theirs,  by  reason  of  the  lack  of  knowledge  of  the  sacrifices 
and  triumphs  of  those  who  have  gone  before  them?  How  many  fail  to  bestow  their 
wealth  in  aid  of  this  instruction,  and  how  many  sons  fail  to  take  advantage  of  it, 
because  they,  or  those  advising  them,  do  not  know  what  those  receiving  it  have 
thereby  gained  to  themselves,  or  what  they  have  contributed  to  the  uplift  of  man- 
kind and  the  advancement  of  civilization?  If  every  man  is  a  debtor  to  his  pro- 
fession, how  much  more  is  every  "University  Son"  indebted  to  his  education? 

May  the  whole  body  of  "  Universities'  Sons  "  respond  in  the  fullest  measure  of 
co-operation  to  the  ])romotion  of  your  purpose  so  well  jilanned,  and  whose  execution 
is  so  well  assured  by  the  character  of  your  Editor-in-Chief  and  his  associates. 

Sincerely  yours. 


^^"^^^"^^^-^-X^    62-'<5»-^^^r-xi«^ 


PREFACE 


UNIVERSITIES  AND  THEIR  SONS  is  intended  to  occupy  a  new 
field  in  University  history,  and  it  is  believed  will  be  of  very  special 
practical  interest  and  value  to  the  community  and  to  the  Universities 
themselves.  The  leading  object  of  the  work  is  to  recognize  the  place  which  our 
higher  institutions  of  learning  have  held  in  the  development  of  our  whole  public 
character  and   work  as  a  country  or  nation. 

This  shows  the  Universities  in  an  aspect  not  commonly  observed,  or  made 
of  account.  They  are  usually  thought  of  as  facilities  for  the  education  and  culture 
of  the  individual ;  and  in  later  years,  as  places  where  researches  in  science  and 
philosophy  are  carried  on  and  turned  to  good  account  for  the  general  interest 
of  education.  But  this  work  proposes  to  bring  out  in  a  clear  light  the  practical 
influence  which  these  institutions  of  learning  have  had,  in  not  merely  the  "learned 
professions"  and  literature,  but  in  what  we  call  "business,"  extending  to  indus- 
trial and  commercial  lines,  and  in  fact  to  all  that  expresses  itself  in  the  character 
and  prosperity  of  a  nation. 

The  present  series,  of  which  this  is  the  initial  volume,  is  devoted  to  one  of  the 
galaxy  of  great  Universities  which  have  held  the  earliest  and  highest  ])lace  in  the 
educational  forces  of  this  country.  The  series  will  be  complete  in  two  volumes, 
the  first  of  which  is  divided  into  two  parts.  Part  I  contains,  besides  other  matter, 
editorial  and  biographical,  a  historical  sketch  of  the  University,  setting  forth  in 
a  complete  and  scholarly  manner  not  only  the  facts  of  its  life,  but  its  prevailing 
characteristics  and  its  influences.  Part  II  consists  of  biographical  sketches  with 
portraits  of  administrative  ofificials,  teachers  and  benefactors  —  the  men  who  ha\e 
made  the  institution  what  it  is  to-day,  and  are  making  the  American  University 
of  the  future.  The  work  will  then  proceed  to  give  in  the  following  volume  of  the 
series  the  important  facts  in  the  lives  of  representative  Sons  of  the  University, 
with  portrait-representations  when  such  can  be  secured. 


Vlll 


PREFACE 


Under  the  general  title  of  "  Contributions  to  American  Educational  History," 
the  United  States  Bureau  of  Education  has  in  the  past  ten  years  issued  a  series 
of  monographs  on  the  History  of  Higher  Education  in  the  several  States.  The 
work  is  the  outgrowth  of  an  organized  inquiry  concerning  the  study  of  history  in 
American  Colleges  and  Universities,  instituted  in  1885,  by  General  John  Eaton, 
Commissioner,  the  results  of  which  were  published  in  1887  as  a  Circular  of  Infor- 
mation of  the  Bureau,  under  the  direction  of  General  Eaton's  successor.  Colonel 
N.  H.  R.  Dawson.  This  investigation,  conducted  by  Professor  Herbert  B.  Adams, 
of  Johns  Hopkins  University,  who  was  engaged  by  General  Eaton  for  that  pur- 
pose, disclosed  fields  of  special  educational  interest  in  the  history  of  the  various 
higher  institutions  of  learning,  and  the  outcome  was  the  series  of  monographs 
which  has  been  issued  by  the  Bureau  under  the  successive  administrations  of 
Colonel  Dawson  and  Dr.  W.  T.  Harris  as  Commissioners.  These  publications, 
although  limited  in  circulation,  like  all  government  documents,  have  proven  of 
widespread  interest,  and  have  had  an  excellent  practical  effect  in  attracting  the 
attention  of  the  large  body  of  cultured  and  influential  men  engaged  in  College 
and  University  work  to  the  direct  and  vastly  important  influence  of  higher  educa- 
tion upon  the  life  and  growth  of  the  American  people. 

To  take  up  this  line  of  investigation  and  study  on  a  more  comprehensive 
and  extended  scale  than  would  be  practicable  or  possible  under  the  restrictions  of 
a  bureau  or  department  of  the  government,  and  to  follow  it  into  the  ranks  of  the 
people  and  into  the  practical  affairs  of  life,  is  the  purpose  of  Universities  and 
Their  Sons.  That  this  purpose  is  warmly  commended  by  the  able  men  under 
whose  inspiration  and  direction  the  only  attempts  at  this  important  work  have 
hitherto  been  made,  is  evidenced  by  the  appended  letters. 

It  is  confidently  believed  that  the  work  cannot  fail  to  fill  worthily,  and  in  an 
interesting  manner,  both  a  public  and  a  University  need,  and  an  important  place 
in  the  historic  literature  of  the  country. 

THE    PUBLISHERS. 


PART    I 


HISTORICAL 


DEPARTMENT    OF   THE   INTERIOR 

BUREAU    OF    EDUCATION 


Washington,  D.  C,  January  23,  1897. 
R.  Herndon  Company,  Boston,  Massachusetts. 

Gentlemen,  —  I  am  glad  to  learn  from  you  that  you  are  undertaking  the  publication 
of  a  series  of  volumes  containing  studies  on  the  universities,  colleges,  and  higher 
institutions  of  learning  in  the  United  States,  paying  special  attention  to  the  biog- 
raphies of  the  alumni  of  these  institutions.  It  seems  to  me  that  this  is  an  important 
field  to  occupy.  It  will  interest  not  only  the  alumni  of  a  college  or  university  to 
study  the  influence  of  the  institution  in  the  careers  of  its  graduates,  but  it  will  interest 
all  people.  It  will  answer  the  question  :  What  practical  influence  does  the  higher 
education  of  the  country  have  upon  its  business  and  politics  and  literature,  and,  in 
general,  upon  the  directive  power  of  the  nation?  I  trust  you  may  prove  entirely 
successful  in  carrying  out  your  plans. 


Very  respectfully, 

Commissioner  of  Education. 


I 


HIGHER    EDUCATION    IN    THE 
UNITED    STATES 


H 


Bv   W.   T.    HARRIS,    PH.  U.,   LL.  D. 

UNITED  STATICS  COMMISSIO.NKR   OK   KDUCATION 


IGHER  education  in  the  I'nitcd  States  is  given  chiefly  in  institutions  tliat  bear 
the  name  of  college  or  university,  numbering  486  separate  institutions  in  the 
several  States  and  Territories.  A  portion  of  the  work  is  given  in  separate 
professional  schools  of  law,  medicine  and  theology,  and  also  in  schools  of  engineering  and 
technology.  According  to  the  returns  for  the  scholastic  j'ear  ending  July  i,  1897, 
there  were  76,204  students  in  colleges  and  universities;  10,449  students  in  the  law;  24,377 
students  in  medicine;  8,173  students  in  theolog\' ;  10,001  students  in  engineering  and 
technology.  The  total  number  of  students  in  higher  education  for  the  United  States  is  thus 
129,204.  About  one  for  each  486  of  the  population  is  enrolled  in  schools  for  higher 
education. 

In  order  to  understand  these  figures  one  must  know  accurately  the  meaning  of  the  term 
"  higher  education."  It  may  be  said  loosely  that  the  first  eight  years'  work  of  the  child,  say 
from  six  to  fourteen  years  of  age,  is  devoted  to  an  elementary  course  of  study.  The  next  four 
years  (fourteen  to  eighteen)  is  given  to  what  is  called  "secondary  education,"  conducted  in 
public  high  schools  (409.433  pupils),  in  private  academies  and  preparatory  schools  (107,633 
pupils),  —  a  total  of  517,066.  Of  pupils  in  secondar\-  studies  there  is  approximately  one  in  121 
of  the  population.  Higher  education  counts  trom  the  thirteenth  to  the  sixteenth  jear  (inclusive) 
of  the  course  of  study,  and  counting  in  with  it  the  post-graduate  work  it  extends  to  the 
nineteenth  year  of  the  course  of  study  (from  eighteen  to  twenty-one  or  to  twent\--four 
years  of  age). 

It  would  appear  that  of  the  undergraduates  in  universities  and  colleges  about  fifty-five  per 
cent  (a  little  more  than  one-half),  are  pursuing  courses  of  study  leading  to  the  degree  of  Bach- 
elor of  Arts,  while  nearly  twenty  per  cent  (or  one-fifth  of  all)  are  candidates  for  the  degree  of 
Bachelor  of  Science.  The  total  number  of  degrees  conferred  during  the  year  1895-96  was,  for 
the  Bachelor  of  Arts  degree,  4,456  men  and  706  women ;  for  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Science, 
1,381  men  and  2"]"]  women. 

3 


4  UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 

The  total  benefactions  reported  by  the  several  higher  institutions  as  having  been  received 
during  the  year  1895-96  was  $8,342,728. 


EDUCATIONAL   BENEFACTIONS,  1S71  to  1S96 


Year. 

Universities 

and 

colleges. 

Colleges 
for  women. 

Professional 
schools. 

Schools 

of 

technology. 

1871 

$3,432,190 

$547,000 

1872 

6,282,462 

1,176,279 

$482,000 

1873 

8,238,141 

$252,005 

698,401 

780,658 

1874 

i>845,354 

241,420 

1,156,160 

481,804 

1875 

2,703,650 

217,887 

476,751 

147,112 

1876 

2,743,248 

79.950 

293.774 

48,634 

1877 

1,273,991 

163,976 

448,703 

201,205 

1878 

1,389,633 

241,820 

516,414 

49,280 

1879 

3,878,648 

543.900 

386,417 

59.778 

1880 

2,666,571 

92,372 

839,681 

1-371,445 

1881 

4,601,069 

334,688 

972,710 

177.058 

1882-83 

3<522,467 

373,412 

762,771 

639,655 

1883-84 

5,688,043 

310,506 

1,307,416 

520,723 

1884-85 

5.134.460 

322,813 

776,255 

562,371 

1885-86 

2,530,948 

266,285 

857,096 

188,699 

1886-87 

3,659>ii3 

154,680 

1,355.295 

334.760 

1887-88 

4,545'655 

425,752 

772,349 

203,465 

1888-89 

4-728,901 

447.677 

768,413 

110,950 

1889-90 

6,006,474 

303.257 

1890-91 

6.849,208 

725-885 

1,466,399 

1891-92 

6,464,438 

220,147 

1.905.342 

1892-93 

6,532,157 

182,781 

1,225,799 

1893-94 

9,025,240 

369.183 

1,460,942 

1894-95 

5-350,963 

625,734 

1.480,812 

2r,53o 

1895-96 

8,342,728 

611,245 

',159.287 

96,133 

Total, 

^"7,435. 752 

^7,507.375 

$22,810,466 

$6,477,260 

The  following  comparative  table  will  show  the  item  of  income  for  the  past  five 
years.  In  1896  the  income  to  the  universities  and  colleges  (not  including  colleges  for 
women)  from  all  sources,  excluding  benefactions,  was  $17,918,174;  thirty-seven  per  cent  of 
this  was  received  in  the  form  of  tuition  fees,  twenty-nine  per  cent  from  productive  funds,  six- 
teen per  cent  from  State  and  municipal  appropriations,  five  per  cent  from  endowments 
by  the  United  States.  The  total  of  productive  funds  for  the  colleges  and  universities  in  1895-96 
was  $109,562,433. 


IIIGIIER    EDUCATION  IN   THE    UNITED   STATES 


INCOMK   OV    UNIVERSITIKS    AM)    COI.LKGKS 


.Stati'.  dr  'I'l.KKi  rokv. 

.S.;.-y.' 

1892-93 

'■>■',)    M 

'  'V  1  'J  5 

1.S95-./, 

United  States  .... 

$15,075,016 

$15,660,374 

$16,687,174 

^■7-965,433 

$19,108,107 

North  .Atlantic  Division 

6,497,227 

6,790,028 

7,328,091 

7,765,251 

8,477.872 

South  Atlantic   Division 

1,312,890 

1 ,446,695 

',395-970 

I-54I-373 

',5^9-973 

South  Central  Division  . 

1.233.982 

I, '25-359 

1,203.350 

',290,534 

1,504,301 

North  Centra!  Division  . 

4,890,267 

5,049-57^ 

5,479,015 

6,035,159 

6,170,650 

Western  Division       .     . 

1,140,650 

1,248,714 

1,280,748 

1,333- "6 

1-365.3'! 

Of  students  .-ulniittcd  to  uni\ci'sitics  and  colleges  in  1S95-96,  forty-one  per  cent  came  from 
public  high  schools,  ft)rty  per  cent  from  preparatory  departments  of  colleges,  seventeen  per 
cent  from  private  preparatory  schools. 

AMERICAN    AND    EUROPEAN    STANDARDS    COMPARED 

The  American  standard  of  what  is  called  "Higher  lulucation  "  is  not  precisely  the  same 
as  that  of  luirope;  there  is  a  little  more  thoroughness  of  preparation,  due  perhaps  to  an  earlier 
beginning  in  the  strictly  preparatory  studies,  in  Europe  as  compared  with  America.  In  order 
to  reduce  the  returns  of  higher  education  in  the  United  States  to  the  European  standard  it  is 
necessary  to  omit  the  college  students  in  the  Freshman  and  Sophomore  classes,  and  also  omit 
all  first  year  students  in  the  professional  schools  except  those  that  have  received  the  degree  ot 
A.  B.,  or  its  equivalent. 

The  following  table  prepared  on  this  basis  from  a  study  of  the  catalogues  of  the  several 
States  for  1896,  shows  a  total  for  the  United  States  of  62,974  university  students,  measured  by 
the  European  standard  : 

STUDENTS     IN     UNIVERSITIES,     COLLEGES     AND     PROFESSIONAL     SCHOOLS     IN     THE     UNITED 

STATES,   CORRESrONDING    IN    DEGREE    OF    ADVANCEMENT    TO    STUDENTS 

IN   GERMAN    OR   FRENCH   UNIVERSITIES 

It  includes  the  undergraduates  in  the  senior  and  junior  classes,  all  students  of  theology,  students  of 
medicine  and  law  in  second  and  subsequent  years,  with  all  in  the  first  year  having  the  degree  of  B.  A. 


Statk 

OR 

TKRRrroRv. 

SrunKNTs. 

Juniors. 

Seniors. 

Post- 
graduates. 

Law. 

Medicine. 

Theology. 

Total. 

United  States  .     .     . 

North  .Atlantic  Division 
South  .Atlantic  Division 
South  Central  Division 
North  Central  Division 
Western  Division      .     . 

15-025 

5,293 
2,095 

I-915 

4.902 

820 

12.249 

4,690 
1,482 

1-314 
4,19s 

565 

5,3 '6 

2,148 
501 
305 

2,068 

294 

5-541 

2,234 
786 
242 

2.074 

205 

16,772 

6-155 
1,829 
1,675 
6.591 

522 

8,071 

2.891 

886 

»,o54 

3-M9 

91 

62,974 

23.411 
7,579 
6,505 

22,982 

2,497 

6 


UNIVERSmES  AND    THEIR   SONS 

STUDENTS    IN    UNIVERSITIES,   COLLEGES,   Y^TC  — Continued 


State 

OR 

Territory. 


Students. 


Juniors. 


Seniors. 


Po.st- 
graduates. 


Law. 


Medicine. 


Theology. 


Total. 


North  Atlantic  Division.' 

Maine 

New  Hampshire  .     .     . 

Vermont 

Massachusetts  .  .  . 
Rhode  Island  .  .  . 
Connecticut    .     .     .     . 

New  York 

New  Jersey  .  .  .  . 
Pennsylvania  .     .     .     . 

South  Atlantic  Division. 

Delaware 

Maryland 

District  of  Columbia 

Virginia 

West  Virginia  .... 
North  Carolina    .     . 
South  Carolina     .     .     . 

Georgia 

Florida 


South  Central  Division. 
Kentucky  .... 
Tennessee  .... 
Alabama  .... 
Mississippi  .  .  . 
Louisiana  .... 

Te.xas 

Arkansas  .... 
Oklahoma  .... 
Indian  Territory  .     . 

North  Central  Division. 

Ohio 

Indiana      .... 

Illinois 

Michigan  .... 
Wisconsin  .... 
Minnesota  .... 


205 

120 

82 

i>4i5 
169 

535 
1,191 

3'9 
1.257 

II 

361 
63 
405 
55 
393 
307 
467 

335 
490 

370 
240 
122 
227 
120 

9 

2 


910 

510 
763 
505 
314 
3'o 


I  72 

112 

81 

1,260 

121 

566 

1,000 

324 

1,054 

14 
313 

49 
235 

38 
288 
188 
326 

31 


191 

355 
303 
•50 

84 
160 

69 


865 
468 
649 

455 
262 


4 
6 

4 
692 
126 

239 
626 
123 

328 


260 

93 

56 

I 

54 
24 
10 

3 

7 
90 

14 

63 
92 
22 
17 


415 
166 
740 
124 
112 
140 


624 

161 
^134 

315 


83 

5'5 

••3 

47 

10 

1 1 

7 


24 
83 
'3 

25 
28 

63 
6 


165 

100 

584 
454 
170 
190 


70 

87 

105 

893 

91 

2,863 

2.016 


962 

3'4 
270 

57 

45 
181 


612 

568 

71 

254 
126 

44 


1,179 
250 

2,332 
586 

72 
224 


79 


417 

189 

924 

479 
803 


375 

95 
164 

85 

55 

1 12 


564 

385 
53 

20 
32 


492 

178 

1,281 

79 
223 

282 


530 

325 
272 

5-301 
416 
1,781 
7,738 
1,245 
5,803 


25 

2-354 

1. 129 

>,243 

141 

887 

630 

1,103 

67 


',733 

i'97' 

824 

478 
600 
630 
256 
9 
4 

4.026 
1,672 

6.349 

2.203 

i,'53 
•-377 


1  To  avoid  misapprehension  it  should  be  noted  that  many  students  of  this  grade  from  the  smaller  States  attend  the 
;ieat  universities  of  Harvard,  Yale,  Princeton  and  Columbia. 


HIGHER    EDUCATION  IN   '1111'.    I'MTED   STATES 

STUDENTS    IN    UNIVKRSITIIiS.   COl.LKGKS,    I.IC.  —  Com/u.M 


M  \  I  1-. 
UR 

Territory. 


Iowa  .  .  , 
Missouri  .  . 
North  Dakota 
Soutli  Dakota  . 
Nebraska  .  . 
Kansas  .     .     . 

Western  Division 
N[oiitana    . 
Wyoming   .     . 
Colorado    . 
New  Mexico  . 
Arizona      .     . 
Utah      .     .     . 
Nevada      .     . 
Idaho    .     .     . 
Washington     . 
Oregon .     . 
California  . 


Juniors. 


450 

584 

21 

50 
202 

283 


1 10 

3 
I 

19 

4 

48 

12  I 

481 


MUDKNls 


Seniors. 


369 

4'5 

«9 

36 

157 
272 


/ 
4 
60 
6 
I 

14 
18 

4 

39 

50 
362 


Post- 
graduates. 


122 

56 

2 

23 
76 
92 


I 

40 


23 
218 


Law. 


162 
142 

60 
47 


30 


51 

I. '4 


Medicine. 


45' 
'.346 


122 


29 


>35 


21 
366 


Theology. 


«53 

400 


47 
'4 


Total. 


1.707 

2'^43 

42 

109 

664 

737 


'5 

5 

3'-" 

9 

3 

42 

43 

8 

89 

266 

i.r>26 


THE    PRE-EMINENCE    OF    THE    COLLEGE    GRADUATE 

President  Charles  F.  Thwing,  of  Western  Reserve  University  at  Clevelafld,  Ohio,  has  taken 
some  pains  ("Within  College  Walls,"  pp.  156  to  184)  to  ascertain  the  facts  with  regard  to  the 
proportion  of  men  of  dirccti\e  power  who  have  come  into  the  commiinit\'  from  the  college  or 
university.  Taking  the  si.x  volumes  of  Appleton's  Cyclopaedia  of  American  Biography  he  finds 
sketches  of  15,138  persons;  of  these  5,322  are  college  men.  One  out  of  every  three  persons  of 
sufficient  distinction  to  claim  a  place  in  a  biographical  cyclopaedia  is  a  college  graduate.  These 
5,322  form,  according  to  his  estimate,  one  out  of  each  forty  graduates  now  living;  while  only 
one  out  of  ten  thousand  of  the  population  that  has  not  received  higher  education  has  found  a 
place  in  the  Cyclopaedia  named.  "  Into  one  group  gather  together  ten  thousand  infants  and  send 
no  one  to  college;  one  person  out  of  that  great  group  will  attain  through  some  work  a  certain 
fame ;  into  another  group  gather  fort)'  college  men  on  the  day  of  their  graduation  and  out  of 
these  forty,  one  will  attain  recognition.  The  proportion  is  in  favor  of  the  college  men  two 
hundred  and  fifty  times."     See  Dr.  Thwing's  table  on  page  6. 

In  view  of  the  influence  of  higher  education  to  secure  success  in  life,  it  is  of  great  interest 
to  inquire  what  it  is  that  gives  higher  education  this  value.     Is  it  the  branches  of  study  chosen, 


8 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


or  is  it  the  association  with  learned  men  as  professors  and  with  one's  fellow-students  in  early 
manhood,  or  is  it  the  discipline  of  work  and  obedience  to  prescribed  regulations? 

Upon  a  little  consideration  it  is  evident  that  it  is  not  a  mere  will  training,  not  a  life  of 
obedience  to  regulations  that  gives  its  distinctive  value  to  higher  education.  In  elementary 
education  a  training  in  regularity,  punctuality,  self-restraint  and  industry,  is  perhaps  the  most 
important  thing,  but  higher  education  gives  directive  power  and  this  depends  upon  insight 
rather  than  upon  a  habit  of  obedience.     This  insight  may  relate  to  human  nature,  and  a  knowl- 

CLASSIFICATION    OF    15,138   CONSPICUOUS   AMERICANSi 


College 
Graduates. 


Clergy 

Soldier 

Lawyer 

Statesman 

Business 

Navy 

Author 

Physician 

Artist 

Educator 

Scientist 

Journalist 

Public  Man 

Inventor     

Actor 

Explorer,  Pioneer     .     . 
Philanthropist      .... 
Whole  Number  of  Persons  ) 
named  in  Cyclopaedia       ) 


1-505 
252 

841 
464 
171 

'5 
4>5 
427 

66 

6-^5 

341 

96 

M5 
^9 

4 

9 

29 

5.322 


From 
Academies. 


59 

436 

68 

65 
60 

34 
39 
36 

39 
42 

25 
1 1 

'5 
3 
4 

7 
6 

949 


Non- 
College. 


1,080 
1.264 
769 
811 
884 
466 
668 
449 
525 
345 
164 
206 
60s 
144 

99 
233 
145 

8,867 


Total. 


2,644 

I. -95  2 
1,678 
I, -340 
1,115 

515 
1,122 
912 
630 
1,01  2 
530 
3^3 
765 
166 
107 

249 

180 

15.138 


Per  cent 
representing 

college 
graduates. 


56.92 
12.91 
50.12 
34-63 
15-34 
2.91 

36-99 
46.82 
10.46 
61.76 

6434 
30.67 
18.95 

11-45 
3-74 
3.61 

16.1 1 

35->6 


edge  of  human  nature  is  gained  by  association  with  one's  fellow-students  and  with  professors 
and  teachers ;  but  it  is  gained  more  especially  from  books  of  science  and  literature.  Or  the 
insight  may  relate  to  physical  nature,  and  in  this  case  it  is  the  man  who  re-enforces  his  own 
observations  by  the  records  of  others,  that  attains  eminence.  It  is  in  fact  the  course  of  study 
in  higher  education  that  contributes  the  chief  factor  of  this  influence  which  college  graduates 
exercise  upon  the  community. 

Higher  education  in  the  Middle  Ages  was  limited  to  the  Trivium  (grammar,  rhetoric  and 
logic)  and  Qnadrivhim  (arithmetic,  geometry,  music  and  astronomy).  Grammar  as  the  science 
of  language  reveals  the  structure  of  the  instrument  of  human  reason  ;  rhetoric  deals  with  the 
art  of  persuasion  and  studies  the  structure  of  the  written  discourse;   while  logic  deals  directly 

1  By  C.  F.  Thwing. 


HIGH  Eli    EDUCATION   IN    THE    UNITED   STATES  9 

with  the  structure  of  thou^^ht.  The  structure  of  thought,  the  structure  of  language  and  the 
structure  of  the  written  discourse  furnish  a  proper  study  for  the  training  of  a  critic  of  thouglit 
or  of  its  exposition. 

Arithmetic  was  mathematics  as  understood  in  the  Middle  Ages;  while  geometry  in  the 
Quadrivium  signified  an  abridgement  of  Pliny's  geography  with  a  few  definitions  of  geometric 
figures.     Music  signified  poetr)'. 

Grammar,  rhetoric,  logic  and  music,  dealt  with  language  and  literature  and  the  laws  of 
thought;  their  study  could  not  but  result  in  giving  to  the  youth  an  intimate  kind  of  self- 
knowledge. 

Three  branches,  arithmetic,  geometry  and  astronomy,  made  the  student  acquainted  with 
the  world  of  nature  in  its  mathematical  structure  and  in  its  accidental  features. 

The  course  of  stud\'  in  hiLrhcr  education  has  endeaxored  to  make  the  \outh  acquainted 
with  human  nature  and  ph\sical  nature,  and  this  more  especiall}'  in  their  logical  condition  or 
permanent  structure  rather  than  in  their  accidental  features.  Directive  power  has  for  its  func- 
tion to  combine  human  beings  with  a  view  to  realize  institutions  or  to  accomplish  great  under- 
takings. It  makes  combinations  in  matter  directing  the  current  ol  the  world's  forces  into 
channels  useful  for  man.  To  make  these  human  combinations  and  these  ph}sical  combinations 
possible  the  studies  of  the  higher  education  are  chosen. 

To  realize  how  the  colleges  of  this  country  have  from  the  earliest  times  kept  this  in  view, 
although  perhaps  unconsciously,  a  few  examples  of  the  requirements  for  admission  are  here 
offered. 

REQUIREMENTS    FOR    ADMISSION 

I.  —  Harvard  UNiVF.RSriT,  1642.  —  When  scholars  had  so  far  profited  at  the  grammar  schools,  that 
tliey  could  read  any  classical  author  mto  English,  and  readily  make  and  speak  true  Latin,  and  write  it 
in  verse  as  well  as  prose  ;  and  perfectly  decline  the  paradigms  of  nouns  and  verbs  in  the  Greek  tongue, 
they  were  judged  capable  of  admission  to  Harvard  College.  —  Teircc's  History  of  Fiarwird,  .Appendix, 
p.  42. 

H.  —  PRiNcirrox  UxnERsrrv,  1748.  —  None  may  be  admitted  into  college  but  such  as  being  ex- 
amined by  the  President  and  Tutors  shall  be  found  able  to  render  Virgil  and  Tully's  Orations  into 
English  ;  and  to  turn  English  into  true  and  grammatical  Latin  ;  and  to  be  so  well  acquainted  with  the 
Greek  as  to  render  any  part  of  the  four  Evangelists  in  that  language  into  Latin  or  English ;  and  to  give 
the  grammatical   connection  of  the  words.  —  Princeton  Book,  5. 

HL  —  BowDOix  Cou.KGE,  1802. —  Principles  of  the  Latin  and  Greek  languages,  ability  to  translate 
English  into  Latin,  to  read  the  Select  Orations  of  Cicero,  the  .Eneid  of  Virgil,  and  an  acquaintance  with 
arithmetic  as  far  as  the  rule  of  three.  —  History  of  Bowdoin,  XXXH. 

IV.  —  SoiTH  Carolina  Coi.i.kgf.,  1804.  —  For  admission  to  the  Freshman  Class,  a  candidate  shall 
be  able  to  render  from  T,atin  into  English,  Cornelius  Nepos,  Sallust,  Caesar's  Commentaries,  and  Virgil's 
.-Eneid;  to  make  grammatical  Latin  of  the  exercises  in  Mairs'  Introduction;  to  translate  into  English 
any  passage   from  the  Evangelist  St.  John,  in  the  Greek  Testament;  to  give  a  grammatical  analysis  of 


lo  UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 

the  words,  and  have  a  general  knowledge  of  the  English  Grammar;  write  a  good,  legible  hand,  spell 
correctly,  and  be  well  acquainted  with  Arithmetic  as  far  as  includes  the  Rule  of  Proportion.  —  History 
of  South  Carolina  College,  by  Laborde,  p.   19. 

V.  —  Dartmouth  College,  181  i. —  i.  Virgil;  2.  Cicero's  Select  Orations;  3.  Greek  Testament; 
4.  Translate  English  into  Latin  ;  5.  Fundamental  rules  of  Arithmetic.  —  Dartmouth  College,  by  Smith,  p.  83. 

It  would  seem  that  the  main  point  in  the  entrance  examination  to  Harvard  University 
in  the  seventeenth  century  was  to  secure  such  facility  in  the  Latin  tongue  that  one  could  use 
it  as  the  instrument  for  pursuing  higher  studies.  One  should  be  able  to  read  any  classical 
author  and  also  be  able  to  speak  the  Latin  tongue.  Some  knowledge  of  Greek  also  was  re- 
quired even  from  the  beginning.  Princeton,  a  hundred  years  later  than  Harvard,  makes  the 
saine  requirements  in  Latin  and  insists  on  a  little  more  in  Greek.  Half  a  century  later  still, 
Bowdoin,  South  Carolina  and  Dartmouth  colleges  have  practically  the  same  requirements  for 
admission  as  Princeton  in   1748. 

THE    COURSE    OF    STUDY 

Some  of  the  earliest  courses  of  study  in  American  colleges  show  the  prominence  of  the 
studies  of  the  Trivium  and  the  Quadrivium  insisted  on  in  the  Middle  Ages.  In  Harvard,  for  in- 
stance, in  1642  there  were  logic,  algebra  and  grammar,  besides  the  study  of  natural  philosophy. 
Assuming  that  the  course  of  study  as  given  is  complete,  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  in  this 
college  Latin  is  supposed  to  have  been  completed  before  entering,  and  that  the  student  takes  up 
both  Greek  and  Hebrew  in  his  first  year.  This  inference,  however,  may  not  be  accurate.  If 
the  students  were  of  the  same  age  on  entrance  to  college  in  1642  as  in  1897,  it  could  be  said 
that  their  studies  in  Freshman  year  were  so  difficult  that  one  would  hardly  expect  more  than 
a  verbal  memorizing  of  the  text.  It  is  noticeable  that  mathematics  begins  to  be  studied  in 
the  third  year  and  that  arithmetic,  geography  and  astronomy  make  their  appearance  at  that 
time,  the  third  and  last  year.  Some  branches  of  natural  science  and  history  belong  also  to 
this  third  year.  Yale  in  1702  required  a  strong  course  in  Latin  and  Hebrew.  And  in  1726 
it  seems  that  Harvard  had  included  Latin  with  its  languages  to  be  studied  in  college.  One 
hundred  years  later  South  Carolina  College  had  a  course  of  study  very  much  like  that  laid 
down  at  the  present  day.  But  Dartmouth  at  that  time  had  arithmetic  rather  than  algebra  or 
geometry  in  its  Freshman  year  and  continued  it  even  into  the  Sophomore  year. 

SAMPLE    COURSES    OF    STUDY 

Harvard  Universit\%  1642. — First  Ycdi: — i.  Logick;  2.  Physicks ;  3.  Disputes;  4.  Greek  — 
Etymologic  and  syntax;  grammar;  5.    Hebrew  —  Grammar;   Bible;   6.    Rhetoric. 

Second  Year. —  i.  Ethics  and  politics;  2.  Disputes;  3.  Greek  —  Prosodia  and  dialects;  Poesy, 
Nonnus,   Duport ;  4.    Hebrew,  etc.  ;  Chaldee  ;  Ezra  and   Daniel;   5.    Rhetoric. 

Third  Year. —  i.  Arithmetic;  Geometry;  Astronomy;  2.  Greek  —  Theory,  style,  composition,  imita- 
tion epitome,  both  in  prose  and  verse;  3.  Hebrew,  &c. ;  Syriak ;  Trostius  New  Testament;  4.  Rhe- 
toric; 5.    History;  6.    Nature   of  plants.  —  Peirce's    History  of  Harvard,  Appendix,  6,    7. 


HIGHER    EDUCATION  IN   THE    UNITED   STATES  1 1 

Yale,  1702. — i.  Latin;  five  or  six  orations  of  Cicero;  five  or  six  books  of  Virgil ;  Talking  College 
Latin;  2.  (ircok  ;  Reading  a  portion  of  New  'I'estament ;  3.  Hebrew;  Psalter;  4.  Some  instruction  in 
mathematics  and  surveying;   5.    I'iiysics  (Pierson)  ;  6,    I^gic  (Ramus).  —  Vale  Book,   25. 

Hakvarij  U-NivKKsnY,  1726.  —  Wliilc  the  students  are  Freshmen,  they  commonly  recite  the  Gram- 
mars, anil  witii  them  a  recitation  in  'I'uUy,  Virgil,  and  the  (ireek  Testament,  on  Mondays,  Tuesdays, 
Wednesdays,  and  Thursdays,  in  the  morning  and  forenoon;  on  Friday  morning  Dugard's  or  Farnaby's 
Rhetoric,  and  on  Saturday  morning  the  Greek  Testament ;  and,  towards  the  latter  end  of  the  year,  they 
dispute  on  Ramus's   Definitions,  Mondays  and  Tuesdays  in  the  forenoon. 

The  Sophomores  recite  IJurgersdicius's  Logic,  and  a  manuscript  called  New  Logic,  in  the  mornings 
and  forenoons ;  and  towards  the  latter  end  of  the  year  Heereboord's  Meletemata,  and  dispute  Mondays 
and  Tuesdays  in  the  forenoon,  continuing  also  to  recite  the  classic  authors,  with  Logic  and  Natural 
Philosophy ;  on  Saturday  mornings  they  recite  Wollebius's  Divinity. 

Tiic  Junior  Sophisters  recite  Heereboord's  Meletemata,  Mr.  Morton's  Physics,  More's  Ethics, 
Geography,  Metaphysics,  in  the  mornings  and  forenoons ;  Wollebius  on  Saturday  morning ;  and  dispute 
Mondays  and  Tuesdays   in   the   forenoons. 

The  Senior  Sophisters,  besides  Aritiimetic,  recite  Allsted's  Geometry,  Gassendus's  Astronomy,  in  the 
morning;  go  over  the  Arts  towards  the  latter  end  of  the  year,  Ames's  Medulla  on  Saturdays,  and  dispute 
once  a   week.  —  History  of  Harvard  L^niversity,  by  Quincy,   p.   441. 

South  Carolina  Collf.ge,  1804.  —  The  studies  of  the  Freshman  year  shall  be  the  Greek  Testament, 
Xenophon's  Cyropedia,  Mairs'  Introduction,  Virgil,  Cicero's  Orations,  Roman  Anticiuities,  Arithmetic, 
English  Grammar,  and  Sherridan's  Lectures  on  Elocution.  A  part  of  every  day's  Latin  lesson  shall  be 
written  in  a  fair  hand,  with   an  English  translation,   and  correctly  spelled. 

The  studies  of  the  Sophomore  year  shall  be  Homer's  Iliad,  Horace,  Vulgar,  and  Decimal  Fractions, 
with  the  extraction  of  Roots,  Geography,  Watts'  Logic,  Blairs'  Lectures,  Algebra,  the  French  Language, 
and   Roman  .A.ntiquities. 

The  studies  of  the  Junior  year  shall  be  Elements  of  Criticism,  Geometry,  Theoretical  and  Practi- 
cal, Astronomy,  Natural  and  Moral  Philosophy,  French,  Longinus  de  Sublimitate,  and  Cicero  de  Oratore. 

The  studies  of  the  Senior  year  shall  be  Millots'  Elements  of  History,  Demosthenes'  Select  Orations, 
and  such  parts  of  Locke's  Essay  as  shall  be  prescribed  by  the  Faculty.  The  Seniors,  also,  shall  review 
such  parts  of  the  studies  of  the  preceding  year,  and  perform  such  exercises  in  the  higher  branches  of 
the  Mathematics,  as  the  Faculty  may  direct. 

From  the  time  of  their  admission  into  College,  the  students  shall  be  exercised  in  composition  and 
public  speaking,  for  which  purj^se  such  a  number  as  the  Faculty  shall  direct  shall  daily,  in  rotation, 
deliver  orations  in  the  College  Hall.  There  shall  also  be  public  exhibitions,  and  competition  in  speaking, 
and  other  exercises,  held  at  such  times  and  under  such  regulations  as  the  Faculty  shall  require ;  and  every 
member  of  the  Senior  Class  shall,  at  least  once  each  month,  deliver  an  oration  of  his  own  composition, 
after  submitting  it  to  be  perused  and  corrected  by  the  President. —  History  of  South  Carolina  College, 
by  Laborde,  p.  19. 

Dartmouth    College,    181  i. — Frcsliman    Class:    i.    Latin    and  Greek    Classics;    2.    .•\rithmetic ; 

3.  English    Grammar ;  4.    Rhetoric. 

Sophomore  Class :  i.  Latin  and  Greek  Classics;  2.  Logic;  3.  Geography;  4.  .Arithmetic;  5.  Geome- 
try;   6.  Trigonometry  ;  7.  .-Algebra;    8.  Conic  Sections  ;    9.  Surveying;    10.  Belles-lettres  ;     1 1.  Criticism. 
Jujiior    Class:   i.  Latin    and    Greek    Classics;   2.    Geometry;    3.    Natural    and    Moral    Philosophy, 

4.  Astronomy. 

Senior    Class:    i.    Metaphysics;   2.    Theology;   3.    Natural    and    Political    Liiw. 

—  Dartmouth  College,  by  Smith,  pp.  8;^,  84. 


12  UNJFERSiriES  AND    THEIR   SONS 

WHY   LATIN    AND    GREEK   ARE    STUDIED 

But  what  is  noteworthy  in  regard  to  the  course  of  study  for  the  higher  education  is  the 
place  occupied  by  the  classic  languages,  Latin  and  Greek.  Inasmuch  as  these  are  dead 
languages  and  not  useful  for  oral  communication  in  any  part  of  the  world,  it  would  naturally 
be  thought  that  a  knowledge  of  them  would  have  little  practical  value.  Further,  when  we 
learn  that  the  great  works  in  these  languages  are  all  accessible  in  the  various  modern  tongues 
of  Europe,  there  would  seem  to  be  no  excuse  for  retaining  them  in  the  course  of  study 
for  higher  education.  One  would  adopt  the  word  of  Mr.  Adams  and  call  them  "  college 
fetiches." 

In  the  Middle  Ages,  it  is  true,  the  Latin  was  the  language  of  learning  and  was  the 
only  language  used  at  an  institution  of  higher  education.  Moreover  all  learned  people  wrote 
their  books  in  Latin.  It  was  a  matter  of  necessity  that  a  student  in  higher  education  should 
begin  his  course  of  stud}- by  learning  to  read,  speak  and  write  the  Latin;  but  this  condition 
exists  no  longer,  vcrj'  few  books  are  now  written  in  Latin  and  few  colleges  or  universities 
conduct  their  class  exercises  in  Latin. 

Notwithstanding  all  this  it  remains  a  fact  that  the  higher  education  of  all  modern  civilized 
nations  has  devoted  the  lion's  share  in  the  course  of  study  to  the  mastery  of  the  Latin  and  Greek 
languages.  The  few  persons  who  attain  national  and  international  reputation  for  directive 
power  in  various  departments  come  from  the  small  quota  of  society  that  studies  these 
dead  languages.  Out  of  a  million  of  persons  who  have  come  from  our  colleges  and 
universities  more  than  two  hundred  times  as  many  persons  attain  distinction  as  from  a 
million  of  people  who  have  not  entered  them.  The  presumption  therefore  must  be  in 
favor  of  the  study  of  these  classic  languages.  It  is  therefore  probable  that  they  contain 
some  educative  element  not  to  be  found  in  other  languages,  ancient  or  modern,  —  it  is 
likely  in  fact  that  the  study  of  these  languages  gives  to  the  student  some  peculiar  insight 
into  himself  or  his  civilization.  Looking  at  it  from  this  point  of  view  we  discover  the 
cause  of  the  potency  of  these  languages  in  higher  education.  For  it  occurs  at  once  to 
any  one  acquainted  with  the  history  of  the  world  that  Rome  and  Greece  hold  an  altogether 
unique  relation  to  the  civilization  of  Europe. 

The  dead  languages  Latin  and  Greek  are  the  tongues  once  spoken  by  the  two  peoples  who 
originated  the  two  threads  united  in  our  modern  civilization.  The  study  of  Greek  puts  one 
into  the  atmosphere  of  art,  literature  and  science  in  which  the  people  of  Athens  lived.  It 
is  not  merely  the  effect  of  Greek  literature ;  it  is  also  the  effect  of  the  language  itself,  in 
its  idioms  and  grammatical  structure,  for  these  are  adapted  to  express  the  literary  and 
artistic  point  of  view  of  the  mind.  The  Greek  mind  looks  upon  nature  and  seizes  its 
spiritual   meaning;    it  expresses  this   in   the  art  forms  of  sculpture,   architecture  and   poetry. 


HIGHER   EDUCATION  IN   THE    UNITED   STATES  13 

It  is  not  an  accidental  frame  of  mind  out  of  a  great  number  of  possible  mental  attitudes 
held  by  that  people,  but  it  is  the  supreme  form,  the  highest  potcnce,  of  the  Greek  mind. 
Whenever  it  comes  to  its  flower  it  blossoms  into  art  and  poetry;  if  it  is  arrested  in  lower 
stages,  as  in  Sparta  or  Thebes,  still  it  manifests  an  a;sthctic  individualism,  a  sort  of  ger- 
minal form  of  the  art-consciousness.  For  all  Greeks  celebrated  the  games  and  strove  to 
attain  gracefulness  and  beauty  of  body.  Moreover  the  science  and  philosophy  of  the  Greeks 
are  merely  a  sequel  to  their  art  and  literature.  This  will  appear  from  a  consideration  of  the 
chief  trait  of  the  Greek  mind,  namely  the  genius  for  portrayal. 

The  luiinaii  mind  in  its  attitude  of  artist  is  able  to  seize  and  portray  an  object  by  a  few 
lines;  it  can  neglect  the  thousands  of  other  lines  or  traits,  which  do  not  count  because 
they  do  not  individualize,  and  it  can  select  out  with  felicity  just  the  lines  which  por- 
tray character.  The  Greek  can  do  this  both  in  sculpture  and  in  poetry.  It  is  clear 
that  this  ability  to  seize  the  characteristics  of  an  object  is  a  power  that  needs  only 
a  little  modification  to  produce  the  scientific  mind.  For  science  also  discovers  the  essen- 
tial characteristics  and  unites  scattered  individuals  into  species  and  genera.  For  it  is  the 
classifying  intellect. 

More  than  this,  the  ethical  intellect  is  simply  a  further  developed  poetic  intellect.  For 
the  poet  has  a  unital  world-view.  Homer,  Sophocles  and  .^schylus  are  able  to  describe 
the  infinite  multiplicity  of  human  personages  and  events,  unifying  them  by  an  ethical  world- 
view.  Carry  this  ethical  world-view  over  into  prosaic  reflection  and  wc  hav^e  philosophy. 
Philosophy  discovers  how  the  fragmentary  things  and  events  of  the  world  should  be  pieced 
together  in  order  to  form  a  whole.  It  discovers  how  they  can  be  made  consistent  as 
explained  by  the  ethical  principle  of  the  world.  Both  their  genesis  and  their  ultimate 
purpose  are  contained  in  the  world-principle. 

That  this  aesthetic,  philosophic  and  scientific  principle  should  be  indigenous  in  the 
Greek  mind  and  that  it  should  be  manifested  not  only  in  the  prose,  scientific  and  philo- 
sophic literature  of  the  Greeks,  and  more  especially  in  their  poetic  literature  and  in  their 
sculpture  and  architecture,  should  be  a  reason  for  giving  a  unique  place  to  the  study  of  the 
Greek  language  in  higher  education.  But  the  case  becomes  still  stronger  when  one  sees 
that  the  language  is  itself  a  primary  and  immediate  expression  of  the  idiosyncrasy  of  the 
Greek  mind.  No  one  could  study  the  grammar  of  the  language  and  become  acquainted 
with  the  words  in  its  vocabulary  without  inducing  upon  his  mental  activity  some  of  the 
proclivities  and  tendencies  of  that  beauty-loving  people. 

So  on  the  other  hand  the  study  of  Latin  puts  the  mind  in  a  similar  manner  into  the 
stern,  self-sacrificing,  political  atmosphere  of  Rome.  The  Romans  invented  law's  for  the 
protection  of  life  and  property  and  also  the  forms  of  social  combination  known  as  corpora- 
tions and  city  governments.     To   study   Latin   makes   the   pupil   more   attentive   to   the   side 


14  UNIFERSiriES  AND    rHEIR   SONS 

of  his  civilization  that  deals  with  combinations  of  men  into  social  organizations.  It  makes 
him  conscious  of  this  institution-forming  instinct  which  has  been  inherited  from  Rome  and 
exists  now  as  an   unconscious  proclivity  in  all  the  races   that  enter  modern  civilization. 

The  raw  material  of  our  civilization,  our  national  stocks,  Celtic,  Teutonic,  Norse,  Gothic, 
Scythian,  Slavic,  or  whatever  we  call  them,  enter  into  civilization  only  by  adopting  the  forms 
of  art  and  literature,  science  and  philosophy,  borrowed  directly  or  indirectly  from  the  Greeks, 
and  assuming  forms  of  government  and  codes  of  laws  (civil  and  criminal)  borrowed  directly 
or  indirectly  from  Rome. 

To  know  one's,  self  has  two  meanings,  the  Socratic  and  the  Sophistic.  According  to  the 
Sophist,  to  know  one's  self  is  to  know  one's  individual  idiosyncrasies ;  it  is  to  know  one's 
whims  and  caprices.  But  according  to  Socrates,  to  know  one's  self  is  to  know  the  substan- 
tial elements  of  our  human  personality.  It  is  to  know  ethical  principles  and  see  them  as 
necessities  of  human  nature,  uniting  individuals  into  institutions  or  social  wholes.  For  by 
moral  principles  alone  are  social  institutions,  such  as  the  family,  the  state,  the  church,  and 
the  industrial  community,  able  to  exist.  The  logical  principles  which  form  the  structure  of 
mental  activity,  these  as  well  as  the  ethical  structure  of  conscience  have  to  be  known  if 
man  would  know  his  deeper  self  in  a  Socratic  sense.  The  study  of  the  classic  languages 
is  therefore  a  sort  of  revelation  of  our  deeper  selves,  the  self  which  forms  our  civiliza- 
tion and  which  gives  rhythm  to  our  social  life. 

But  the  study  of  the  classics  does  not  give  one  a  world-view  about  which  he  can  dis- 
course in  simple  and  plain  language  to  uncultured  persons.  The  initiated  cannot  explain 
the  mysteries  to  the  uninitiated.  Higher  education  with  its  Greek  and  Latin  is  a  process  of 
initiation  which  enables  the  individual  to  enter  into  this  kind  of  self-knowledge.  He  comes, 
only  through  this,  to  know  his  deeper  social  self,  the  institutional  self-hood  of  his  civilization. 

If  this  view,  which  I  have  here  traced  in  outline  with  some  difficulty,  is  the  true  one,  it 
will  explain  why  it  is  that  Latin  and  Greek  (and  no  other  language,  ancient  or  modern)  have 
so  prominent  a  place  in  higher  education,  and  why  higher  education  has  been  and  is  so  potent 
in  preparing  the  individual  for  the  office  of  social  leader  and  director  of  his  fellow-men. 

At  the  risk  of  many  repetitions  I  venture  to  expand  this  thought  with  the  (perhaps 
vain)  hope  of  making  it  clear. 

LATIN    AND   GREEK  — THEIR    PECULIAR    FUNCTION    IN    EDUCATION 

FURTHER   EXPLAINED 

Modern  civilization  is  derivative ;  resting  upon  the  ancient  Roman  civilization  on  the  one 
hand,  and  upon  the  Greek  civilization  on  the  other.  All  European  civilization  borrows  from 
these  two  sources.  To  the  Greek  we  owe  the  elementary  standards  of  aesthetic  art  and 
literature.     They  have  transmitted    to    us    the    so-called    perfect  forms.     All  culture,  all  taste, 


HWlIEIi    EDUCATION  IN    THE    UNITED   STATES  15 

bases  itself  upon  familiarity  with  Greek  models.  More  than  this,  the  flesh  and  blood  of  litera- 
ture, the  means  of  its  expression,  the  vehicles  in  which  elevated  sentiment  and  ideal  convictions 
arc  conveyed,  largely  consist  of  trope  and  metaphor  derived  from  Greek  mythology. 

Before  science  and  the  forms  of  reflection  existed,  the  first  method  of  seizing  and 
expressing  spiritual  facts  consisted  of  poetic  metaphor  and  personification.  Images  of  sense 
were  taken  in  a  double  meaning;  a  material  and  a  spiritual  meaning  in  inseparable  union. 
Not  only  Anglo-Sa.xons  but  all  European  nations,  even  the  ancient  Romans,  are  indebted  to 
Greek  genius  for  this  elementary  form  of  seizing  and  expressing  the  subtle,  invisible  activi- 
ties of  our  common  spiritual  self-hood.  One  can  never  be  at  home  in  the  realm  of  litera- 
ture without  an  acquaintance  with  this  original  production  of  the  Greek   people. 

More  than  this,  the  Greek  people,  essentially  a  theoretically  inclined  race,  advanced 
themselves  historically  from  this  poetic  personification  of  nature  towards  a  more  definite, 
abstract  seizing  of  the  same  in  scientific  forms.  And  hence  with  the  Greek  race  philosophy 
and  science  are  also  indigenous.  The  Greek  language  is  specially  adapted  to  the  function 
of  expressing  theoretical  reflections,  and  in  the  time  of  the  historical  culmination  of  the 
Greek  race,  appeared  the  philosophical  thinkers,  who  classified  and  formulated  the  great 
divisions  of  the  two  worlds,  man  and  nature. 

All  subsequent  science  among  European  peoples  has  followed  in  the  wake  of  Greek 
science ;  availing  itself  of  Greek  insight,  and  using  the  very  technical  designations  invented 
by  the  Greek  mind  for  the  expression  of  those  insights.  This  may  be  realized  by  looking 
over  the  works  of  Aristotle  and  taking  note  of  the  technical  terms  and  the  names  of  sci- 
ences derived   from  him. 

The  theoretical  survey  of  the  world  in  its  two  phases  of  development,  aesthetical  or 
literary,  and  reflective  or  scientific,  is  therefore  Greek  in  its  genesis ;  and  a  clear  conscious- 
ness of  the  details  and  of  the  entire  scope  of  that  side  of  our  activity,  requires  the  use  of 
the  elementary  facts  —  the  primitive  points  of  view  that  belong  to  the  genesis  or  history  of 
the  development  of  this  theoretical  survey;  just  as  a  biological  science  explains  the 
later  forms  as  metamorphoses  of  the  earlier.  A  knowledge  of  Greek  life  and  literature  is  a 
knowledge  of  the  embryonic  forms  of  this  great  and  important  factor  (the  philosophy  and 
poetry)   in  modern   civilization. 

The  Roman  contribution  to  modern  civilization  is  widely  different  from  that  of  the 
Greeks.  Instead  of  esthetic  or  theoretic  contemplation,  the  Roman  chooses  the  forms  of 
activity  of  the  will  for  his  field  of  view.  He  has  formulated  the  rules  of  civil  activity  in 
his  code  of  laws.  He  has  seen  the  mode  and  manner  in  which  man  must  limit  his  prac- 
tical activity  in  order  to  be  free.  He  must  act  in  such  a  manner  as  to  reinforce  his 
fellow-men  and  not  lame  or  paralyze  their  efforts,  and  thereby  also  destroy  the  products  of 
his    own    activity  by  cutting  himself  off  from  the  help  of  his  neighbors. 


1 6  UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 

Let  each  one  act  so  that  his  deed  will  not  be  self-destructive  if  adopted  by  all  men. 
This  is  the  Kantian  formula  for  free  moral  activity.  Man  is  placed  in  this  world  as  a  race,  and 
is  not  complete  as  a  single  individual.  Each  individual  is  a  fragment  of  the  race,  and  his  solu- 
tion of  the  problem  of  life  is  to  be  found  in  a  proper  combination  with  his  fellow-men,  so  as 
to  avail  himself  of  their  help,  theoretical  and  practical.  Theoretically  they  will  help  by  giving 
him  the  results  of  their  experience  in  life;  of  their  pains  and  pleasures;  of  their  mistakes  and 
successes ;  of  the  theoretical  inventory  which  they  have  taken  of  the  world  in  its  infinite  details ; 
and  of  the  principles  they  have  discovered  as  the  units  which  reduce  those  details  to  a  system. 
Without  this  combination  with  his  fellows  he  remains  an  outcast,  a  mere  rudimentary  possibility 
of  man. 

How  important,  then,  is  this  invention  of  the  civil  forms  which  make  possible  this  combina- 
tion and  co-operation  !  Other  people,  before  the  Romans  or  contemporary  with  them,  may  lay 
claim  to  this  invention  of  the  civil  code.  But  their  claims  cannot  be  sustained.  Moral  and 
ethical  forms,  in  sufficiency,  they  have ;  but  the  ci\il  form  which  gives  and  secures  to  the  indi- 
vidual the  circle  wherein  he  shall  exercise  supremely  his  free  will,  and  beyond  the  limits  of  which 
he  shall  submerge  his  individuality  utterly  in  that  of  the  State  —  the  supreme  civil  institution  — 
such  a  civil  form  elaborated  into  a  complete  code  of  written  laws,  we  do  not  find  elsewhere. 

It  is,  moreover,  a  settled  fact  in  history  that  modern  nations  have  received  their  jurispru- 
dence from  the  Roman  peoples,  modifying  the  same,  more  or  less,  to  accommodate  it  to  the 
developed  spirit  of  the  Christian  religion.  It  is  essential  for  a  correct  view  of  this  subject  to 
consider  carefully  the  nature  of  the  forms  of  expression  which  must  be  used  in  order  to  define 
the  limits  of  the  free  will.  The  code  which  expresses  such  limits  must  deal  with  prohibitions 
onl}-,  in  so  far  as  it  defines  crime.  But  it  must  furnish  positive  forms  in  which  all  agreements 
and  contracts  are  to  be  defined.  The  full  exercise  of  free-will  within  the  sphere  allotted  to  the 
individual  is  accomplished  onh-  by  means  of  the  institution  of  property.  The  complete  idea 
of  property  renders  necessary  the  possibility  of  its  alienation,  or  transference  to  others.  Con- 
tract is  the  form  in  which  two  or  more  wills  combine,  constituting  a  higher  will.  The  Roman 
law  furnishes  the  varied  forms  in  which  this  higher  will,  essentially  a  corporate  will,  is  realized. 
This  is  the  most  important  contribution  of  Rome  to  the  civilization  of  the  world.  So  important 
is  contract  to  the  Roman  mind,  that,  it  deifies  soulless  abstractions  in  which  it  sees  incorporated 
civil  powers.  Its  Jupiter,  Mars,  Juno,  Venus,  each  personifies  Rome.  The  word  rcligio  (bind- 
ing obligation)  etymologically  expresses  the  highest  spiritual  relation  as  conceived  by  the 
Roman.  He  makes  a  vow,  proposes  a  contract  to  his  gods,  and  the  gift  of  the  god  being 
obtained  he  will  faithfully  fulfil  his  vow. 

The  Roman  people  possess,  as  indixiduals,  a  sort  of  double  consciousness,  as  it  were  a 
consciousness  of  two  selves,  a  private  and  a  public  self:  first,  the  self  as  supremely  free  within 
the  circle  of  what  it  owns  as  its  personal  property,  its  "  dominium ;  "  second,  the  self  as  utterly 


HIGHER    EDUCATION  IN   THE    UNITED   STATES  IJ 

submerged  in  a  liit^hcr  will,  that  of  the  State,  bej-ond  its  personal  limit.  All  modern  civilization, 
rooting  as  it  does  in  that  of  Rome  which  had  conquered  the  world,  receives  as  its  heritage  this 
double  consciousness,  and  can  never  lapse  back  into  the  na'fve,  childish  consciousness  of  pre- 
Roman  civilization.  Just  as  the  technical  terms  and  expressions,  the  very  categories  in  wliich 
literary  and  art  forms  or  philosophical  and  scientific  forms  are  possible,  are  derived  from  a  Greek 
source,  so  too,  on  the  other  hand,  these  most  important  civil  forms  of  contract,  corporation,  and 
criminal  definition,  arc  borrowed  from  Rome,  and  were  originally  expressed  in  Latin  words,  and 
Latin  derivatives  in  most  of  the  European  languages  still  name  and  define  these  distinctions. 
Seventy-five  per  cent  of  the  words  of  the  English  language  arc  of  Latin  origin,  those  expressing 
refinements  of  thought  and  emotion,  and  deliberate  acts  of  the  will.  As  soon  as  one  begins 
to  be  cultured    he  requires  the  Latin  part  of  the  English  vocabulary  to  express  himself. 

To  study  Latin,  just  the  mere  language  and  its  grammar,  is  to  stud>-  the  revelation  of  this 
Roman  spirit  in  its  most  intimate  and  characteristic  form.  Language  is  the  clothing  of  the 
invisible  spiritual  self  of  the  people,  a  re\elation  of  its  primar}-  attitude  towards  the  uni\erse. 
A  study  of  the  politics,  histor)-,  religion  and  law-making  of  the  Roman  people  is  a  still  further 
initiation  into  the  mysteries  of  this  phase  of  modern  civilization,  but  not  so  effective  as  the 
immediate  influence  of  the  language  itself. 

Comparative  philology  and  sociology  owe  to  us  the  duty  of  investigating  the  Greek  and  Latin 
languages  with  a  view  to  discover  (what  must  certainly  exist)  a  grammatical  and  logical  adapta- 
tion of  those  languages  not  only  to  express  the  fundamental  point  of  view  of  those  peoples, 
the  one  theoretical  and  the  other  practical,  but  to  explain  also  how  those  languages  stimulate 
by  their  reaction  upon  the  minds  of  those  using  them,  the  original  theoretical  or  practical 
tendcnc)-  of  the  people  who  spoke  them.  The  modern  youth,  b\-  common  consent  in  all 
civilized  countries,  is  trained  upon  Latin  and  Greek  as  special  discipline  studies.  Little  or  no 
mention  is  made  of  the  rationale  of  this  process,  to  the  pupil.  \'ery  little  is  done  to  point  out 
the  relation  between  the  facts  seen  through  the  Roman  world-view  and  the  facts  which  surround 
him.  Nevertheless  these  ancient  facts  concern  in  one  way  or  another  the  genesis  of  the 
modern  facts,  and  the  experience  of  life  subsequent  to  school  goes  to  the  constructing  of 
bridges    of  relation    from   the   one   fact  to   the    other. 

Merely  by  thinking  the  modern  facts  through  the  colored  spectra  of  the  ancient  facts, 
the  classically  educated  man  is  able  to  decompose  the  compound  ra}-s  united  in  the  modern. 
All  unconscious  that  the  classical  material  of  his  education  performs  the  function  of  a  decom- 
posing prism,  or  that  the  ancient  facts  are  embryonic  stages  of  the  modern  facts,  the  student 
finds  that  he  has  a  superior  power  of  anah'sis  and  generalization,  that  he  is  able  to  di\ide  his 
complex  life  and  to  fix  his  attention  upon  a  single  strand  of  modern  civilization,  its  political 
and  legal  forms,  or  its  theoretical  or  assthetical  forms.  He,  by  this,  learns  how  to  direct  the 
same  practically.     This  ability  is  a  real  possession  of  the  highest  practical  value,  but  he  may 

VOL.  I.  —  2 


1 8  UNIVERSiriES  AND    THEIR   SONS 

not  have  any  true  theory  of  its  existence  or  of  its  origin.  He  may  even  call  the  source  of  his 
talent  "  a  college  fetich." 

It  is  this  subtlest  and  least  observed,  or  most  rarely  formulated  expression  of  the  spirit  of  the 
Greek  and  Roman  peoples,  namely,  their  impression  upon  the  grammatical  forms  and  categorical 
terms  of  their  languages,  that  exercises  the  surest  and  most  powerful  effect  on  the  classical  student. 

One  may  say  that  of  a  hundred  boys,  fifty  of  whom  had  studied  Latin  for  six  months  and 
fifty  of  whom  had  not  studied  Latin  at  all,  the  fifty  with  the  smattering  of  Latin  would  possess 
some  slight  impulse  towards  analyzing  the  legal  and  political  view  of  human  life,  and  surpass 
the  other  fifty  in  this  direction.  Placed  on  the  distant  frontier,  with  the  task  of  building  a  new 
civilization,  the  fifty  with  the  smattering  of  Latin  would  furnish  most  of  the  law-makers  and 
political   rulers,  legislators  and  builders  of  the  State. 

In  the  same  way  a  slight  smattering  of  Greek  through  the  subtle  effect  of  the  vocabulary 
and  forms  of  grammar  would  give  some  slight  impulse  not  otherwise  obtained  towards  theo- 
retical or  aesthetical  contemplation  of  the  world.  On  the  highest  mountain  ridge  a  pebble 
thrown  into  a  rill  may  divide  the  tiny  stream  so  that  one  portion  of  it  shall  descend  a  water- 
shed and  finally  reach  the  Pacific  Ocean  while  the  other  portion  following  its  course  shall 
reach  the  Atlantic.  It  requires  only  a  small  impulse  to  direct  the  attention  of  the  immature 
mind  of  youth  in  any  given  direction.  A  direction  once  given,  the  subsequent  activity  of  the 
mind  follows  it  as  the  line  of  least  resistance,  and  it  soon  becomes  a  great  power,  or  even  w-hat 
we  may  call  a  faculty.  Certainly  it  will  follow  that  the  busying  of  the  mind  of  youth  with  one 
form  or  phase  of  Roman  life  will  give  it  some  impulse  towards  directing  its  view  to  laws  and 
institutions  or  the  forms  of  the  will,  and  that  the  occupation  with  the  Greek  language  and  life 
will  communicate  an  impulse  towards  literary  and  philosophical  views  of  the  world. 

The  specialist  in  snakes  and  turtles  would  not  deserve  the  title  of  profound  naturalist,  if  he 
had  happened  to  neglect  entirely  the  study  of  the  embryology  of  these  reptiles.  A  knowledge 
that  takes  in  a  vast  treasury  of  facts,  but  knows  not  the  relation  of  those  facts  so  as  to  bring 
them  into  systems  of  genesis  and  evolution  does  not  deserve  to  be  called  profound.  It  is 
replete  with  information,  doubtless,  but  not  with  the  most  valuable  part,  even,  of  information. 

It  cannot  be  too  carefully  noticed  that  one  fact  differs  from  another  in  its  educative  value, 
and  that  a  knowledge  of  German  or  French  is  not  a  knowledge  of  a  language  which  belongs  to 
the  embryology  of  English-speaking  peoples,  and  hence  is  not  educative  in  that  particular 
respect,  although  it  may  be  educative  in  many  other  ways.  The  revelation  of  man  to  himself 
is  certain  to  be  found  in  the  history  of  the  race.  He  who  will  comprehend  literature  and  art 
and  philosophy  must  study  their  evolution  by  peoples  with  whom  they  are  or  were  indigenous. 

The  study  of  Latin  and  Greek  therefore  prepares  the  mind  of  the  European  or  American 
to  recognize  and  comprehend  the  most  important  element  in  his  civilization.  What  these 
studies  do  for  human  nature,  mathematics  does  for  physical  nature.     The  mathematics  studied 


HIGHER   EDUCATION  IN    THE   UNITED   STATES  19 

in  collc<fc  enable  him  to  comprehend  quantity  as  it  exists  in  time  and  space.  All  material  exist- 
ence in  lime  and  space  is  subject  to  mathematical  laws.  These  laws  can  be  discovered  in  advance 
of  experience.  The  study  of  geometry,  trigonometry,  the  calculus,  and  mechanics,  in  our  col- 
leges furnishes  the  mind  of  the  student  with  a  number  of  powerful  tools  of  thought  with  which  he 
can  subdue  nature. 

ELEMENTARY,   SECONDARY  AND    HIGHER  STUDIES 

A  comparison  of  the  methods  of  instruction  and  the  course  of  study  in  the  three  grades 
of  school,  elementary,  secondary  and  higher,  will  show  us  more  clearly  in  what  the  special 
advantages  of  higher  education  consist.  The  child  enters  the  elementary  school  when  he  is 
of  proper  age  to  learn  how  to  read.  He  has  not  yet  acquired  an  experience  of  life  sufficient 
for  him  to  understand  very  much  of  human  nature.  He  has  a  quick  grasp  of  isolated  things 
and  events,  but  he  has  very  small  power  of  synthesis.  He  cannot  combine  things  and  events 
in  his  little  mind  so  as  to  perceive  processes  and  principles  and  laws,  —  in  short,  he  has  little 
insight  into  the  trend  of  human  events  or  into  logical  conclusions  which  follow  from  convic- 
tions and  principles.  This  is  the  characteristic  of  primary  or  elementary  instruction,  that 
it  must  take  the  world  of  human  learning  in  fragments  and  fail  to  see  the  intercommunication 
of  things.  The  education  in  high  schools  and  academies,  which  we  call  secondary  education, 
begins  to  correct  this  inadequacy  of  elementary  education;  it  begins  to  study  processes;  it 
begins  to  see  how  things  and  events  are  produced ;  it  begins  to  study  causes  and  productive 
forces.  But  secondary  education  fails,  in  a  marked  manner,  to  arrive  at  any  complete  and 
final  standard  for  human  conduct,  or  at  any  insight  into  a  principle  that  can  serve  as  a  stand- 
ard of  measure.  It  is  the  glory  of  higher  education  that  it  lays  chief  stress  on  the  compara- 
tive method  of  study ;  that  it  makes  philosophy  its  leading  discipline ;  that  it  gives  an  ethical 
bent  to  all  its  branches  of  study.  Higher  education  seeks  as  its  goal  the  unity  of  human 
learning.  Each  branch  can  be  thoroughly  understood  only  in  the  light  of  all  other  branches. 
The  best  definition  of  science  is,  that  it  is  the  presentation  of  facts  in  such  a  system  that 
each  fact  throws  light  upon  all  the  others  and  is  in  turn  illuminated  by  all  the  others. 

The  youth  of  proper  age  to  enter  upon  higher  education  has  already  experienced  much 
of  human  life,  and  has  arrived  at  the  point  where  he  begins  to  feel  the  necessity  for  a  regu- 
lative and  guiding  principle  of  his  own,  with  which  he  may  decide  the  endless  questions  that 
press  themselves  upon  him  for  settlement.  Taking  the  youth  at  this  moment,  when  the 
appetite  for  principles  is  beginning  to  develop,  the  college  gives  him  the  benefit  of  the  ex- 
perience of  the  race.  It  shows  him  the  verdict  of  the  earliest  and  latest  great  thinkers  on 
the  trend  of  world  history.  It  gathers  into  one  focus  the  results  of  the  vast  labors  in 
natural  science,  in   history,   in  sociology,   in  philology,   and  political  science  in  modern  times. 

The  person  who  has  had  merely  an  elementary  schooling  has  laid  stress  on  the  mechan- 
ical  means   of    culture,  —  the   arts    of    reading,   writing,    computing,    and    the    like.     He    has 


20  UNIVERSmES  AND    THEIR   SONS 

trained  his  mind  for  the  acquirement  of  isolated  details.  But  he  has  not  been  disciplined 
in  comparative  study.  He  has  not  learned  how  to  compare  each  fact  with  other  facts,  nor  how 
to  compare  each  science  with  other  sciences.  He  has  never  inquired,  What  is  the  trend  of 
this  science?  He  has  never  inquired,  What  is  the  lesson  of  all  human  learning  as  regards  the 
conduct  of  life?  We  should  say  that  he  has  never  learned  the  difference  between  knowl- 
edge and  wisdom,  or  \\hat  is  better,  the  method  of  converting  knowledge  into  wisdom.  The 
college  has  for  its  function  the  teaching  of  this  great  lesson,  —  how  to  convert  knowledge 
into  wisdom,   how   to  discern   the  bearing  of  all   departments   of  knowledge  upon  each. 

It  is  evident  that  the  individual  who  has  received  only  an  elementary  education  is  at  a 
great  disadvantage  as  compared  with  the  person  who  has  received  a  higher  education  in  the 
college  or  university,  making  all  allowance  for  imperfections  in  existing  institutions.  The 
individual  is  prone  to  move  on  in  the  same  direction,  and  in  the  same  channel,  which  he 
has  taken  under  the  guidance  of  his  teacher.  Very  few  persons  change  their  methods  after 
leaving  school.  It  requires  something  like  a  cataclysm  to  produce  a  change  in  method.  All 
of  the  influences  of  the  university,  its  distinguished  professors,  its  ages  of  reputation,  the  or- 
ganization of  the  students  and  professors  as  a  whole,  these  and  like  influences,  combined  with 
the  isolation  of  the  pupil  from  the  strong  tic  of  family  and  polite  society,  are  able  to  effect 
this  change  in  method  when  they  \\ork  upon  the  mind  of  a  youth  for  three  or  four  years. 

The  graduate  of  the  college  or  university  is,  as  a  general  thing,  in  possession  of  a  new 
method  of  study  and  thinking.  His  attitude  is  a  comparative  one.  Perhaps  he  does  not 
carry  this  far  enough  to  make  it  vital ;  perhaps  he  does  not  readjust  all  that  he  has  before 
learned  b}'  this  new  method ;  but,  placing  him  side  by  side  with  the  graduate  of  the  common 
school,  we  see  readily  the  difference  in  types  of  educated  mind.  The  mind  trained  according  to 
elementary  method  is  surprised  and  captivated  by  superficial  combinations.  It  has  no  power 
of  resistance  against  shallow  critical  views.  It  is  swept  away  by  specious  arguments  for  re- 
form, and  it  must  be  admitted  that  these  agitators  are  the  better  minds,  rather  than  the 
weaker  ones,  which  elementary  education  sends  forth.  The  duller  minds  do  not  even  go  so 
far  as  to   be   interested   in   reforms,   or  to   take   a  critical  attitude   toward   what  exists. 

The  duller,  commonplace  intellect  follows  use  and  wont,  and  does  not  question  the 
established  order.  The  commonplace  intellect  has  no  adaptability,  no  power  of  readjustment 
in  view  of  new  circumstances.  The  disuse  of  hand  labor  and  the  adoption  of  machine  labor, 
for  instance,  finds  the  common  laborer  unable  to  substitute  brain  labor  for  hand  labor,  and 
it  leaves  him   in  the  path  of  povertx',  wending  his  way  to  the  almshouse. 

The  so-called  self-educated  man,  of  whom  we  are  so  proud  in  America,  is  quite  often 
one  who  has  nexer  advanced  far  beyond  these  elementary  methods.  He  has  been  warped 
out  of  his  orbit  by  some  shallow  critical  idea,  which  is  not  born  of  a  comparison  of  each  de- 
partment of  human  learning  with  all  departments.     He  is  necessarily  one-sided  and  defective 


HIGHER   EDUCATION  IN  THE   UNITED   STATES  21 

in  his  training.  I  Ic  has  often  made  a  great  accumulation  of  isolated  scraps  of  information. 
His  memory  pouch  is  precociously  developed.  In  German  literature  such  a  man  is  called  a 
"  Philistine."  He  lays  undue  stress  on  some  insignificant  phase  of  human  affairs.  He  advocates 
with  great  vigor  the  importance  of  some  local  centre,  some  partial  human  interest,  as  the  great 
centre  of  all  human  life.  He  is  like  an  astronomer  who  opposes  the  heliocentric  theory,  and 
advocates  the  claims  of  some  planet,  or  .some  satellite,  as  the  centre  of  the  solar  system. 

There  is  a  conspicuous  lack  of  knowledge  of  the  history  of  the  development  of  social 
institutions  in  many  of  the  revolutionary  theories  urged  upon  the  public.  The  individual 
has  not  learned  the  slow  development  of  the  ideas  of  private  property  in  Roman  history, 
and  he  does  not  see  the  real  function  of  property  in  land.  Again,  he  does  not  know  the 
history  of  the  development  of  human  society.  He  has  not  studied  the  place  of  the  village 
community  and  its  form  of  socialism  in  the  long  road  which  the  State  has  travelled  in  order 
to  arrive  at  freedom  for  the  individual 

The  self-educated  man,  full  of  the  trend  which  the  elementary  school  has  given  him, 
comes  perhaps  into  the  directorship  o\er  the  entire  education  of  a  State.  He  signalizes 
his  career  by  attacking  the  study  of  the  classic  languages,  the  study  of  logic  and  philosophy, 
the  stud)'  of  literature  and  the  humanities.  It  is  to  be  expected  of  him  that  he  will  prefer  the 
dead  results  of  education  to  an  investigation  of  the  total  process  of  the  evolution  of  human  cul- 
ture. The  traditional  course  of  study  in  the  college  takes  the  individual  back  to  the  Latin 
and  Greek  languages  in  order  to  give  him  a  survey  of  the  origins  of  his  art  and  literature 
and  science  and  jurisprudence.  In  the  study  of  Greece  and  Rome  he  fmds  the  embryology 
of  modern  civilization,  and  develops  in  his  mind  a  power  of  discrimination  in  regard  to 
elements  which  enter  the  concrete  life  of  the  present  age.  It  is  not  to  be  expected  that 
the  commonplace  mind,  which  is  armed  and  equipped  only  with  the  methods  of  elemen- 
tary instruction,  shall  understand  the  importance  of  seeing  every  institution,  every  custom, 
every  statute  in  the  light  of  its  evolution. 

In  this  series  of  volumes  which  contain  studies  on  universities,  colleges  and  higher 
institutions  of  learning  in  the  United  States,  with  special  attention  to  the  biographies  of 
the  Sons  of  these  institutions,  ample  opportunity  will  be  afforded  to  investigate  this  great  ques- 
tion of  the  nature  and  influence  of  the  course  of  study  adopted  in  our  higher  education. 
Only  in  the  careers  of  graduates  of  a  college  may  one  trace  with  clearness  the  influence  of  its 
teachings.  These  volumes  will  do  more  than  any  other  instrumentality  to  demonstrate  what 
the  higher  education  of  this  country  has  done  to  give  shape  to  its  business,  its  politics  and 
its  literature,  and  to  show  how  it  has  furnished  the  directive  power  of  the  nation. 


UNIVERSITIES    OF    LEARNING 


23 


UNIVERSITIES  OF  LEARNING 

By    JOSHUA    L.   CHAMBERLAIN,    LL.  D. 

EX-PRESIDENT   UV    liOWUOIN    COLLEGE 

CORRESPONDING  willi  the  desire  of  the  human  mind  for  knowledge,  either  to  give 
it  enlarged  consciousness  of  its  capacities  or  enlarged  scope  of  positive  power,  is  the 
impulse  to  preserve  its  acquisitions  and  communicate  them  to  other  minds.  This 
disposition  has  been  manifest  in  the  institutions  which  have  marked  the  flourishing  epochs  of 
nations  and  the  ascendency  of  great  minds.  In  the  earlier  times  of  history  of  which  there  are 
records,  —  these  very  records  in  fact  being  examples  of  this  tendency,  —  some  nation  has 
appeared  to  ha\e  an  acknowledged  eminence  above  others  in  this  regard,  more  than  commen- 
surate with  its  relative  extent  or  physical  power.  This  would  betoken  the  e.xercise  and  enjoy- 
ment of  a  mastery  more  than  the  mcreh'  material.  But  this  supremacy  has  not  held  its  place 
and  power.  It  seems  to  have  passed  from  time  to  time  from  nation  to  nation,  until  in  more 
modern  times  communication  has  been  more  free,  and  the  human  sympathies  and  ri\alries 
stronger,  so  that  knowledge  has  been  more  quickl\-  and  more  evenly  diffused. 

Perhaps  it  would  be  impossible  to  trace  in  determinate  lines  a  vital  relation  between  the 
great  schools  and  centers  of  learning  which  ha\e  illustrated  the  prominent  ages  and  places  in 
the  progress  of  ci\ilization.  Still  there  has  been  a  certain  continuit)'  in  the  history  of  educa- 
tional institutions,  either  by  inheritance,  or  adoption,  or  imitation.  All  along  the  dim  horizon 
of  history  the  lights  of  learning  are  reflected  on  the  clouds,  a  brooding  token  of  moving  yet 
continuous  life.  The  torch  of  knowledge  passing  from  people  to  people  and  from  shore  to 
shore,  might  seem  to  the  casual  observer  to  have  but  a  broken  and  fitful  course,  yet  when  these 
points  of  radiance  are  joined  b\'  closer  attention  and  deeper  intelligence,  they  disclose  the 
pathway  of  a  persistent  motion,  in  curves  not  wanting  in  grace  or  significance,  and  a  sequence 
suggestive  at  least  of  continuity  of  influence,  if  not  of  the  more  intimate  relations  of  cause  and 
eflect. 

ASSYRIA    AND    EGYPT 

In  the  early  civilization  of  the  East,  the  libraries  were  the  centers  of  learning,  They  were 
also  symbols  of  political  power,  or  of  national  glory.  Their  prestige  was  such  that  although 
sometimes  made  objects  of  the  vengeance  of  contending  dynasties  and  races,  they  were  oftener 

25 


26  UNIVERSITIES  AND   THEIR   SONS 

borne  away  as  spoils  and  trophies  of  war,  or  served  as  royal  gifts  between  friendly  powers. 
We  are  astonished  to  read  of  the  vast  libraries  which  adorned  the  splendid  civilizations  of 
Babylon  and  Assyria,  in  that  long  period  from  the  time  of  Sargon  of  Akkad  3800  years 
before  Christ,  to  that  of  Sardanapalus  more  than  thirty  centuries  later.  In  ancient  Egypt  the 
temples  were  seats  of  learning  and  literary  activity ;  the  sacred  books  gathered  in  them  con- 
necting human  things  with  the  divine  with  so  liberal  a  scope  that  they  have  been  called  "  an 
encyclopaedia  of  religion  and  science."  Here  too  the  great  kings  signalized  their  magnificence 
by  the  collection  of  treasures  of  literature  and  science  and  art  in  libraries  and  museums,  which 
became  schools  of  learning  and  culture.  The  library  of  Rameses  I,  in  the  fourteenth  century 
before  Christ,  showed  the  scope  of  its  purpose  in  the  inscription  it  bore  over  its  gates,  "  The 
Dispensary  of  the  Soul."  In  the  times  of  the  Ptolemies  the  library  at  Alexandria  was  one 
of  the  wonders  of  the  world.  This  was  a  working  school  as  well,  where  with  breadth  of 
vision  as  well  as  of  scholarship,  many  choice  works  of  old  Eg)-ptian  or  Hebrew  lore  were  trans- 
lated into  the  Greek  language. 

GREEK  AND  SARACEN  LEARNING 

The  Greek  in  turn  gave  to  the  Arabian.  We  can  scarcely  help  associating  the  Academy 
and  Lyceum  where  Plato  and  Aristotle  held  their  delighted  followers  in  familiar  though  deep 
discourse,  with  those  centers  and  circles  of  learning  which  from  the  eighth  century  marked  the 
course  of  Saracen  domination  on  three  continents,  with  the  declared  purpose  of  enabling  and 
attracting  its  subjects  to  share  the  treasures  of  philosophy  and  science  then  the  patrimony  and 
the  glory  of  the  Greek  language.  Whether  this  movement  was  in  response  to  a  clearly  indi- 
cated intellectual  demand  of  the  Arabian  mind,  or  as  it  is  most  probable,  a  measure  of  good 
government  and  regard  for  the  general  welfare,  —  not  without  some  aspiration  for  glory,  —  on 
the  part  of  those  memorable  caliphs  Haroun  Al-Raschid  and  his  son  Al-Mamoun,  it  must  be 
confessed  that  this  impulse  had  reached  a  remarkable  height  when,  —  if  we  may  believe  the 
Moslem  records  of  those  times,  —  the  latter  of  these  ambitious  spirits  offered  to  the  Emperor 
at  Constantinople,  with  whom  he  and  his  predecessors  had  been  waging  fierce  wars,  a  treaty 
of  perpetual  peace  and  a  peumcnt  of  five  tons  of  gold,  for  the  ser\ices  of  the  philosopher  Leo, 
if  he  would  impart  to  him  the  nnsteries  of  knowledge  then  in  the  keeping  of  the  Greek. 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  exact  truth  in  this  instance,  a  brilliant  fame  remains  to  the 
Saracen  in  such  great  schools  as  those  at  Bagdad  and  Bokhara  and  their  offshoots;  in  the  rich 
libraries  in  these  places  and  at  Cairo,  and  the  restored  library  at  Alexandria,  rivalling  that  of 
Ptolemy,  in  which  in  turn  were  preserved  in  translations  into  Arabic  many  valuable  works 
whose  originals  have  been  lost  in  the  wave  and  fire  of  war,  or  through  the  discouragement  and 
degeneracy  of  the  peoples  in  their  ancient  home ;  in  the  schools  also  which  followed  its  con- 
quests   in    Europe,  —  first  in  Sicily,  reacting    on    the    shores  of  Italy  to  quicken  the  impulse 


UNIVERSITIES   OF  LEARNING  27 

towards  classic  learning  scarcely  then  reviving  there,  and   finally  in  Cordova  in  Spain,  which 
became  a  powerful  attraction  and  example  for  all  luirope. 

Thus  the  spirit  of  learning,  having  passed  down  the  eastern  end  of  the  Mediterranean  and 
illumined  the  shores  of  Asia  and  Africa  for  a  season,  while  Europe  lay  under  a  shadow  which 
has  given  to  that  period  the  penitential  name  of  "  the  dark  ages,"  now  returned  again  by  the 
western  end  of  that  sea,  in  something  like  an  ecliptic  path.  I  laving  made  that  circuit  and 
passed  on  that  torch,  the  Saracen  genius,  overborne  by  the  dark  power  of  the  Turk,  relapsed 
into  shadow  not  even  yet  lifted,  while  a  new  day  was  dawning  on  Europe  in  the  "  re\'ival  of 
learning  "  led  by  Petrarch  and  Boccaccio,  and  broadening  into  the  "  renaissance  "  of  all  the 
arts,  even  that  of  recovering  the  ancient  liberties  of  Rome,  as  was  attempted  b}-  the  high-souled 
but  ill-fated  Rienzi  and  Bussolari. 

Whether  this  wavering  path  of  the  light  and  dark  ages  is  by  force  of  some  "  natural  law  in 
the  spiritual  world,"  or  perchance  by  a  force  acting  in  the  converse  of  this  order,  —  the  natural 
being  but  the  manifestation  of  the  spiritual,  —  a  certain  autonomic  will,  akin  to  instinct,  domi- 
nating amidst  the  seeming  play  of  the  vibrations  of  human  motive  and  circumstance  which 
covers  the  linking  of  the  iron  chain  of  hidden  cause  and  effect,  —  we  cannot  fail  to  discern 
berveath  all  the  successions  of  phases  and  transitions,  dissolution  and  reconstitution,  a  certain 
transmitted  influence,  or  high,  transcendent  ruling,  which  determines  the  persistent  ongoing 
and  identity  of  human  life.  Nothing  seems  to  be  lost  to  man ;  we  live  from  all  the  past,  and 
for  all  the  future. 

And  there  may  be  in  this  course  of  learning  a  closer  continuity  than  that  of  influence  and 
stimulus.  The  very  words  we  employ  to  mark  the  rise  of  modern  conceptions  of  methods  of 
study  in  the  arts  and  sciences,  in  history  and  literature,  — "  revival  "  and  "  renaissance,"  — 
imply  something  like  a  resurrection  —  a  continuity,  but  also  newness,  of  life.  The  vital  germs 
planted  long  before,  held  in  darkness  and  inert,  and  seeming  lost,  were  only  slumbering  until 
the  times  were  ripe  for  taking  on  the  new  life.  Humble  means  were  sometimes  working  out 
greater  ends.  It  was  for  no  momentary'  satisfaction  that  those  recluse  scholars  in  the  ancient 
libraries  busied  themselves  in  translating  precious  works  otherwise  lost.  It  was  not  without 
some  forecast  that  treasures  of  ancient  lore  were  guarded  in  the  seclusion  and  sanctity  of 
cathedral  and  monastery,  while  the  clergy  and  monks  were  forbidden  or  unable  to  read  them. 
Truly  the  cloisters  held  some  rare  and  chosen  spirits,  touched  with  higher  lights  than  those  by 
which  they  went  their  daily  round. 

THE    MEDIAEVAL   SCHOOLS 

When  the  schools  of  the  Roman  Empire  were  swept  away  before  the  flood  of  Barbarian 
invasion,  their  places  were  taken  by  the  cathedral  and  monastic  schools.  The  conquerors 
thought  it  good  policy  to  respect  the  Church,  which  held  the  prestige  of  a  divine  authority. 


28  UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 

But  the  old  Roman  schools,  after  which  the  new  schools  patterned,  devoted  chiefly  to  the  study 
of  grammar  and  rhetoric,  thus  preserving  the  fame  and  influence  of  the  Greek  and  Roman 
masters,  opened  also  to  a  literature  full  of  the  praises  of  heathen  gods,  and  the  recitals  of 
heathen  mythology;  and  hence  these  studies  did  not  find  much  favor  with  the  Church  author- 
ities, and  were  not  pursued  far.  Still  this  buried  life  was  preserved  and  carried  over.  Out  of 
it  rose  mighty  institutions. 

Thus  the  little  school  of  Salerno,  kept  alive  by  peculiar  monastic  care,  when  touched 
by  the  genial  influences  of  the  Saracens  on  the  neighboring  shores  of  Sicily  in  the  ninth 
century,  rose  rapidly  into  a  vigorous  medical  school  and  university.  Bologna  also,  a  great 
law  school  at  the  beginning  of  the  twelfth  century,  and  a  university  of  world-wide  fame 
within  the  two  centuries  following,  is  said  to  have  taken  its  rise  under  the  fostering  hand 
of  Theodosius  II,  in  the  fifth  century,  and  recognized  by  Charlemagne  three  hundred  years 
later,  to  have  been  finally  "  established "  by  Irnerius  three  centuries  later  still.  So  too, 
there  are  positive  and  lasting  results  of  that  characteristic  measure  of  the  broad-minded 
Charlemagne,  when  he  in\ited  to  his  court  at  Aix-la-Chapelle  the  English  scholar,  Alcuin, 
the  most  accomplished  man  of  his  time.  In  the  school  he  set  up  in  his  palace,  this  great 
master  of  men  made  himself  and  all  his  family  pupils  of  Alcuin,  who  doubtless  imparted 
to  them  what  they  were  able  to  receive  of  his  learning,  and  quickened  their  spirits  for 
greater  things.  From  this  example,  and  the  force  of  edicts  from  time  to  time  issued  by 
him  requiring  that  candidates  for  orders  in  the  church  should  be  well  instructed  in  all 
the  knowledge  then  available,  and  that  they  should  no  longer  be  admitted  from  a  servile 
class,  but  be  sons  of  freemen,  with  a  counter-balancing  provision  that  gratuitous  instruction 
should  be  given  to  the  children  of  the  laity  in  all  schools,  a  mighty  impulse  was  given  to 
the  character,  the  honor  and  the  extension  of  education,  through  all  his  vast  empire.  One 
particular  result  appears  in  the  school  which  grew  up  to  become  the  renowned  University  of 
Paris.  This,  in  turn,  became  prototype  of  many  others,  among  which  we  may  no  doubt 
count  the  University  of  Oxford,  and  afterwards  of  Cambridge. 

But  here  again  appears  a  thread  which  indicates  the  continuous  working  of  purposes 
and  efforts,  although  in  long  obscurity  and  slow  of  result.  It  is  not  improbable  that  the 
first  seeds  of  the  higher  learning  were  sown  at  Oxford  by  the  illustrious  Alfred,  and  it  is 
well  established  that  a  school  of  arts,  as  then  understood,  existed  there  in  the  time  of 
Edward  the  Confessor,  in  about  the  year  1050.  And  to  the  influence  of  these  universities 
we  know  how   much  our  early  educational   institutions  in  America  are  indebted. 

Thus,  even  when  the  close  connection  of  steps  cannot  be  traced,  we  can  see  from  the  high 
ground  of  the  present  that  all  the  paths  of  the  past,  small  or  great,  direct  or  circuitous,  lead  into 
our  own ;  and  that  we  are  made  sharers  of  the  knowledge,  as  well  as  of  the  spirit  and  impulse, 
which  have  quickened  and  strengthened  other  minds  wide  and  far  away  in  place  and  time. 


UNIf^ERSiriES   OF  LEARNING  29 

The  mediaeval  schools,  following  the  traditions  of  the  Roman,  had  for  their  type  and 
measure  a  curriculum  then  supposed  to  comprehend  the  arts  and  sciences,  the  former  divi- 
sion of  which  was  the  "  trivium,"  regarded  as  elementary,  consisting  of  grammar,  rhetoric  and 
logic;  and  the  latter  "  quadrivium,"  embracing  arithmetic,  geometry,  music  and  astronomy. 
The  first  of  these  divisions  represented  what  we  call  in  our  day,  language  and  literature. 
In  the  second  group,  the  subjects  classed  as  sciences  seem  to  have  been  treated  chiefly 
in  an  abstract  manner,  as  mental  concepts  more  than  positive  knowledge,  which  now  deter- 
mines what  we  regard  as  the  peculiar  field  of  science.  These,  indeed,  had  been  treated  only 
in  the  most  elementary  and  superficial  manner.  Even  astronomy,  the  earliest  of  the  sci- 
ences, passing  from  Chaldca  through  Egypt  to  the  Greeks,  had,  after  the  grand  guesses  at 
truth  by  Pythagoras,  been  suffered  to  fall  into  neglect,  scarcely  broken  by  the  discoveries 
of  Hipparchus  and  rtolcni\%  until  revived  by  the  Arabians  in  the  eighth  century,  and 
received  no  adequate  attention  until  the  advent  of  Copernicus  nearly  seven  centuries 
afterwards. 

THE   UNIVERSITIES 

The  advance  in  the  spirit  as  well  as  in  the  subjects  of  learning  which  marked  the 
twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries,  demanded  great  extension  and  indeed  complete  transfor- 
mation. At  about  the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth  century,  the  \\hole  old  curriculum,  termed 
the  "liberal  arts,"  was  gathered  under  a  new  general  title,  —  "philosophy,"  and  we  find  the 
universities  starting  out  with  four  "faculties," — philosophy,  theology,  jurisprudence  and 
medicine.     All  these  departments  now  took  new  depth  and  scope. 

The  sphere  of  medicine  was  wide  indeed.  There  was  no  other  science  which  compre- 
hended any  of  the  branches  afterwards  embraced  in  "  natural  history,"  including  a  descrip- 
tion of  all  the  phenomena  of  the  animal,  vegetable  and  mineral  world.  Under  the  name  of 
"  physics,"  these  formed  the  basis  of  the  science  applied  in  the  art  of  the  practitioner  of 
medicine,  the  tradition  of  which  survives  among  English-speaking  peoples  in  the  title 
of  "  physician  "  among  the   learned  professions  of  the    present    day. 

It  seems  not  a  little  strange  that  Europe  owes  to  a  race  or  order  of  the  Oriental 
mind  combining  poetic  tendencies,  almost  amounting  to  the  romantic,  with  an  active  and 
positive  temper,  the  impulse  which  led  to  the  wide-spread  and  eager  study  of  the  more 
practical  sciences  so  deep  in  their  reaches  and  useful  in  their  effects,  —  chemistry,  physics 
and  medicine,  —  in  the  very  nomenclature  of  which  lies  a  lasting  recognition  of  obligation 
to  Arabian  genius   and    achievement. 

The  studies  of  theology  and  law  were  pursued  with  such  vigor  that  they  came  to 
dominate  the  minds  of  almost  all  Christendom.  The  two  positive,  interpenetrating,  almost 
rival  powers,  —  the  prestige  of  the   old   Roman  Empire,   and   the    actual,  potent   authorit}-  of 


30  UNIVERSITIES  AND   THEIR   SONS 

the  Roman  Church,  —  demanded  of  their  intelh'gent  subjects  accurate  knowledge  of  at  least 
their  positive  edicts.  There  were  thus  two  branches  of  the  law,  —  the  civil  and  the  eccle- 
siastical. We  can  well  understand  why  the  study  of  the  civil  law,  tracing  not  only  the 
literal,  positive  precepts  of  the  imperial  codes,  and  their  historic  origin  in  the  "  twelve 
tables,"  but  also  the  application  of  the  principles  of  natural  equity  as  applied  to  the  con- 
ditions of  a  growing  civilization,  comprising  thus  both  the  constitution  and  the  law,  and 
lying  at  the  very  foundation  of  the  social  order,  should  be  regarded  as  of  the  highest  dig- 
nity and  importance.  We  can  also  understand  why  the  study  of  theolog\',  deriving  its 
authority  from  the  express  sanctions  of  God  himself,  and  claiming  jurisdiction  over  every 
act  and  faculty  of  the  human  mind,  and  formally  declared  in  the  creeds  of  the  church  and 
the  edicts  of  its  recognized  head,  —  a  power  commissioned  from  the  spiritual  spheres,  rival, 
if  not  arbiter,  of  human  law,  —  should  assert  itself  as  supreme  in  rank  among  the  studies 
possible  to  man.  Well  may  it  be  said  that  "  these  studies  of  the  civil  and  canon  law  did 
more  during  the  middle  ages  than  all  others  put  together,  to  shape  and  control  the  opinions 
of  mankind." 

SCHOLASTICISM 

In  connection  with  this,  one  branch  of  the  old  "  trivium,"  that  of  logic,  now  embraced 
under  "  philosophy,"  received  remarkable  extension.  The  habit  of  limiting  this  sphere  of 
study  to  the  powers  of  words  was  not  wholly  unreasonable  nor  without  profit.  For  if  all 
the  meanings  and  relations  of  words  are  followed  out,  the  mind  cannot  but  advance  in 
its  powers  both  of  definition  and  of  comprehension.  But  when  it  comes  to  deal  with 
abstract  terms  and  general  concepts,  the  mind  wanders  in  a  world  of  its  own  creation. 
Words  are  names  of  things;  and  what  are  "things"?  This  speculative  application  of  logic 
was  adopted  as  a  method  of  ascertaining  truth ;  and  under  the  title  of  "  dialectics  "  became 
the  master-science  of  the  middle  ages.  As  it  had  its  chief  theatre  in  the  schools,  this 
method  of  reasoning  was  called  "  scholasticism."  Its  importance  was  in  the  fact  that  it 
was  applied  to  the  discussion  of  some  of  the  most  momentous  doctrines  of  theology. 
Curiously  enough  the  turning-point  of  the  determination  was  the  reality  of  the  objects 
denoted  by  abstract  terms,  and  general  concepts,  sometimes  called  "  universals "  as  includ- 
ing under  them  in  extension  many  particulars.  The  question  was  whether  these  terms 
represented  real  existences  in  and  of  themselves,  or  were  only  names  of  concepts  —  forms 
fashioned  in  and  by  the  mind,  and  having  no  existence  outside  of  it.  The  adherents  of 
the  former  view  were  called  "realists";  and  those  holding  to  the  latter  view,  "nominalists." 
In  these  discussions,  such  writings  as  those  of  the  Aristotelean  logic,  and  Plato's  obscure 
Timaeus,  which  formed  a  good  part  of  their  scanty  philosophical  literature,  and  those  ot 
St.  Augustine  on  the  controverted  points  of  theology,  were  appealed  to  as  final  authorities. 


UNIVERSiriES   OF  LEARNING  31 

But  the  necessity  of  dealiiif^  with  words  which  cannot  be  otherwise  than  ambiguous 
and  the  imperfect  apprehension  of  logical  and  real  distinctions,  could  not  fail  to  carry 
these  metaphysical  discussions  into  inextricable  confusion.  l^'or  Plato  meant  by  his 
"idea"  not  the  conception  of  the  mind,  but  the  object  to  which  that  conception  con- 
formed. And  Aristotle  seems  not  clearly  to  have  perceived  that  that  distinction  between 
matter  and  form  which  he  makes  so  important  a  part  of  his  definitions,  represents  no  actual, 
objective  difference  in  things,  but  only  sets  forth  the  very  same  things  apprehended  under 
diff'erent  modes  of  thought. 

We  may  smile  at  these  "  quiddities "  and  "  hacccities,"  but  they  mark  analytical  abil- 
ities of  a  very  high  order,  and  great  power  of  sustained  thought;  and  the  controversy, 
while  engaged  upon  the  finest  and  most  recondite  doctrines  of  theology,  involved  almost 
every  relation  below  these,  from  Pontifical  authority  and  ecclesiastical  orthodoxy  to  pro- 
fessional and  personal  relations.  So  that  our  respect  cannot  be  withheld,  and  our  sur- 
prise is  forestalled,  —  though  not  our  sorrow,  —  when  we  learn  that  noble  men  like  John 
Huss  were  sent  to  the  stake  for  opinions  having  their  ground  in  the  intellectual  appre- 
hension   of  the  nature  of  the  entities  lying    behind    general   concepts  and  abstract  ideas. 

It  may  not  be  easy  to  explain  why  so  many  able  men  devoted  the  keenest  powders  and 
utmost  energies  for  century  after  century  to  these  discussions,  nor  why  such  multitudes  of 
young  men  flocked  to  the  universities  from  all  parts  of  Europe  to  listen  to  them  ;  but  it  is 
by  no  means  a  barren  passage  of  history.  While  the  spirit  of  an  age  in  which  such  things 
were  possible  has  passed  away,  and  while  perhaps  no  more  positive  gains  than  the  exhi- 
bition of  the  possible  permutations  of  terms  and  concepts  have  been  added  to  the  solid 
sum  of  knowledge,  yet  the  enthusiasm  resulting  in  and  from  these  controversies  undoubtedly 
led  to  the  wide  extension  of  the  interest  in  learning,  and  to  the  founding  of  many  great 
and  noble  schools  the  influence  of  which  has  enriched  all  later  means  and  methods  of  study, 
and   in   many  ways  beyond   those    manifest   has   a  world-wide   potency    to-day. 

ORGANIZATION 

The  point  of  time,  or  determination,  as  to  the  name  universities  is  not  easy  to  ascertain. 
We  know  that  the  extension  of  the  courses  of  study  so  as  to  constitute  the  four  faculties  was 
denoted  by  the  term  "  studium  generale,"  or  "  universale."  Hence,  no  doubt,  the  title  "  univer- 
versity."  But  whether  first  adopted  by  the  heads  of  institutions  upon  their  wider  organization, 
or  a  current  appellation  descriptive  of  their  new  departure,  or  whether  the  title  was  first  obtained 
by  virtue  of  special  acts  of  recognition  of  the  form  or  efiect  of  charters  conferred  as  franchises 
by  the  authorities  of  Church  or  State,  it  may  not  be  possible  or  material  to  determine.  It  is 
clear  that  the  matter  of  internal  organization  was  of  the  first  necessity.  The  great  num.ber  of 
students  resorting  to  these  centers  of  learning  from  all  quarters  of  Europe  rendered  it  necessary 


32  UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 

to  adopt  regulations  and  declarations  of  rights  and  powers  equivalent  in  many  respects  to  that 
of  a  corporation,  or  almost  a  bod\'  politic.  We  find  at  Bologna  in  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth 
century  more  than  thirteen  thousand  students ;  and  shortly  afterwards  at  Paris  more  than  thirty 
thousand,  — a  number  equal  to  that  of  the  whole  body  of  resident  citizens.  The  regulation  and 
governance  of  so  many  aliens  must  have  been  matter  of  no  small  concern.  Under  such  cir- 
cumstances the  students  ant  professors  of  a  common  country  organized  themselves  into  societies, 
or  student  guilds,  somewhat  after  the  fashion  of  the  Teutonic  guilds  of  Northern  Germany, — 
"  confederations  of  aliens  on  a  foreign  soil,"  each  following  its  own  peculiar  customs,  and  adopt- 
ing its  own  laws  and  regulations.  Thus  within  these  great  schools  were  three  or  four  distinct 
bodies,  or  "  nations,"  as  they  called  themselves,  which  enabled  them  in  some  manner  to  secure 
protection  and  enjoyment  of  rights  which  they  could  not  claim  as  citizens,  nor  enforce  by 
process  of  local  municipal  laws.  It  would  be  curious  if  we  could  trace  to  this  practice  and 
custom  that  somewhat  exclusive  student-spirit,  and  that  easily  provoked  jealousy  between  "  town 
and  gown,"  and  that  now  baseless  and  misleading  notion  that  students  are  not  amenable  to  the 
municipal  laws,  still  lurking  in  the  older  American  colleges. 

TENURE   AND    POWER 

But  beyond  this  interior,  self-sufficing  organization,  in  notable  instances  special  privileges 
and  immunities  were  granted  to  students  of  the  great  schools  by  the  civil,  political  and  religious 
authorities.  Such  an  instance  is  that  of  the  Emperor  Frederick  Barbarossa,  who,  importuned 
no  doubt  by  the  crowds  of  students  at  Bologna  in  the  year  1155  complaining  of  the  oppression 
of  the  landlords  in  whose  houses  they  were  domiciled,  won  high  favor  by  conferring  upon  them 
substantial  privileges,  which  were  afterwards  embodied  in  the  "  Corpus  Juris  Civilis "  of  the 
Empire.  In  similar  manner  the  University  of  I'aris,  besides  its  interior  organization  of  "  nations," 
received  from  the  Pope  not  only  authorit)'  for  the  joint  faculties  to  "  regulate  and  modify  the 
entire  constitution  of  the  university,"  but  also  the  privileges  of  sending  a  representative  to  the 
Papal  Court,  which  conferred  upon  it  rights  as  a  corporate  body  before  the  courts  of  justice. 
In  England,  Oxford,  which  began  its  practical  organization  in  the  endowment  of  "  halls "  and 
"houses"  for  the  maintenance  of  scholars,  was  referred  to  as  a  university  in  a  document  of 
King  John  in  the  \car  1201  ;  and  a  royal  charter  was  soon  after  granted,  which  established  its 
rights  as  a  public  institution  under  the  patronage  and  protection  of  the  State.  In  the  next 
century  it  is  formally  recognized  by  the  see  of  Rome  as  an  authorized  place  of  public  instruc- 
tion, in  the  category  of  Paris,  Bologna  and  Salamanca ;  and  various  regulations  are  laid  down 
respecting  the  professors  and  graduates  of  these  institutions. 

Following  the  precedent  perhaps  of  Paris  in  its  representation  at  the  Papal  Court,  England 
in  1603  granted  to  her  universities  the  right  of  representation  by  membership  in  the  House 
of  Commons,  and  in  that  capacity,  by  a  remarkable  extension  of  political  privilege,  participation 


UNIFERSiriES   OF  LEARNING  33 

in  the  legislation  and  government  of  the  nation  and  empire.  The  great  prestige  of  the  univer- 
sities is  also  attested  in  the  fact  that  they  ranked  among  the  powers  of  Church  and  State. 
The  University  of  Paris  was  an  arbiter  between  these.  Philip  the  Fair  invoked  its  aid  when 
refusing  the  claim  of  Pope  Boniface  that  by  the  ordinance  of  God  all  kings,  including  the  King 
of  France,  owed  complete  obedience  to  the  Pope,  not  only  in  religious  affairs  but  in  secular  and 
human  as  well.  And  Charles  the  Wise,  justly  estimating  the  glory  it  had  shed  upon  his  throne, 
declared  it  to  be  the  eldest  daughter  of  the  kings  of  l-'rance,  and  ga\e  it  precedence  at  court 
immediately  after  princes  of  the  blood.  In  the  great  "schism  of  the  West "  it  was  under  its 
advice  that  the  I-'rench  church  forniall)-  willulrew  itself  from  the  dominion  and  authority  of  the 
Pontiff.  And  in  the  famous  Council  of  Constance  called  to  determine  questions  of  utmost 
moment,  its  chancellor,  John  Gerson,  was  ambassador  of  the  king,  and  wielding  the  prestige 
of  the  university  with  masterl\'  diplomacy  and  dignity  became  the  recognized  oracle  of  the 
Council.  Remarkable  authority  seems  to  have  been  accorded  to  Oxford,  when  in  the  turmoil 
over  the  Divine  Right  of  Kings  in  the  last  years  of  Charles  II,  the  university  published  a  decree 
asserting  the  duty  of  passive  obedience,  and  condemning  the  works  of  John  Milton  and  others, 
demonstrating  to  the  contrary,  to  be  publicly  burned. 

SOUTH    AMERICA 

From  these  examples  of  the  rise  and  character  of  the  universities  of  Europe,  we  pass  to 
the  institutions  of  higher  learning  in  the  New  World  which  have  been  more  or  less  directly 
influenced  by  them.  In  South  America  they  followed  mostly  the  pattern  of  those  of  Spain. 
Whatever  reproaches  may  be  laid  against  the  Jesuits,  it  cannot  be  denied  that  in  their  early 
wide-spread  missions  they  did  good  service  in  the  cause  of  education.  It  was  b\-  their  efforts, 
conducted  with  self-denial,  zeal,  tact  and  patience,  exercised  among  the  people  as  well  as 
towards  the  political  authorities,  that  schools  of  learning  in  South  America  followed  so  closely 
the  Spanish  conquests.  Through  these  efforts  arose  the  University  of  San  Marcos  in  Lima, 
Peru,  which  received  the  royal  confirmation  of  Charles  V  in  155  i.  Next,  in  1553,  appears  that 
of  San  Paulo  near  Bahia,  Brazil,  which  as  a  source  of  knowledge  and  of  civilization,  was  a  power 
beyond  any  other  in  the  history  of  that  country.  Nearly  at  the  same  time  arose  the  University 
of  Santiago  de  Chile,  under  the  protection  of  Valdivia,  the  successful  general  of  Pizarro,  and 
in  Mexico  a  university  founded  by  the  Jesuits,  largely  an  ecclesiastical  institution  after  the 
model  of  Salamanca  and  the  Sorbonne,  which  maintained  its  place  and  character  until  on  the 
separation  of  Church  and  State  in  1857  it  was  dissolved,  and  its  foundations  distributed  among 
special  schools  of  all  the  arts  and  sciences,  more  suited  to  the  needs  of  the  times.  In  the 
province  of  La  Plate,  —  formerly  embraced  in  the  vice-royalty  of  Buenos  Ayres,  and  now  a  State 
in  the  Argentine  Republic,  —  by  struggles  truly  heroic  the  Jesuits  founded  in  161 1  the  College  of 
San  Francisco  Xavier  at  Cordova,  which  eleven  years  afterwards  recognized  as  the   University 

VOL.  I.  —  3 


34  UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 

of  Cordova,  began  a  famous  career  as  the  center  of  Jesuit  missions  and  the  most  powerful  seat 
of  learning  on  the  continent.  The  course  of  study  here  was  typical  of  the  class.  At  first  the 
old  mediaeval  curriculum  was  followed,  based  on  the  Latin  language.  The  higher  courses  were 
the  scholastic  philosophy  and  theology.  By  degrees  the  faculties  of  medicine  and  of  jurispru- 
dence were  added.  At  length,  in  comparatively  recent  times,  under  the  popular  demand  for 
"  more  practical  and  useful  knowledge  than  that  which  makes  priests,  nuns,  and  pettifogging 
lawyers  "  —  so  their  protest  and  petition  ran,  —  the  faculties  of  mathematics  and  the  physical 
sciences  in  all  their  branches  and  applications,  took  an  important  place  in  the  constitution  of 
the  university.  However,  the  early  prominence  given  in  the  university  to  the  study  of  the 
civil  law  has  had  its  later  fruits  in  the  proficiency  in  the  political  sciences  attained  in  these 
countries.  In  general  public  law,  and  especially  in  international  law,  statesmen  and  jurisconsults 
of  South  America  rank  with  the  ablest  modern  masters. 

CANADA 

In  Canada  the  celebrated  Laval  de  Montmorency  founded  in  1663  the  Catholic  Seminary 
of  Quebec,  and  after  many  vicissitudes  of  experience  he  made  over  all  his  property  to  this 
institution,  where  he  exercised  a  powerful  influence  over  the  civil  as  well  as  the  ecclesiastical 
affairs  of  that  important  province  of  the  French  Crown.  This  was  raised  into  a  university  in 
1854,  perpetuating  his  name;  and  still  holds  vital  relations  to  the  educational  system  of  the 
Province.  King's  College  in  Winsor,  Nova  Scotia,  has  the  singular  prestige  of  owing  its 
origin  to  distinguished  "  loyalists "  from  the  United  States,  who  took  rcfiige  there  after  the 
Revolution.  The  rigor  of  its  theological  requirements  led  to  the  establishment  of  Dalhousie 
College  at  Halifax  in  1821.  Among  modern  institutions  of  the  highest  class  are  McGill  Univer- 
sity in  Montreal,  founded  in  1825,  and  the  Universit}'  of  Toronto,  founded  as  King's  College  in 
1827,  with  "university  privileges,"  since  realized  in  its  reorganization  in  1849,  on  the  model 
of  the  University  of  London.  Other  important  institutions  have  affiliated  themselves  with  this. 
These  universities  hold  a  very  high  rank  among  the  directive  influences  of  the  Dominion. 

UNITED    STATES 

But  it  is  the  universities  of  the  United  States  which  chiefly  engage  our  interest.  The 
blessings  of  education  were  prominent  objects  before  the  eyes  of  the  founders  of  these 
colonies.  The  same  feeling  which  in  all  early  history  appears  to  associate  closely  educa- 
tion and  religion,  had  remarkable  manifestation  in  this  country.  And  there  is  a  special 
reason  for  this  in  the  wonderful  development  of  religious  and  civil  liberty  hand  in  hand,  which 
characterized  the  first  century  of  Colonial  history.  The  deep  experiences  of  Prostestant 
Christians  in  England,  France  and  the  Netherlands  had  awakened  a  resolution  not  to  be 
repressed.     Instinct,    observation,    conscience,    understanding,    reason,    faith,  —  nay,    memory, 


UNIFERSjriES   OF  LE/IRNJNG  35 

hope,  aiul  fai-chcrishcd  ideals,  —  conspired  to  impel  the  colonists  at  the  very  first,  to  es- 
tablish schools  of  learnint;  adapted  to  the  new  situation,  but  naturally  holding  to  some  tradi- 
tions of  those  of  the  old  workl  to  which  the)',  and  the  cause  of  liberty  so  dear  to  them, 
owed  so  much.  Many  of  them  were  <,M-aduates  of  old  Cambridj^fe  in  ICn^land,  which  in 
the  profound  re\'olt  a_L,fainst  absolutism  had  become  a  stron<;hold  of  Puritanism.  'Ihe  spirit  of 
the  Baconian  philosophy  had  not  more  transformed  the  subjects  and  methods  of  study,  than 
had  the  open  Bible  revcalini;^  the  ^\()rth  of  the  individual  soul  transfused  men's  minds  with  the 
spirit  of  freedom.  All  our  earh-  collet^es  were  t;rounded  on  religious  principles,  and  inspired 
by  religious  purpose.  Harvard,  founded  in  1636,  was  dedicated  to  Christ  and  the  Church, 
and  was  especially  designed  to  prepare  }()ung  men  for  the  ministry.  Yale,  following  in 
1700,  with  deep  religious  moti\es  in  its  origin,  as  in  its  development,  was  entrusted  to 
the  guidance  of  Congregationalist  ministers. 

Nor  was  it  onl\-  Puritans  and  Independents  who  held  fast  to  the  religious  element  in 
higher  education.  The  College  of  William  and  Mary  in  Virginia,  founded  in  1692,  had 
for  one  of  its  chief  objects  to  provide  suitable  instruction  for  such  as  intended  to  take 
orders  in  the  P^stablished  Church.  The  College  of  New^  Jersey  also,  though  embracing 
many  religious  sects  and  the  traditions  of  several  nationalities,  declared  its  purpose  to 
be  the  intellectual  and  religious  instruction  of  youth,  and  especially  the  thorough  training 
of  candidates  for  the  hoi)' ministry.  And  the  Academy  at  Philadelphia,  which  in  1751  grew 
into  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  was  founded  by  the  sons  of  William  Penn,  who  though 
a  graduate  of  O.xford,  became  a  stout  defender  and  almost  mart)'r  of  the  cause  of  spiritual 
liberty,  and  the  sons  no  doubt  were  actuated  by  that  high  teaching  and  example.  Columbia 
too,  though  not  perhaps  the  lineal  descendant  of  the  Dutch  classical  school  which  fol- 
lowed close  upon  the  first  steps  of  colonization  under  the  auspices  of  the  Reformed  Church  of 
the  Netherlands,  —  which,  it  is  worth)'  of  remark,  holds  its  unbroken  line  from  1643  unto 
these  times,  —  owes  much  to  this  influence  and  example.  At  the  capitulation  in  1673, 
the  English  recognized  the  religious  allegiance  of  the  Dutch  schools,  and  desiring  a  simi- 
lar one  of  their  own  in  1754  founded  "King's  College,"  patronized  by  all  Protestant  denom- 
inations and  by  the  Government  of  England.  Rising  with  new  life  after  the  Revolution  as 
"  Columbia,"  it  bore  upon  its  seal  mingled  emblems  of  instruction  and  religious  faith  and 
doctrine,  and  legends  in  Hebrew,  Greek  and  Latin  under  the  mystic  symbol  of  the  Holy 
Trinity,  with  the  testimony  —  both  pledge  and  prayer,  —  "  In  Th)'  Light  shall  we  see  light." 

The  influence  of  these  schools  of  learning  who  can  doubt,  —  who  can  measure? 
Edmund  Burke  in  his  speech  for  the  conciliation  of  the  Colonies  bears  this  testimony: 
"Another  circumstance  which  contributes  towards  the  growth  and  effect  of  this  intract- 
able spirit; — I  mean  their  education.  In  no  country  in  the  world  is  the  law  so  general 
a   study.     All   who    read,  —  and    most    do    read, — obtain   some   smattering   in    that   science. 


36  UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 

This  study  makes  men  acute,  inquisitive,  dexterous,  prompt  in  attack,  ready  in  defence, 
full  of  resources.  In  other  countries  the  people,  more  simple,  judge  of  an  ill  principle 
in  government  only  by  an  actual  grievance;  here,  they  judge  of  the  pressure  of  the 
grievance  by  the  badness  of  the  principle."  The  libraries  and  teachings  of  the  colleges 
kept  the  fountain  full.  Writes  Thomas  Hollis  of  England,  one  of  Harvard's  earliest  bene- 
factors :  "  More  books,  especially  on  government,  are  going  for  New  England.  Should 
these  go  safe,  no  principal  books  on  that  first  subject  will  be  wanting  in  Harvard  College 
from  the  days  of  Moses  to  these  times.  Men  of  New  England,  use  them,  for  yourselves, 
and  for  others ;   and  God  bless  you  !  " 

President  Stiles  of  Yale  —  himself  a  noble  patriot  —  gives  testimony:  "The  Colleges 
have  been  of  singular  advantage  in  the  present  day.  When  Britain  withdrew  all  her 
wisdom  from  America,  this  Revolution  found  above  two  thousand  in  New  England  only, 
who  had  been  educated  in  the  Colonies,  intermingled  with  the  people,  and  communicating 
knowledge  among  them."  Well  may  we  understand  this  when  we  see  at  their  head  such 
men  as  the  Adamses,  the  Bowdoins,  the  Otises,  the  Quincies,  Ames,  Gerry,  King,  Par- 
sons, for  Harvard ;  the  Livingstons,  Silas  Deane,  Oliver  Walcott,  Wooster,  Morris,  Sedg- 
wick, Wadsworth,  Johnson,  Hall,  Baldwin,  Ingersol  and  Nathan  Hale  for  Yale,  —  the  Dyers 
and  Trumbulls  and  Wyllyses  dividing  their  patronage  between  these  two ;  Madison,  John 
Dickinson,  Ellsworth,  Luther  Martin,  Reeve,  Rush,  Henry  Lee  for  Princeton;  Jay,  Hamil- 
ton and  Gouverneur  Morris,  Troup,  Rutgers,  Lispenard,  Richard  Harrison,  Egbert  Benson, 
Moore,  Cruger  and  Stevens  for  Columbia;  Hopkinson,  Mifflin,  Morgan,  General  Dickinson, 
Tilghman,  and  the  Cadwalladers,  and  we  might  add  Nixon,  McKean  and  Robert  Morris, 
for  Pennsylvania;  Jefferson,  Monroe,  Peyton  and  Edmund  Randolph,  Harrison,  Wythe  for 
William   and    Mary. 

And  how  many  others  as  worthy  to  be  named,  not  participating  directly  in  the  forma- 
tion or  exposition  of  the  new  government,  —  preachers  and  ministers  of  the  Gospel, 
teachers  in  the  colleges,  academies  and  schools,  writers  for  the  press,  orators  at  town  meet- 
ings,—  did  these   colleges   furnish   for  the   country's   need   and   honor! 

Some  of  the  leading  minds  of  the  Revolutionary  times  had  been  educated  in  the  mother 
country.  Especially  was  this  the  habit  in  the  Southern  Colonies.  Of  these  were  the 
Pinckneys,  the  Laurenses,  the  Rutledges,  of  South  Carolina;  the  Lees  and  John  Wilson,  of 
Virginia,  as  also  the  Winthrops  of  Massachusetts. 

Many  too  were  what  is  styled,  in  distinction  from  college  graduates,  "  self-made  men," 
but  perhaps  still  largely  indebted  to  the  influence  of  the  college.  Our  patriots  were  not 
without  education.  They  found  a  way  or  made  it.  Patrick  Henry  was  privately  educated 
by  his  father,  a  man  of  liberal  education  in  the  Old  World,  and  ambitious  for  his  son. 
John  Marshall,  though  not  a  college  graduate,  received  a  classical  education.     So  too,  Elias 


UNIVERSITIES  OF  LEARNING  37 

Boudinot.  Henry  Knox  was  a  good  scholar.  Winthrop  Sargent,  Ethan  Allen  and  Israel 
Putnam  in  one  way,  and  Roger  Sherman  and  John  Mason  in  another,  made  their  part  in 
great  events  their  means  of  education.  George  Washington  had  the  whole  country  for  his 
university.     Benjamin  Franklin  was  a  university  in  himself. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  old  classical  colleges  were  well  fitted  to  bring  out 
the  best  powers  of  mind  and  character,  —  to  build  up  a  well-rounded  manhood.  This 
was  not  by  the  multitude  of  studies ;  it  was  by  their  character,  and  that  of  the  noble 
men  directing  them.  No  student  could  fairly  enter  into  fields  then  laid  open  without 
wakening  in  the  mind  a  sense  of  its  possibilities,  and  enforcing  a  certain  discipline 
which  gives  the  self-reliance  and  strength  characteristic  of  manliness. 

The  Greek  language  opened  the  long  vista  of  the  aspiration  for  freedom.  The 
Greek  genius  was  spiritual.  It  saw  the  soul  of  things,  and  sought  to  embody  it,  in  science 
as  in  art.  Blending  in  its  conception,  as  almost  in  its  words,  the  ideas  of  the  beautiful 
and  the  good,  it  set  on  wing  those  powers  of  the  imagination  which  conceive  and  construct 
according  to  high  and  noble  ideals.  Loving  the  sunshine,  yet  with  deep  ethical  instinct, 
it  dealt  with  the  profoundest  mysteries  of  human  life  and  destiny.  We  read  to-day  with 
stirring  sympathy  the  tragedies  of  human  will  and  fate  wrought  out  in  the  soul  of  its  great 
poets. 

The  Latin  breathed  the  spirit  of  law.  Its  genius  was  essentially  virile.  It  carried 
the  impressive  sense  of  strength,  through  order  and  obedience.  It  set  forth  in  bodily  form 
the  relation  of  the  individual  and  the  State,  which  to  the  Greek  was  an  endless  problem 
or  elusive  image.  Through  restraint  of  will  and  regulation  of  power,  it  won  the  mastery  of 
the  world. 

Mathematics  touched  the  harmonies  of  the  universe.  It  stirred  the  sublimest  conceptions. 
The  culture  that  came  through  it  trained  the  power  of  sustained  attention  and  connected 
thought,    and    formed    the    mind    to    habits    of  both    vigor    and    rigor   of  reasoning. 

The  religious  instruction,  underlying  all  and  reaching  bcj-ond  all,  revealed  the  dignity 
and  destiny  of  the  human  soul,  and  its  place  under  the  moral  government  of  the  world. 
Its  sacred  teachings  corrected  the  low  moral  tone  of  the  classic  literature.  This  gave  to 
culture  a  balance  where  knowledge  was  sweetened  by  reverence,  and  at  the  same  time 
quickened  to  power  for   noble   achievement. 

Out  of  such  influences,  earnestly  administered  and  seriously  cherished,  we  can  well 
conceive  what  character  of  manhood  would  be  wrought,  and  b\'  this  can  understand  the 
great  examples  of  it  which  appeared  in  our  early  history. 

And  not  only  for  those  that  shared  these  pri\ileges  was  the  college  an  instrument  of 
discipline  and  culture.  The  mere  existence  of  such  an  institution  in  the  midst  of  a 
community   has   an   educating  power.     It    is   a   monument   of   achievement  and   monitor   of 


38  UNIVERSITIES  AND    I'HEIR   SONS 

possibility.  Even  those  who  are  not  participant  of  its  inner  Hfe  are  impressed  by  the 
familiar  vision  of  an  agency  of  power  for  good  reserved  and  ready,  and  by  that  mys- 
terious influence  of  presence  which  does  not  wholly  reveal  its  source  or  its  goal,  but  is 
one    of  the    most    effective    appointed    means    of  moving   the    human    mind. 

PRESENT   ASPECT   AND   TENDENCY 

On  these  lines  the  old  colleges  of  the  United  States  have  built  themselves  up  accord- 
ing to  their  means  and  their  guiding  spirit,  for  some  two  centuries.  Those  which  sprung 
up  in  all  the  States  after  the  Revolution  under  the  fresh  impulse  of  the  people  were 
largely  shaped  by  these.  And  of  later  times  there  is  no  more  significant  characteristic 
than  the  disposition  of  persons  who  have  acquired  wealth  to  establish  great  and  gener- 
ously planned  schools  of  higher  learning,  conceived  and  constructed  after  the  same  gen- 
eral ideals.  Such  modifications  as  have  taken  place  have  been  in  answer  to  the  spirit 
of  the  times,  or  the  advancement  of  science,  or  the  ideas  and  purposes  of  the  noble 
men    who    have    established    and    guided    them. 

Regarding  the  present  aspect  and  tendency  of  our  colleges  it  is  manifest  that  the 
religious  element  in  them  has  somewhat  changed,  in  e.xpression  if  not  in  character,  from 
the  type  of  former  times.  The  spirit  and  method  of  the  study  of  the  sciences  so 
largely  prevailing,  —  especially  the  requirement  of  positive  verification  by  experimental 
tests  conclusive  alike  upon  all  minds,  —  has  undoubtedly  affected  the  habit  of  thought 
and  feeling  towards  matters  depending  upon  spiritual  evidence,  and  tended  to  diminish 
respect  for  authority,  even  in  religion.  The  spirit  of  freedom,  too,  has  taken  a  new  depart- 
ure. From  revolt  against  absolutism  it  has  extended  to  revolt  against  dogmatism.  There 
is  dogmatism  everywhere,  in  science  as  in  religion.  Where  truth  is  believed  to  be  ascer- 
tained, it  is  to  be  maintained.  But  this  reaction  presses  especially  against  religion,  —  or 
rather,  against  that  form  of  it  which  is  maintained  by  the  church,  —  and  not  so  much  against 
the    revelation    and  authority  of  spiritual  truth  in  the    individual  soul. 

So  both  these  influences  combine  at  present  to  work  against  the  simple  faith  and 
habitual  reverence  of  the  times  of  old.  The  lack  of  reverence  is  undoubtedly  a  serious 
loss.  For  the  holding  of  something  sacred,  and  the  recognition  of  relations  to  a  moral, 
spiritual  superior,  are  necessary  to  the  best  exercise  of  all  the  faculties  of  our  nature. 
And  surely  the  colleges,  aiming  to  bring  out  the  complete  manhood,  should  not  suffer 
themselves  to  be  in  default  in  these  things.  But  it  does  not  appear,  even  in  these  days 
of  swift-moving  and  all-engrossing  materialistic  civilization,  that  the  Christian  spirit  is  set 
at  naught  or  held  in  slight  esteem.  On  the  contrary  it  is  interpreted  more  largely  and 
applied  more  closely.  Every  reformer  proclaims  that  he  is  seeking  to  apply  the  prin- 
ciples   of  the    Christ.      And   the   sense  of  individual   responsibility  which  is    enforced   by  all 


UNIVERSiriES   OF  LEARNING  39 

study  of  human  life  and  action  will  tend  to  counteract  the  vague  submission  to  relentless 
"  natural  law,"  which  is  so  repressive  of  the  noblest  aspirations  of  the  mind.  We  cannot 
but  perceive  that  Christianity  is  about  entering  on  a  new  epoch  of  demonstration  in  the 
larger  life  of  man.  And  the  colleges  under  the  guidance  of  noble  minds  conscious  of  their 
trust,  will  be  held  loyal  to  their  ancient  consecration,  ministering  to  that  true  culture  which 
is  expressed  in  highest  character,  and  recognizing  the  followers  of  Christ  as  the  true  church 
and    his  spirit   manifested   in  the  life  of  humanity  as   the  true  religion. 

Closely  related  to  this  is  the  growing  interest  taken  by  all  our  institutions  of  learning 
in  the  political  and  economic  sciences.  It  is  an  important  part  of  a  school  of  liberal  educa- 
tion to  fit  )'oung  men  for  their  duties  as  citizens.  This  function  reaches  very  wide.  Ques- 
tions of  government,  of  industry,  of  commerce,  of  finance,  —  questions  arising  from  the 
manifold  relations  of  our  complex  civilization,  and  pressing  upon  us  for  action,  require 
intelligent,  independent  judgment  on  the  part  of  citizens.  And  in  the  stress  of  the  coming 
times,  the  great  schools  of  the  country  should  be  fountains  of  knowledge  and  influence  for 
right  luulerstanding  and   far-looking   motives   on    these  vital   questions. 

It  is  evidence  of  real  advance  in  the  "  enfranchisement  of  humanity,"  and  testimony  to 
the  practical  effect  of  Christian  principles,  that  the  obligation  is  recognized  of  providing 
adequate  instrumentalities  for  the  higher  education  of  women.  There  is  no  reason  in  nature, 
or  in  any  revelation,  wh\'  the  mind  of  woman  should  not  be  admitted  to  the  presence  of 
highest  truth,  and  why  she  should  not  be  enabled  to  make  full  use  of  those  delicate, 
spiritual  powers,  —  the  quick  insight  and  almost  divination  of  the  true,  the  beautiful  and 
the  good,  —  which  are  a  needful  part  of  the  directive  forces  of  life,  and  for  which  it  may 
be  regarded  a  special  provision  of  nature  that  in  these  attributes  her  endowments  sur- 
pass   those   of  men. 

In  connection  with  this,  we  are  reminded  to  say  that  if  there  is  a  lack  in  the 
balance  and  completeness  of  the  courses  of  higher  instruction  now  offered,  it  is  in  the 
culture  of  the  imagination.  Opening  the  sense  and  the  soul  to  the  perception  of  beauty 
not  only  trains  the  mind  in  good  taste  and  correct  judgment  of  art,  but  also  leads  to  the 
comprehension  of  great  and  perfect  works.  The  imagination  is  a  true  constructive  power. 
It  forms  conceptions  of  the  ideals  of  truth,  beauty,  fitness  and  proportion  without  which 
mere  knowledge  of  facts  and  niceness  of  analytical  skill  will  be  weight  instead  of  wings  in 
rising  to  complete  mastery  in  any  of  the  great  arts  of  expression.  This  may  not  be  so 
apparent  in  mere  imitations  of  nature,  or  in  technical  and  industrial  drawings,  —  which, 
however,  have  their  commercial  value,  — but  it  is  a  part  of  highest  culture  to  draw  the 
mind  to  the  perception  and  comprehension  of  the  beaut\-  and  power  manifest  in  the  uni- 
verse,   and    in    the   works    of  human    genius,  which  are  also   revelations  of  God. 

The   marked   characteristic   of  present   tendencies   is    the    great  amplification    of   studies 


40  UNIVERSITIES  AND   THEIR   SONS 

in  the  natural  sciences.  The  wonderful  advance  in  biology,  chemistry  and  molecular 
physics,  and  the  opening  of  new  fields  of  interest  and  activity  by  reason  of  these  dis- 
coveries and  their  practical  applications,  have  created  a  demand  for  instruction  in  these 
departments,  which  the  higher  institutions  of  learning  feel  called  upon  to  furnish.  This 
cannot  be  adequately  done  except  at  the  expense  of  a  considerable  inroad  into  the  old, 
well-balanced  "  college  course,"  especially  designed  to  afford  a  general  discipline  and 
symmetrical    culture    of  all    the    personal    powers. 

An  expedient  is  resorted  to  by  offering  in  the  college  course  a  liberal  range  of 
electives.  A  saving  measure  is  adopted  by  so  arranging  these  electives  that  a  student 
who  still  desires  the  old  course,  or  a  moderately-modified  new  one,  can  find  it  by  fol- 
lowing the  proper  lines  among  the  so-called  "  advanced  courses."  As  a  jDrovisional  meas- 
ure this  is,  perhaps,  the  best  that  can  be  done.  It  certainly  has  the  advantage  of  allow- 
ing the  student  to  follow  his  natural  inclinations  and  develop  his  special  aptitudes ;  pos- 
sibly also  to  gain  a  year  or  so  in  getting  into  his  profession,  or  work  in  life,  towards 
which  there  is  now  such  hurry  and    rush. 

But  the  professional  schools,  meantime,  are  increasing  their  requirements,  and  the 
whole  college  course  is  none  too  much  to  give  the  elementary  knowledge  and  fitting  dis- 
cipline of  mind  to  take  up  the  professional  course.  The  conditions  in  this  country  require 
thorough  education  for  its  professional  men.  No  narrow  or  superficial  preparation  will 
suffice  in  this  day  for  the  successful  practitioner  in  law,  or  medicine,  or  the  ministry,  or 
for  the  peculiar  work  of  the  journalist  and  public  teacher.  The  colleges  of  the  liberal 
arts  ought  to  be  strengthened  on  their  own  lines,  instead  of  being  required  to  enter 
upon  technical  or  professional  instruction.  The  provisions  of  electives  should  not  look 
to  cutting  short  the  general  disciplinary  course.  Electives  —  if  a  personal  opinion  may 
be  here  permitted  —  should  not  be  taken  between  principal  departments,  but  only 
between  particulars  in  the  same  department.  Language  and  logic  should  not  be  sur- 
rendered for  biolog)',  nor  modern  languages  wholly  di.splace  the  ancient.  Nor  should 
modern  history,  and  political  and  social  science  and  philosophy  be  left  at  all  to  elec- 
tion or  option,  but  these  should  be  studied  by  all  in  the  light  of  practical  ethics,  in 
the  maturer  years  of  the  course,  so  that  young  men  can  go  out  under  this  preparation 
and  impulse  to  take  their  part  in  the  direction  of  life  for  themselves  and  the 
communit)'. 

Some  of  the  colleges,  feeling  the  necessity  of  preserving  the  great  features  of  the  proper 
college  course,  have  met  the  imperative  demand  by  creating  distinct  and  separate  scientific 
departments,  or  special  schools  of  science.  Schools  of  Technology  are  established  with  more 
complete  instruments  of  instruction.  These  are  admirable  in  their  intention  and  results;  and 
although  something  of  the  breadth  and  symmetry  of  the  college  must  be  missed,  such  institu- 


UNIVERSITIES   OF  LEARNING  41 

tions  arc  the  proper  means  of  meeting  those  who  for  reasons  sufficient  to  themselves  prefer  to 
waive  the  discipline  of  the  college  course,  and  move  forward  at  once  in  the  line  of  their  pro- 
fessional work. 

In  what  has  been  presented  thus  far,  no  distinction  has  been  attempted  between  the  college 
and  the  university.  A  sufficient  reason  for  this  might  be  in  the  fact  that  in  this  country,  as 
yet,  no  characteristic  distinction  has  been  maintained.  Some  of  the  largest  of  our  old  colleges 
are  now  deeming  it  just  and  fitting  that  they  should  receive  the  higher  title  in  recognition  of 
their  increased  amplitude  of  studies  or  departments;  and  in  rare  instances,  they  have  assumed 
this  title  in  consideration  of  especial  attention  to  depth,  or  advance,  in  study,  rather  than  in 
the  breadth  of  courses.  Other  recently  established  institutions,  largely  endowed  and  generously 
planiictl,  providing  for  advanced  and  professional  courses  as  their  main  object,  have  naturally, 
and  not  unjustly,  taken  the  name  of  university.  But  still,  there  are  no  sharp  or  exclusive  tests 
by  w^hich  the  name  shall  distinguish  the  thing.  A  college  may  multiply  its  course  by  dividing 
its  studies  into  groups  of  electives.  And  any  institution,  by  appropriate  influence,  may  obtain 
the  legal  title  of  university,  without  evidence  of  any  large  range  or  profound  reach  of  instruction. 
Perhaps  there  is  no  positive  recognized  test  of  titles.  The  universities  of  Bologna  and  of  Paris 
had  very  different  leading  purposes  and  aims.  Although  the  former  was  the  great  law  school 
and  the  latter  the  great  theological  school  of  Europe,  yet  Bologna  looked  almost  entirely  to 
making  itself  a  professional  school,  while  Paris  never  lost  sight  of  its  original  purpose  and 
ideal,  which  was,  by  its  breadth  and  balance  of  training,  to  afiford  a  liberal  culture,  suitable  for 
the  character  and  station  of  a  gentleman.  This  w^as  the  type  of  the  English  universities.  So 
it  was  of  our  own  early  colleges. 

But  of  late  our  institutions  seem  to  have  been  found  lacking  in  means  for  advanced  in- 
struction. Eor  some  years  past  no  young  man  looking  forward  to  securing  a  professorship  in 
any  department  of  our  American  colleges  would  deem  his  preparation  finished  until  he  had 
taken  a  degree  at  a  German  University.  Something  there  may  be  in  fashion  about  this ;  for 
in  fact,  one  so  minded  could  find  adequate  instruction  in  our  own  universities,  to  which  we 
should  naturally  look  as  the  place  for  the  pursuit  of  advanced  study  and  original  research. 

Such  an  enterprise  as  the  "  Chautauqua  Assembly  "  for  the  promotion  of  knowledge  and 
culture  among  the  people,  well  entitled  to  be  called  a  university  in  the  breadth  and  sweep  of 
its  work,  has  the  especial  merit  of  meeting  the  people  where  they  are,  without  requiring  con- 
ditions impossible  for  them  to  fulfil.  And  the  movements  in  "  University  Extension,"  though 
this  is  perhaps  a  misnomer  as  to  the  intrinsic  character  of  the  work,  are  deserving  of  high  con- 
sideration as  indicating  the  generous  purpose  of  sending  out  as  widely  as  possible  the  educa- 
tional benefits  which  they  are  capable  of  conferring. 

But  it  is  evident  also  that  the  demand  is  strong  for  the  intensive  as  well  as  the  extensive. 
This  means  in  such  departments  as  language,  history  and  philosophy,  not  only  more  intimate 


42  UNIVERSITIES  AND    rUEIR   SONS 

knowledge  of  what  has  been  said  and  done  and  thought,  but  a  deeper  insight  into  the  nature 
and  relations  of  man,  and  the  reasons  and  incentives  of  his  struggles  with  his  environment.  In 
the  physical  sciences  it  means  a  more  positive  knowledge  of  the  elements  and  forces  of  the 
universe,  and  of  their  modes  of  action  which  we  call  laws.  In  the  technical  aspects  of  these 
sciences  it  means  the  study  of  man's  practical  relations  to  them,  and  the  training  of  his  faculties 
to  skill  in  the  use  of  them.  This  is  a  wide  range  for  choice,  but  the  work  once  chosen  becomes 
a  specialty,  and  is  necessarily  narrow.  This  field  seems  to  belong  to  the  university  and.  the 
schools  of  technolog}' ;  the  former  for  original  research  and  deep  scholarship,  looking  to  the  mas- 
tery of  knowledge ;  the  latter  for  the  applications  of  science,  looking  to  mastery  in  the  material 
arts. 

But  the  sphere  of  the  college  is  different  from  these.  It  is  for  that  general,  liberal  culture, 
which  looks  to  the  excellence  of  the  man  himself,  —  his  intellectual  foundations,  his  intrinsic 
character.  Whether  in  the  "classical"  or  "scientific"  department,  an  undergraduate  course 
should  have  this  aim.  For  the  organization  of  our  modern  higher  education  we  have  then 
the  college,  somewhat  conformed  to  modern  demands,  but  never  losing  sight  of  its  main 
objecti\c ;  and  the  universit)',  fitted  especially  for  advanced  work  or  deeper  study  on  special 
lines.  The  historic  origin,  however,  is  still  recognized  in  the  gathering  around  the  university 
of  schools  of  law,  medicine  and  theology,  as  well  as  of  politics,  pedagogy,  and  the  several 
branches  of  technology,  to  suit  the  demand  of  an  advanced  and  progressive  civilization.  These 
professional  schools  might  indeed  exist  separately  and  independently  of  the  university  and  of 
each  other,  as  in  fact  many  do ;  but  there  is  no  doubt  a  gain  of  power  to  the  student  in  the 
breadth  of  environment,  and  the  larger  atmosphere,  of  an  institution  devoted  to  the  widest 
range  of  study  and  deepest  grasp  of  thought  in  many  departments  of  knowledge. 

Whether  or  not  the  college  can  be  a  miniature  university,  it  should  at  all  events  be  a  school 
of  complete  manhood,  taking  cognizance  not  only  of  what  makes  for  good  work  in  the  world, 
but  regarding  also  the  culture  of  the  moral  and  spiritual  powers  which  are  the  noblest  endow- 
ments of  personality.  Hence  it  is  that  in  every  school  of  discipline  and  culture  its  real  worth 
must  be  measured  not  merely  by  its  range  of  courses,  or  gauge  of  studies,  but  largely  by  the 
soul  which  animates  it. 


^.^0%u^^ 


/U** 


E.     MOEBIUS.     CAMOEN       N-     J. 


NEW  YORK   UNIVERSITY 


SEVENTY   YEARS 


A    HISTORY  OP^  NEW  YORK   UNIVERSITY 


BY 


CHANCELLOR   HENRY   M.   MacCRACKEN.  D.D.,  LL.D. 


ERNEST   G.  SIHLER,  Ph.D. 

Professor  of  L.^vtin  L.anglage  and  Literature  in  the  University 


CONTENTS 


Chapter  Chapter 

I.     New  Youk   in    1830,   and    the  Academic      VIII. 

CONVENTIO.N    OF   THAT   YEAK. 

II.     Cha.xcellor    Mathews    a.vd   \Vashin{;ton 
Square. 

III.  The  Eucleian  and  the  Phii.omathean. —         IX- 

I'KOKESSOR        SA.MUEL         FINLEY         HREESE 

Morse,    and    the     Invention     of    the  y^ 

Electric  Telegraph.  —  Some  Earlier 
Alumni.  —  Kx-Attorney  General  B.  F. 
Butler's  Plan  for  a  Law  School. 

IV.  Chancellor      F"relixghuvsen,     and     the 

Earlier    History    of    the    University         XI. 
Medical  School. 

V.     The  Interim  of    1850-1852.  —  Chancellor 
Ferris.  —  The  Law  School. 

Xl.     Chancellor     Howard    Crosby    and    the 
Crisis  of  18S1. 

VII.     The  Second  Interim.  —  Chancellor  John- 
Hall.  —  Vice-Chancf.llor      Henry      M.        XII. 
MacCrackex. 


CiLVNCELLOR   MacCRACKEN  AND  UNIVERSITY 

Heights.  —  Perfecting  of  the  Univer- 
sity Syste.m.  —  The  Ottendorf  Ger- 
manic Library.  —  School  of  Co.m.merce 
AND  Finance.  —  The  S.andham  Prize. 

The  Keorg.vnization  of  the  Medical 
School. — The   Veterinary   College. 

Reorganization  of  the  Law  School. — 
Founding  of  the  Graduate  School,  and 
of  the  School  of  Pedagogy.  —  Expan- 
sion OF  THE  En(;ineering  Course  into 
the   School  of   Applied   Science. 

The  Hall  of  Fame.  —  Genesis  of  the 
Idea. —  Its  Educatio.xal  Purpose. — 
Broad  Views  of  THE  Giver.  —  The  Uni- 
versity's Contract  with  the  Giver. — 
The  Electors.  —  Choice  of  NameS  to 
BE  Commemorated.  —  Rules  Governing 
Future  Elections.  —  Material  For.m 
OF  THE  Hall.  —  The  Colonnade.  —  The 
MusEU.^^  —  Mural    Paintings. 

Social  and  Athletic  Notes  of  Univer- 
sity Heights. 


NEW    YORK    UNIVERSITY 


MOTTO 

"  Not  as  though  I  had  already  attained,  either  were  already 

perfect:   but  I  follow  after."      St.  Paul,  Phil.  3:12 


CHAPTER     I 

Magna  Voluissf.  —  New  York   in   1830  and  tiik  Acaokmic  Convention  of  tiiat  Year 


NI"A\'  Wnk  City  in  1830  had  a  popu- 
lation of  197,112,  —  somewhat  less 
than  Milwaukee  or  Detroit  had  sixty 
years  later.  Brooklyn  was  yet  a  villa<.(e  (in  its 
corporate  aspect)  and  had  i  5,394  inhabitants. 
Hetween  the  Harlem  River  and  Lake  Erie, 
only  Albany  (24,209)  and  Hudson  were  fully 
organized  as  cities.  Troy  had  a  population  of 
11,551,  Rochester  9269,  Utica  8323.  Phila- 
delphia had  in  1830  a  population  of  167,325  ; 
the  city  of  Franklin  had  been  compelled  to 
yield  the  palm  of  supremacy  which  she  had 
held  from  the  beginning  of  National  indepen- 
dence, to  New  York.  Next  in  order  came 
Ililtimore.  80,620;  Boston,  61,391;  New 
Orleans,  46,310.  Cincinnati,  in  the  era  of 
Mrs.  Trollope,  had  24,830 ;  Wa.shington,  with 
Andrew  Jackson  in  the  White  House,  18,827  ; 
Richmond,  whose  winters  then  had  the  reputa- 
tion of  excelling  in  social  gaiety,  had  16,060; 
Pittsburg,  which  commercially  was  the  point 
of  entrance  into  the  Mississippi  Valley,  was 
inhabited  by  12,542  ;  Louisville  had  10,341 
souls,  St.  Louis  6694.  Detroit,  so  important 
in  the  recent  war  with  England,  had  2222, 
while  Cleveland  and  Chicago  were  mere  trading 
posts,  both  incorporated  six  years  later  (1836) 
and  showing  at  the  end  of  the  subsequent 
decade  (1840),  the  first  one,  Cleveland,  a  popu- 
lation of  6071,  and  Chicago  of  4853. 

New  York  City,  and  in  fact  the  whole  country, 
was  still  ringing  with  the  huzzas  and  plaudits 
of  1825,  when  the  eminent  Governor  DeWitt 
Clinton,  like  a  new  Doge,  married  the  waters  of 


the  Great  Lakes  with  those  of  the  Atlantic 
Ocean,  ceremonies  appropriately  marking  the 
inauguration  of  the  Erie  Canal,  no  longer  to 
be  dubbed  "Clinton's  Ditch"  by  his  political 
enemies.  This  completion  of  the  greatest  of 
internal  canals  seemed  to  mark  the  establish- 
ment of  a  policy  of  arteries  of  commercial 
communication.  Five  years  later  (1830)  saw 
the  very  infancy  of  railroads,  —  when  fir.st  in 
America  the  line  between  Baltimore  and  1^11  i- 
cott  City  carried  i)assengers  by  locomotive,  and 
when  the  road  between  Albany  and  Schenec- 
tady was  begun. 

New  York  was  then  sub.stantially  an  Ameri- 
can rather  than,  as  now,  a  cosmopolitan  city. 
It  is  true  the  directories  (as  Longworth's)  of 
1830  show  a  proportion  of  Dutch,  Huguenot 
and  Walloon  names  vastly  in  excess  of  the  ]iro- 
]:)ortion  of  such  names  as  now  exhibited.  But 
these  people  were  anglicized  in  1830,  although 
there  was  a  perceptible  social  habit  of  main- 
taining Dutch  spellings  to  some  degree.  The 
Rev.  Dr.  Thomas  DeWitt  (A.  B.  Union  1808) 
who  sat  in  the  academic  convention  of  1830, 
and  who  had  then  been  connected  with  the 
Dutch  Reformed  denomination  on  Manhattan 
Island  since  1827  (he  died  in  1874)  was  said  to 
have  been  the  la.st  minister  in  that  venerable 
and  important  body  who  could  deliver  a  ser- 
mon in  Dutch.  We  have  Harlem  spelled  in  the 
prints  of  1830,  Harleem,  Haarlem,  Harlaem. 
In  this  village  then  the  most  eminent  family 
probably  was  that  of  the  Dutch  Varians.  There 
was  indeed  even  then  the  St.  George's  Society, 


45 


46 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


the  Saint  Andrew's,  the  French  Benevolent,  the 
Friendly  Sons  of  St.  Patrick,  the  German  Society 
with  Philip  Hone  (Mayor  before  1830),  Casper 
Meier,  Theodore  Meyer,  Jacob  Lorillard,  David 
Lydig,  established  in  1784  and  chartered  in 
1804.  But  it  was  not  until  1848  that  German 
immigration  became  a  steady  stream,  nor  until 
1844  (potato  famine  in  Ireland)  that  Ireland 
began  to  send  hither  myriads  of  new  citizens. 

New  York,  I  said,  was  in  1830  substantially 
an  American  city.     This  is  best  evidenced   by 
a  glance  at  the  denominations.     Of  Presbyte- 
rian churches  there  were  twenty-four,   with  a 
single  exception  all  south  of  Bond  Street :  e.  g. 
in     Wall,    Beekman,    Rutgers,     Cedar     (two), 
Canal,  Laight,  Broome  (two),  Spring,  Bleecker, 
Bowery,  Prince,  etc.     Their  closest  congeners, 
the  churches  of  the  Reformed  Dutch  confession, 
numbered  fifteen.    Active  and  distinguished  in 
this  body  was  the  Rev.    Dr.  James  McFarlane 
Mathews  of  the  South   Church,  then  situated 
south  of  Wall  Street,  in  Exchange  Place  (Gar- 
den  Street)  ;   he   alone  had  an  associate,  the 
Rev.  Gerardus  Kuypers,  D.D.     The  Protestant 
Episcopalians  had  twenty-one  churches:   Wil- 
liams's Annual   Register  names  only  a  single 
clergyman  for  each  place  of  worship,  even  for 
Trinity,  to  which  (Bishop)  Onderdonk  was  at- 
tached.     All  these  churches  were  south  of  the 
numbered  streets.    The  most  splendid  structure 
was  that  of  Trinity,  in  which  the  commence- 
ments   of    its    beneficiary,    Columbia    College, 
were   generally    held,    the    march     southward 
from  the  College  Green  (Barclay  and  Murray 
streets)  being  short.     Grace,  St.  George's,  St. 
Thomas's,  were    all  quite    near  to  City   Hall. 
The  Baptists  showed  seventeen  jilaces  of  wor- 
ship.    The  Methodists  were  few  and  scattered, 
although  that  active  denomination  maintained 
even  then  in  New  York  a  religious  editor  and 
manager  of  a  book  concern.  Dr.  Emory  (after- 
wards Bishop  Emory).     But  the  slender  propor- 
tion of  citizens  of  Irish  and  of  Gennan  parentage 
or  extraction  is  best  shown  by  the  fact  that  of 
Roman  Catholic  churches  there  were  but  two 
large  ones,  worthy  in  outward   appearance  of 
being  delineated  in  the  handbooks  and  pictorial 


descriptions  of  1827,  '28,  '31  :  St.  Patrick's 
Cathedral  in  Mott  Street  and  St.  Peter's  in 
Barclay  ;  two  minor  places  of  worship  in  Ann 
Street  and  in  Sheriff  Street  brought  the  total 
up  to  four.  There  were  two  Lutheran  churches, 
of  which  St.  Matthew's  in  Walker  Street  (now 
Broome)  was  the  oldest  Lutheran  corporation 
in  America.  There  were  two  Unitarian  and  two 
Universalist  churches.  Three  synagogues  are 
given  in  Williams's  Register,  one  of  them  Portu- 
guese, one  Dutch,  one  Gennan.  It  is  clear 
then  how  strong  was  the  preponderance  of  the 
great  historic  denominations  that  came  out  of 
Great  Britain  and  Holland,  as  over  against  the 
recent  liberalizing  sects  ;  and  how  substantial 
was  the  native  character  and  the  Anglo-Saxon 
type  of  the  population,  as  over  against  the 
social  forces  of  recent  immigration. 

To  ignore  the  churches  in  any  enquiry  con- 
cerning higher  education  is  to  ignore  the  root 
of  the  whole  matter.  No  project  of  higher 
education  could  in  1830,  in  New  York,  have 
attained  even  a  respectable  measure  of  vitality, 
the  Hon.  Albert  Gallatin  notwithstanding, 
without  the  support  of  churches.  Almost  all 
the  substance,  then  available,  of  Columbia  Col- 
lege (the  vast  gift  by  the  state  of  the  Hosack 
Botanical  Garden  had  not  yet  become  produc- 
tive) then  came  from  the  King's  Farm  lease  of 
Trinity  Church,  dated  May  12,  I7S5,  and  cor- 
rected by  a  second  one  of  the  following  day, 
May  13.  P2ven  then,  in  1830,  Yale  had  not 
one  regularly  endowed  Professorship  except  the 
Chair  of  Sacred  Theology  endowed  for  Presi- 
dent Dwight  in  1822  by  forty -eight  donors: 
these  together  had  raised  a  fund  of  $27,612.44, 
of  which  total  $9200  was  swallowed  up  by  the 
failure  of  the  Eagle  Bank  of  New  Haven. 
One  of  the  greatest,  if  not  the  greatest  (apart 
from  the  great  bequest  of  Stephen  Girard),  of 
single  gifts  for  education  recordable  in  1830 
was  that  of  a  Mr.  Sherred,  of  some  $70,000  to 
the  "  Episcopal  Seminary  at  Greenwich  vil- 
lage," now  better  knoA\n  as  the  General  Theo- 
logical Seminary,  Chelsea  Square,  New  York 
City.  In  this  very  year  (1830,  February  27), 
died  Colonel  Henr)'  Rutgers  (b.    1750),  uncle 


IllSTORr   OF   NKIV   YORK    UNIVERSITY 


47 


of  Dr.  Howard  Crosby's  mother  :  the  f^reat 
huulowner  of  the  Seventh  Ward,  the  friend  of 
the  poor  and  tlie  forsaken  ;  his  timely  ^ift  of 
$5600  to  tlie  Colle<;e  of  New  Hruns\vicl<, 
New  Jersey  (formerly  Queen's  Collej;e, 
founded  1770),  when  made  was  probably  one 
of  the  most  substantial  aids  to  the  Collej^e 
which  has  lon^'  borne  his  name.  And  so  too 
the  first  concerted  effort  towards  endowinj;-  a 
Professorship  in  New  \'ork  University  was  in 
Evidences  of  Revealed  Relit;ion.  Nor  may  we 
overlook  the  important  and  continuous  contri- 
bution towaiTl  higher  education  afforded  by  the 
American  ICducation  Society  (recorded  in  the 
American  Ouarterly  Register  of  that  time), 
which  assisted  students  in  academies,  colleges 
and  theological  seminaries,  and  had  a  strong 
interest  in  the  work  and  performance  of  all 
institutions  of  learning  in  themselves. 

In  New  York  at  that  time  the  present  City 
Hall  was  considered  the  finest  public  building  ; 
it  had  been  finished  eighteen  years  before,  in 
18 1 2.  The  present  sub-treasury  in  Wall 
Street  was  the  Custom-Housc.  The  present 
assay  office  of  the  government  (now  dwarfed 
amid  the  structural  giants  of  Wall  Street), 
then  the  United  States  Branch-Bank,  was  con- 
sidered one  of  the  finer  buildings  of  the  city: 
its  area,  with  sixty  feet  on  Wall  Street,  had 
cost  $40,000.  The  present  Colonnade  Hotel, 
on  Lafayette  Place,  had  been  cjuite  recently 
constructed  as  a  row  of  private  mansions, 
called  LaGrange  Terrace ;  it  very  nearly 
marked  the  extreme  northward  limit  of  built- 
up  civilization.  Not  far  away  was  the  junc- 
tion of  Broadway  and  the  Bowery  (issuing 
into  the  present  course  of  Fourth  Avenue), 
which  is  happily  preserved  in  a  contemporary 
delineation  :  rubbish  mounds,  dumping  carts,  a 
few  shabby  cabins,  a  few  poplars,  appear,  and 
every  evidence  of  the  zone  which  marks  the 
beginning  of  the  open  country.  Park  Place 
was  almost  solidly  occupied  by  fine  residences, 
the  type  being  three-story  brick,  slate  roof, 
stoop,  the  hea\y  main  door  topped  with  a  low 
arch  of  glass  panes,  wedge-wise,  converging  to 
a  center.     The   City  Hall    Park,  then  simply 


called  The  Park,  was  the  center  of  fashicMi  and 
gaiety.  The  pleasure-loving  New  Yorkers  made 
a  pros])erous  establishment  of  their  main  play- 
hou.se,  the  Park  Theatre,  which  paid  then  an 
annual  rent  of  $iS,ooo  to  the  owners,  Astor 
(John  Jacob)  and  Beekman. 

Tliis  great  figure  of  money  for  the  rent  of 
the  theatre  is  full  of  significance  for  the  town 
and  the  times,  particularly  when  one  con- 
siders the  vastly  greater  purchasing  power  of 
money  —  of  that  epoch  of  seventy  years  ago. 
And  even  twelve  years  later,  in  1842,  not  more 
than  eleven  or  twelve  citizens  of  New  York,  — 
of  whom  Cornelius  X'andrrbilt  the  first  was 
not  one  —  were  reputed  to  be  millionaires: 
one  hundred  thousand  dollars  marked  the 
possessor  a  rich  man.  But  it  was  a  society 
in  which  large  individual  bequests  or  dona- 
tions were  not  as  yet  made  nor  expected. 
William  Bedlow  Crosby  e.  g.  was  reputed  a 
millionaire,  but  he  had  a  family  of  some  nine 
children.  A  glance  at  the  salaries  of  some 
of  the  leading  magistrates  and  officials  of 
the  commonwealth  will  greatly  aid  us  ade- 
quately to  esteem  the  value  of  money  seventy 
years  ago,  even  in  the  most  prosperous  state 
of  the  Union.  Governor  Throop  received  a 
salary  of  $4000,  the  Comptroller  of  the 
State  $1500,  the  Superintendent  of  Com- 
mon Schools  $1500,  the  Attorney-General 
$1000,  and  the  Surveyor-General  $800.  Chan- 
cellor Walworth,  at  Albany,  received  S2000  ; 
the  Hon.  Samuel  Jones,  Chief-Justice  of  the 
Superior  Court  in  New  York  City,  $2500. 
And  the  necessary  expenses  at  the  three  lead- 
ing Colleges  of  America  were  rated  thus  :  At 
Harvard,  $176  for  the  College  year  of  forty-two 
weeks;  at  Yale  College,  $140  to  Si 90  (and 
the  parents  were  warned  not  to  give  their 
sons  too  much  pocket-money)  ;  at  Union  (easily 
third  seventy  years  ago,  under  President  Eli- 
phalet  Nott),  the  necessary  expenses,  including 
tuition,  board  in  the  hall,  fuel,  light  and  wash- 
ing, amounted  to  the  modest  total  of   Si  12.50. 

The  riches  of  the  richer  New  Yorkers  of 
that  time  came  from  transmarine  mercantile 
pursuits  almost  entirely,  together  with  grow- 


48 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR    SONS 


ing  importance  of  real  estate  palpably  prede- 
tennined  partly  by  the  tremendous  growth  of 
population  and  by  the  peculiar  conformation 
of  Manhattan  Island.  Dealing  in  corporate 
stock  was  not  e\en  in  its  infancy  !  The  an- 
thracite treasures  even  of  northeastern  Penn- 
sylvania were  not  yet  available  for  New 
York  ;  her  citizens  burned  Nova  Scotia  coal. 
The  foreign  trade  of  New  York  in  1830  com- 
prised 1 5 10  vessels;  of  these,  1366  were 
American  bottoms !  only  92  were  British ; 
12  from  Sweden,  8  from  Bremen,  7  Spanish, 
6  from  Hayti,  5  French, 
2  from  Hamburg,  2 
Brazilian,  2  Dutch,  i 
Portuguese.  The  city 
was  assessed  thus  in 
1830  :  Real  property, 
$87,603,850  ;  personal, 
$37,684,938;  total, 
$125,288,5  18  ;  not 
greatly  exceeding  the 
valuation  of  Indianapolis 
or  Louisville  at  the 
present  time  ;  whereas 
Greater  New  York  to- 
day has  an  assessed  val- 
uation of  $3,042,653,- 
258.  Physicians  there 
were  practicing  in  New 
York  some  400  ;  Valen- 
tine Mott  and  David 
Hosack  probably  stand- 
ing at  the  head  of  this 
profession  in  1830. 
Lawyers  there  were  453,  many  noted  names: 
Aaron  Burr,  David  Banks,  David  Dudley  F"ield, 
PhiUp  Hamilton,  Daniel  Lord,  Charles  O'Con- 
nor, James  Tallmadge. 

In  this  community  then,  and  at  this  time, 
the  movement  for  a  new  and  strictly  for  a  new 
kind  of  institution  for  learning  was  inaugurated. 
The  call  for  a  meeting  to  discuss  the  establish- 
ment of  a  University  in  the  city  "on  a  liberal 
and  extensive  foundation  "  (the  first  meeting 
having  been  held  at  the  rooms  of  the  Histori- 
cal Society)  was  signed  by  the  following  nine 


J.    M.   WAINWRIOHT 


men :  J.  M.  Mathews,  J.  M.  Wainwright, 
J.  Augustine  Smith,  Valentine  Mott,  Joseph 
Delafield,  Myndert  Vanschaick,  Hugh  Max- 
well, Isaac  S.  Hone,  John  Delafield  ;  dated 
New  York,  January  4,  1830.  Dr.  Mathews 
of  the  South  Dutch  Church  (A.  B.  Union 
1803)  was  subsequently  chosen  first  Chan- 
cellor. The  Rev.  Dr.  J.  M.  Wainwright,  thirty- 
seven  years  of  age,  was  a  graduate  of  Harvard 
and  Rector  of  Grace  Protestant-Episcopal 
Church  at  the  time.  Dr.  John  Augustine 
Smith  was  one  of  the  leading  physicians,  resid- 
ing at  8  Park  Place,  and 
in  1826  had  become  Pro- 
fessor of  Anatomy  and 
Physiology  in  the  Col- 
lege of  Physicians  and 
Surgeons.  Dr.  Valentine 
Mott  was  the  foremost 
American  surgeon  of  his 
time  (res.  25  Park  Place). 
John  Delafield  was  the 
Cashier  of  the  Phenix 
Bank  (res.  30  Varick, 
b.  1786,  A.B.  Columbia 
1802)  :  to  him  Washing- 
ton Irving  dedicated 
"The  Wife"  in  his 
Sketch-book  ;  he  died 
1853.  Jo.seph  Delafield 
(b.  New  York  1790,  d. 
1875,  Yale  A.B.  1808, 
Major  in  the  War  of 
18 1  2)  was  a  noted  min- 
eralogist ;  he  established 
a  very  profitable  limekiln  on  his  estate  "  Field- 
st on,"  near  Yonkers,  in  this  very  year  1830; 
he  was  President  of  the  Lyceum  of  Natural 
History  at  this  time.  Myndert  Vanschaick 
(this  is  the  spelling  in  Longworth's  Directory 
for  1830)  is  given  as  "merchant,  61  Wall,  house 
335  Broadway."  Isaac  S.  Hone  (a  relative  of 
e.\-Ma)'or  Philip  Hone)  probably  was  partner 
of  the  foregoing :  given  in  LongAvorth  as  "  mer- 
chant, 61  Wall,  house  66  Greenwich."  The 
Hon.  Hugh  Maxwell  was  District  Attorney 
of  New  York  (oflfice  7  Pine,  house  94    Hous- 


iiisroKr  OF  Nbw  tokk  UNii'i'Jisrrr 


49 


ton,  born  Paisley,  Scollaiul,  1787,  tl.  New  Voi  k  The  oljject  of  the  meetii)^  having;  been  slated, 

1873,   A.li.  Coliiinl)ia    1S08,  elected    President  a  coninuniicalion   was   reatl   upon   the   lCx])edi- 

of  the  St.  AncUew's  Society) ;   his  tine   lii)rary  ency  and   the    Means   of    l^stablishinj^  a    Uni- 

was  a   noted  one.       Ihese   nine    touiideis  then  versity.      W  iieieupon    it    was   unanimously   re- 

compriseil    two    clergymen,    one    banker,    two  solved.  That  it  is  highly  desirable  and  expedient 

merchants,     one     lawyer,     one    gentleman     of  to  establish   in  the  City  of  New  York  a   Uni- 

leisure  devoted  to  science,  and  two  physicians,  versity,  on   a    liberal    foundation,    iv/iii/i   sluill 


As  to  their  earlier 
training,  they  rep- 
resented Colum- 
bia, liar  V  a  r  tl, 
Yale  and  Union 
colleges. 

As  the  move- 
ment promptly 
expanded,  the 
founders'  ideas, 
aspirations  and 
hoi)es  were  e.v- 
|)resseil  in  a  pam- 
phlet a  copy  of 
which  is  still  pre- 
served in  the  New 
York  Historical 
St)ciety's  library, 
a  pamphlet  bear- 
ing the  following 
title  :  "  Considera- 
tions upon  the  ex- 
pediency and  the 
means  of  cstab- 
lisliini^  a  Univer- 
sity in  the  City  of 
Xeiv-York.  Ad- 
dressed to  the  citi- 
zens. New- York: 
Grattan,  Printer, 
22,     Wall-Street. 


THE  EXPEDIENCY  AND  THE  MEANS 


or  LiTitutauio 


A  UNIVERSITY 


THE  CITY  OF  NEW-YORK. 


ADDKESi^ED  TO  TUB  LTTIZENli. 


JTEW-yOBKJ 

CKATT.AN,  PEf>TER, «,  WAI.I^miEFr. 

1830. 


TITLEPAGE    PAMPHLET    AT    N.  Y.    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY 


correspond  taith 
the  spirit  and 
2vants  of  on  r  coun- 
try, which  shall 
be  connnensiirate 
with  oitr  great 
and  i^ro'wing  pop- 
ulation and  ivhich 
shall  enlarge  the 
opportunities  o  f 
education  for 
such  of  oiu"  youth 
as  shall  be  found 
qualified  and  in- 
clined to  improve 
them.  And  it 
was  fiu'ther  re- 
solved, That  the 
c  ( )  m  m  u  n  i  ca  t  i  o  n 
read  this  evening 
be  printed  and 
distributed  as  ex- 
hibiting the  views 
of  the  meeting 
and  as  prepara- 
tory to  a  more 
general  call  of  the 
citizens  of  New 
Y'ork.  Morgan 
Lewis,  Chairman ; 
Hugh     Ma.xwell, 


1830."     This  pamphlet  in  lieu  of  preface  pre-  Secretary;   New  Y^ork,  January  6,  1830." 
sents    the     following    preliminary    statement  :  The  words  emphasized  above  are  italicized 

"  The  establishment   of    a   University  in   this  by  us,  because  they  embody  much  of  the  chief 

city  on  a  liberal  and  extensive  foundation  has  matter  uppermost  in  the  consciousness  of  the 

for  some  time  past  occupied  the  attention  of  founders.     The  communication  itself  brought 

many  of  our  respectable  citizens.     At  a  meet-  forward  these  current  ideas  of  the  day  :  That 

ing  held  for  considering  the  subject,  General  the  extant  Colleges  were  the  places  of  educa- 

Morgan    Lewis  was  called    to   the  chair,  and  tion  of  a  privileged  class  ;  that   there  was  not 

Hugh  Maxwell,  Esq.,  was  appointed  Secretary,  the  slightest  hostility  (p.  7)  towards  Columbia 


5° 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR   SONS 


College,  "this  venerable  and  distinguished  semi- 
nary ;"  that  Columbia  and  similar  institutions 
all  served  the  learned  professions  only  ;  that 
the  current  College  training  was  indeed  neces- 
sary to  "respectability"  in  the  student's  future 
profession  (p.  8),  but  merchants,  mechanics, 
farmers,  manufacturers,  architects,  civil  engi- 
neers, were  not  aided  by  classics ;  there  was  little 
opportunity  now  for  studying  French,  Spanish, 
Italian,  German;  the  departments  of  '■'■useful 
knowledge,"  viz..  Natural  and  Moral  Philosoph)-, 
Political  Economy,  etc.,  were  taught  only  in 
the  two  last  years  of  the  College  course.  A 
young  man  gifted  for  civil  engineering,  canals, 
railroads  and  other  public  works,  or  to  be  an 
architect  or  master-shipbuilder,  would  be  re- 
jected from  every  College  in  the  country  with 
a  very  few  exceptions  (p.  9).  Even  the  classi- 
call\-traincd  scholar  would  never  be  ealled  upon 
to  read,  speak  or  write  the  "  dead  languages." 
Some  parents  in  New  York  were  at  the  present 
time  actually  agitating  the  sending  of  their 
sons  to  London  University.  There  should 
be  opportunities  for  students  studying  but  one 
session  or  but  one  year  ;  it  was  not  unlikely 
that  the  Ameriean  London  (p.  1 3)  could  fur- 
nish 800-1000  candidates  for  instruction.  The 
best  plan  for  such  truly  ix)pular  instruction  was 
not  in  the  seclusion  of  cloistered  halls  but  in 
the  throbbing  heart  of  a  great  city.  (The 
founders  meant  well,  but  the  sequel  i)roved  tiie 
opposite.)  The  University  could  maintain  a 
strong  control  of  boarding  places.  Wealthy 
parents  (p.  18)  were  to  be  relieved  from  the 
painful  necessity  of  exposing  their  children  to 
the  discomforts  and  dangers  of  separation  from 
home. 

It  was  no  part  of  the  design  to  destroy  or 
materially  (p.  19)  to  weaken  those  institutions 
already  in  existence  and  which  already  answered 
ever)-  end  contemplated  —  but  it  was  questioned 
whether  the  latter  was  the  case.  Of  Ct)lumbia 
College  specifically  (p.  20)  the  communication 
went  on  to  say  this  :  Here  is  the  difficulty  : 
This  institution,  excellent  as  it  is,  and  well  as 
it  has  been  conducted,  "  does  nt)t  meet  the 
literary  (educational)  wants  of  the  city.      It  is 


decidedly  characterized  as  a  preparatory  school 
for  the  learned  professions.  It  bars  from  its 
privileges  all  who  will  not  devote  a  portion, 
and  a  \er)-  large  portion  too,  of  their  atten- 
tion to  Latin  and  Greek,  whatever  may  be 
their  future  intentions  in  life."  [The  classical 
requirements  for  entrance  to  Columbia  at  this 
time  were  as  follows :  Virgil's  Aeneid,  eight 
books ;  Li\y,  first  five  books ;  St.  Luke,  St. 
John,  and  The  Acts  of  the  Greek  Testament  ; 
Dalzell's  Collectanea  Minora  ;  Xenophon's 
Cyropaedia,  three  books  ;  Homer's  Iliad,  first 
three  books.  Of  non-classical  preparation  ; 
first  four  rules  of  Arithmetic,  rule  of  three. 
Algebra  as  far  as  the  end  oi  simple  equations. 
Classical  examination  to  be  ad  apertnravi  libri. 
See  Hardie's  "  A  Description  of  the  City  of  New 
York  1827,"  pp.  219-220,  and  Catalogue  of 
Columbia  for  1829.  The  article  on  Columbia 
("we,"  etc.)  in  Hardie  p.  218  sqq  bears  every 
evidence  of  semi-official  information.  On  p.  220 
there  is  an  explanation  of  these  requirements 
and  reasons  are  given  as  to  why  Columbia  is 
going  on  enforeing  tlietn :  that  they  ("  we  " ) 
were  "already  taught  by  exjierience,  that  the 
true  and  essential  "  way  of  training  was  this 
way.  If  any  students  were  not  satisfied  with 
this  way,  "Columbia  College  7vas  no  place  for 
t/ieni."  I  need  not  say  that  these  classical  re- 
quirements (to  which  Cicero  and  Ca;sar  must 
be  added)  exceed  anything  now  required  for 
entrance  in  classics  to  any  College  in  America, 
and  greatly  exceeded  anything  required  in 
1830  anywhere  else:  this  was  noted  with  not 
a  little  satisfaction  in  the  official  language  of 
Columbia  herself  at  the  time.] 

We  now  return  to  the  communication  of 
January  6,  1830.  The  University  (p.  22)  was 
designed  to  cover  ground  not  occupied  by  this 
(Columbia)  or  any  other  institution  in  the  city, 
and  to  execute  a  design  to  which  "  no  single 
denomination  of  persons "  was  com])etent. 
There  could  be  no  danger,  therefore,  in  case 
the  College  and  the  University  should  not  by 
some  happy  arrangement  be  made  to  coalesce 
(the  contingency  of  a  coalition  was  therefore 
distinctly  entertained)  that  they  (Columbia  and 


IIISTORV   OF   NFJV    rORK    UNIFRRSITT 


5' 


tlic  jjroposcd  University)  would  produce  a 
state  of  unl'riendly  rivalry  or  injurious  com- 
petition. "  In  the  absolute  necessity  of  ach'crt- 
inff  to  this  (juestion,  we  have  wished  to  do 
so  in  a  candid  and  lil)eral  sjiirit  and  to  secure 
ourselves  from  tiie  slii;htest  pretext  for  the 
charge  of  Ix-ini;-  unfriendly  to  Columbia  Col- 
lej,'e,  or  beiiiL;'  unuilliiiL;-  to  be  associated  witii 
so  venerable  and  respectable  an  institution  in 
]iromotin,i^  tiie  cause  of  education." 

At  that  time  the 
former  .Ahnshouse  of 
the  city  (the  institu- 
tion itself  havini;  I>een 
removed  to  the  neii^h- 
borhood  of  tlie  pres- 
ent Bellevue)  had 
been  metamorphosed 
into  a  veritable  abode 
of  literature  and 
science.  Situated  a 
little  northward  of 
the  City  Hall,  it 
Iodised  in  1830  the 
Lyceum  of  Natural 
History,  the  rooms  of 
the  Historical  Soci- 
ety, the  Academy  of 
Arts  and  the  Literar)- 
and  Philosophical  So- 
ciety—  the  fjerms  of 
the  present  New 
York  Academy  of 
Science,  of  the  Bronx 
Park  Zoolo^;ical  Asso- 
ciation, of  the  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art, 
the  Zoological  Museum, — institutions  of  which 
several  assuredly  to-day  mark  the  highest 
achievements  of  American  civilization,  all  lod^;ed 
to<;;ether  in  the  quondam  almshouse  of  New 
York,  sevent}-  \cars  a_<;o.  A  strong  hope  was 
expressed  by  the  projectors  of  New  York 
University  that  perhaps  in  this  ver)-  building, 
with  a  friendly  federation  established  with  all 
these  coqiorations  devoted  to  the  advancement 
of  knowledge  and  taste,  the  classrooms  of  the 
proposed  University  might  be  placed,  at  least 


MORO.^N    LEWIS 


in  the;  beginning.  Nor  was  the  hope  left 
unspoken  that  the  collections  of  the  (Mty 
Library  (tS.ooo  volumes),  of  the  New  York 
Athenaeum  (it  had  a  foundation  of  1^27,000) 
and  of  tiie  Mercantile  Association  might  be 
made  available  for  the  projiosed  seat  of  learning. 
And  it  was  stated  that  a  number  of  free  muni- 
cipal scholarships  might  possibly  be  established. 
This  then  is  tiie  substance  of  the  communi- 
cation read  with  General  Morgan  Lewis  in  the 

chair.  After  the 
death  of  DeWitt  Clin- 
ton, in  1.S2.S,  few 
names  were  held  in 
higher  renown  in  the 
city  and  state  of  New 
York  than  the  name 
of  Morgan  Lewis. 
Born  1754,  son  of 
I""rancis  Lewis,  a 
signer  of  the  Decla- 
ration of  Indejien- 
dence,  he,  having 
graduated  at  Prince- 
ton 1773,  studied  law 
with  John  Jay,  and 
became  a  Colonel  on 
Gates's  staff  in  the 
Burgoyne  campaign 
of  1777,  Chief-Justice 
of  the  State  1801, 
Governor  1 805- 1806, 
Major-General  in  the 
War  of  18 1 2.  His 
great  fondness  for  let- 
ters is  evidenced  by  an  anecdote  of  an  incident 
which  happened  at  Albany,  related  b\-  Fitz- 
Greene  Halleck.  whose  satirical  poem  "  Fanny" 
Go\'ernor  Lewis  read  at  Albany  —  without 
knowing  that  the  modest  author  himself  was 
in  the  room  —  it  was  late  in  18 19.  The  author 
himself  relates  in  a  letter  to  his  sister  :  "  I  was 
amused  by  hearing  Go\ernor  Lewis  read  it  to 
a  large  group  of  great  men  at  the  hotel  where 
I  stayed.  I  will  do  him  the  justice  to  say  he 
was  the  best  reader  I  ever  heard,  and  ought 
to    be    made    Schoolmaster-General."       (Lewis 


52 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR   SONS 


liacl  been  Quartermaster-General  in  the  War  of 
1 812.)  The  venerable  soldier  and  jurist  was 
now  (1830)  seventy-six  years  of  age.  He  hon- 
ored the  first  Council  of  New  York  University 
by  accepting  a  seat  in  it,  and  he  was  vigorous 
enough  two  years  later,  in  1832,  to  deliver  the 
oration  in  commemoration  of  the  one  hundredth 
anniversary  of  the  birth  of  George  Washington. 

The  work  of  securing  shareholders  pro- 
ceeded steadily,  and  October  15,  1830,  the 
following  Council  was  chosen  by  the  share- 
holders out  of  the  shareholders  :  Rev.  Jonathan 
M.  W'ainwright,  Rev.  James  M.  Mathews, 
Rev.  Spencer  H.  Cone,  Rev.  James  Milnor,  Rev. 
Samuel  H.  Co.x,  Rev.  Jacob  Broadhead,  Rev. 
Cyrus  Mason,  Rev.  Archibald  Maclay,  Gen. 
Morgan  Lewis,  Hon.  Albert  Gallatin,  Hon. 
Samuel  R.  Betts,  Hon.  James  Tallmadgc,  John 
S.  Crary,  Samuel  Ward,  Jr.,  William  Cooper, 
I'anning  C.  Tucker,  (31iver  M.  Lowndes, 
Valentine  Mott,  M.D.,  Edward  Dclafield, 
M.D.,  Charles  G.  Troup,  Charles  Starr,  Henry 
Y.  Wyckoff,  Myndert  Van  Schaick,  John  Hag- 
gerty,  James  Lenox,  William  W.  Woolsey, 
Gabriel  P.  Disosway,  John  Dclafield,  George 
Griswold,  Stephen  Whitney,  Martin  E.  Thomp- 
son, Benjamin  L.  Swan.  With  them  the 
Mayor,  the  Hon.  Walter  Bowne,  and  four 
members  of  the  Common  Council. 

Tlie  idea  of  shareholders  strikes  us  as  odd 
at  this  distance  of  time;  so  would  that  of  edu- 
cational lotteries,  which  had  greatly  flourished 
not  long  before  this  era.  A  corporation  and 
shares  :  certainly  a  non-productive  coqwration, 
comparable  to  pewholders  in  a  church.  Per- 
haps the  precedent  of  the  establishment  of  the 
"New  York  High  School"  (a  private  corpora- 
tion of  shareholder.s)  under  the  leadership  of 
Profes.sor  John  Griscom  in  1822  and  1825  had 
some  influence.  Many  of  the  projectors  of 
the  University  were  undoubtedly  sanguine  ; 
there  seemed  to  be  every  evidence  that  this 
was  a  genuine  popular  movement,  as  to  the 
demand,  the  material  basis,  and  the  direction 
as  well.  Few  if  any  distinctly  realized  that  as 
education  advances  above  the  elementary  level, 
it  must   needs  more  and  more  fail  to  be  self- 


supporting.  Many  a  mind  probably  accus- 
tomed to  the  unparalleled  growth  of  the  last 
twenty  years  in  population  and  in  wealth  and 
in  all  the  elements  of  material  growth,  unre- 
servedly projected  the  same  firm  trust  of 
growth  into  a  domain  which  in  its  nature 
must  always  deal  with  things  impalpable  and 
not  measurable  with  the  yardstaff  of  outward 
bigness. 

Meanwhile  an  eminentlywi.se  measure  of  the 
founders  was  this  :  they  appointed  a  committee 
consisting  of  Drs.  Mathews  and  Wainwright, 
of  the  Hon.  Albert  Gallatin  and  of  the  inde- 
fatigable and  zealous  John  Dclafield  of  the 
Phenix  Bank,  to  invite  men  of  eminence  in 
higher  education  to  attend  a  convention  of 
educational  purport  on  October  20,  1830,  and 
following  da}-s.  No  convocation  of  such  a 
natiue  had  ever  before,  we  believe,  been  hold 
within  the  fifty-si.x  years  of  national  life.  The 
circular  of  invitation  dated  September  25,  1830, 
truly  urged  "that  our  literary  [educational] 
men  and  literary  institutions  have  been  too 
much  insulated."  And  the  hope  was  expressed 
that  if  these  experts  in  the  fields  of  higher 
education  were  to  confer  together  on  the  gen- 
eral interests  of  letters  and  liberal  education, 
not  only  the  proposed  University  but  also 
other  seminaries  of  learning  in  the  common 
country  would  best  promote  their  common 
cause. 

Time  has  not  detracted  from,  but  must 
needs  steadily  add  to,  the  historical  importance 
of  this  academic  convocation,  which  did  em- 
body the  best  ideas  and  almost  all  the  ideals 
entertained  in  the  domain  of  higher  education 
in  the  era  of  John  Quincy  Adams  and  of 
Andrew  Jackson,  —  and  which  exhibited  in 
striking  juxtaposition  the  tremendous  utilita- 
rian bias  of  the  day,  as  well  as  re]iresentative 
ideas  of  European  higher  training  and  the 
re])orts  of  gifted  Americans  who  had  recently 
returned  from  protracted  stay  in  Germany, 
France,  Switzerland  or  Great  Britain.  Again 
we  owe  it  to  John  Dclafield,  in  the  main,  that 
a  permanent  record  was  made.  It  was  he  who 
acted  as  Secretary  at  these  sessions,  and  copy- 


lUSTORT  OF  NEIV    YORK    UNIIliRSirT 


5Z 


JOURNAI. 


PROC'EEDINON  OF  A  CONVENTION 


LITUKARY    AND    SCIENTIFIC    GENTLEMEN 


righted,  November  23,  1S30,  a  book   bcarini^ 
the  follovviiii;  title:  "Journal  of  the  Proceed- 
ing's of  a   Convention   of   Literary  and   Scien- 
tific  (ientlenien,  licld  in   the  Common  C'ouncil 
Chamber  of  the   City  of   New  \'ork,  October, 
1830."       New    York,    Jonathan    Leavitt    and 
G.  &  C.  &   n.  Carvill.     William  A.  Mercein, 
Printer,  No.  240 
Pearl  St.,  corner 
of    Hurhn.i;    Slip 
—  (pp.       286). 
The     following 
institutions  were 
r  e  p  resented  : 
Middlebury  Col- 
lege,  University 
of      Vermont, 
Geneva      (Ho- 
bart),     Univer- 
sity of   Pennsyl- 
vania, Princeton 
(represented   by 
Hodge  and  Pat- 
ton),     Washing- 
ton   (Trinity  af- 
ter '45),  Hamp- 
den-Sidney    of 
Virginia,    An- 
dover,  Yale  (Sil- 
liman,     H.     E. 
Dwight)     and 
Harvard    (Jared 
Sparks,    future 
President      at 
Cam  br  i  dge). 
Letters     were 
reiid   from  Gov- 
ernor    Throop 
and  from  Chan- 
cellor Walworth   at  Albany,  Judge   Story  and 
the  Hon.  Edward  Everett  of  Boston.  President 
Eliphalet  Nott  of  Union  and  President   Carna- 
han  of  Princeton. 

Present  also  was  a  future  President  of  Yale 
who  had  recently  returned  from  a  sojourn  of 
several  years  at  European  seats  of  learning  — 
a  man   whose  name  now  belongs  to  the  treas- 


COMMON     COUNCIL    CHAMBER 


OF  THE  CITY  or  KEW  YOBK, 


roBER,  IKIO. 


.lONATHAN    LEAVITT    ANU    O.    li. 


Willing    K    M.-r. 


ViuiKT,  Xo.  210  1V-..II 


FACSIMILE    TITLEPAGE    PROCEEDINGS    OF    CONVENTION 


ures  of  Yale  —  Theodore  Woolsey.  Likewise 
there  was  ])resent  Ur.  Erancis  Lieber  of  Bos- 
ton, a  native  of  Berlin  (b.  1800),  a  volunteer 
for  Greek  freedom  and  protege  of  Niebuhr 
antl  Hunsen,  then  occupied  in  editing  the  En- 
cycloi)aedi;i  yXmericana  of  lio.slon,  destined  in 
the   latter   part   of   liis  life  (1857  sc|(|)  to  add 

greatly  to  the 
literary  rejjuta- 
tion  of  Columbia 
College.  Lieu- 
tenants Drum 
and  Mitchell 
r  e })  resented 
West  Point. 
The  venerable 
John  Trumbull, 
s  e  V  e  n  ty-four 
years  of  age, 
Aide  of  Wash- 
ington and  paint- 
er of  his  por- 
trait, had  a  seat 
in  that  conven- 
tion. Among 
the  numerous 
clerg)'men  pres- 
ent was  Bishop 
Dubois  of  the 
Roman  Catholic 
Church  ;  in  his 
youth  a  class- 
mate of  Robes- 
pierre and  Des- 
moulins  at  the 
College  Louis 
Le  (irand,  he 
had  been  as- 
sisted by  I^fay- 
ette  in  1791  to  escape  to  America,  and  in  the 
winter  of  1829-1830.  he  had  been  in  Erance 
soliciting  funds  for  founding  a  Roman  Catholic 
College  in  New  York  City. 

There  was  present  also  Dr.  Emory  (soon 
made  Bishop)  of  the  Methodist  Ejiiscopal 
Church,  and  the  Book  Concern  ;  Gallaudet, 
founder  of  deaf-mute  instruction  in  Hartford ; 


&.    U.    CARVILI.. 


54 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


and  Rodolphe  Hassler  of  Switzerland,  who 
through  Gallatin's  influence  had  begun  the 
work  of  the  coast  survey  in  Jefferson's  admin- 
istration. There  was  the  man,  finally,  who 
was  least  satisfied  with  the  extent  and  current 
type  of  education  as  maintained  e.  g.  by  Colum- 
bia, the  man  who  while  a  native  of  Geneva  and 
a  graduate  of  her  University,  had  in  Fayette 
count)',  Pennsylvania,  risen  among  the  people 
as  a  man  of  the  people  and  as  a  pillar  of  the 
anti-Federal  party  advanced  to  the  great  post 
of  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  in  Jefferson's 
administration,  succeeding  in  1801  to  Alexander 
Hamilton. 

A  book  which  like  this  "Journal"  of  1830 
contains  utterances  by  Jared  Sparks,  Theodore 
Woolsey,  Albert  Gallatin,  Francis  Lieber, 
George  Bancroft,  Benjamin  Silliman,  Thomas 
Gallaudet,  on  the  most  salutary  interests  of 
American  progress  in  1830  —  such  a  book  I 
trust  does  not  need  to  clamor  for  recognition 
in  our  research-fostering  generation.  A  sum- 
mary account  of  these  deliberations  may  be 
welcomed  by  many  students  of  the  hi.story  of 
American  civilization  and  not  by  the  Alumni 
of  New  York  University  alone. 

In  the  sub-florid  address  of  welcome  by  Dr. 
Mathews  we  notice  sanguine  parallelisms  of 
New  York  with  Berlin  and  Munich  :  the  speaker 
evidently  did  not  realize  the  close  and  vital 
relation  which  these  governmental  institutions 
maintained  towards  the  whole  organism  and 
organization  of  secondary  education  in  their 
respective  kingdoms,  and  that  they  were  the 
exclusive  portals  to  all  the  professions,  to  the 
civil  service,  to  the  administration  and  to 
the  cabinet  itself. 

The  first  paper  was  one  by  Professor  Vethake 
"of  Princeton,"  read  in  the  author's  absence 
by  Rev.  Dr.  Wainwright  (pp.  22-42).  Vethake 
considered  the  existing  method  of  collegiate 
instruction  in  the  United  States.  Classics 
should  no  longer  be  the  sifie  qua  non  for 
entrance  upon  all  higher  study  :  they  were  a 
mere  gratification  of  curiosity  in  tracing  the 
gradual  advance  of  the  human  mind  ;  the  bulk 
of  the  people  desired  useful  information.     He 


saw  no  reason  why  (p.  28)  young  men  should 
be  told  that  unless  they  learned  Latin  and 
Greek  they  should  not  be  permitted  to  learn 
anything  else.  As  to  the  proportion  of  classics 
actually  to  be  studied,  Vethake  in  effect  ad- 
vocated the  elective  principle.  The  imagina- 
tion of  the  general  public  was  superficially 
dazzled  by  the  "  mystic  sheepskin  "  (p.  28).  A 
few  colleges  cheapened  their  instruction  in 
order  to  attract  students.  (His  lack  of  knowl- 
edge of  European  education  he  revealed  in 
his  naTve  identification  of  American  acade- 
mies with  German  gymnasia.)  On  p.  30,  the 
arrangement  of  the  University  of  Virginia  is 
commended,  viz.,  in  making  attendance  on  a 
certain  number  of  courses  at  the  same  period 
of  time,  obligatory.  Vethake  further  on  ad- 
verts to  the  current  polymathy  among  edu- 
cated men  in  the  United  States,  coupled  with 
lack  of  thoroughness  in  any  branch.  At  the 
present  time  there  were  no  elections  whatever 
in  all  the  four  years  of  College  work  :  electives 
would  mean  better  work.  This  principle 
would  greatly  reduce  the  practice  of  coercion. 
Colleges  too  would  get  more  sons  of  farmers 
and  mechanics :  it  would  improve  the  moral 
tone  of  the  colleges.  There  should  be  more 
familiar  intercourse  between  students  and 
"  instructors."  There  should  be  bestowed  a 
Baccalaureate  degree  in  Literature  and  also 
one  in  Science.  As  things  now  were,  sciences 
were  regarded  as  entirely  secondary  in  impor- 
tance to  the  knowledge  of  languages  (p.  41): 
if  his  reforms  were  adopted,  sciences  would 
assume  natural  and  proper  dignity  in  the  College 
system.  Most  faulty  was  the  exclusive  mode 
of  rehearsing  textbooks  with  comments  on  the 
part  of  the  Professor  which  were  apt  to  be 
"spiritless  or  sparing."  Vcthake's  paper  re- 
ceived a  resolution  of  thanks  and  was  referred 
to  a  committee. 

The  Journal  further  on  (pp.  45-52)  contains 
a  communication  from  George  Bancroft,  who 
was  then  thirty  years  of  age  and  conducting 
his  private  school  at  Round  Hill,  Northampton, 
Massachusetts.  Bancroft  was  then  distin- 
guished as  probably  the  first  American  who  had 


IIISTORV   OF   NEIV    TORK    UNIl^EKSlTr 


55 


earned  ;i  I'h.l).  in  (iermany,aiul  doubtlessly  tlie 
only  one  who  had  earned  it  at  twenty.  Dr. 
liancroft  drew  the  iileal  of  an  American  Univer- 
sity with  noble  enthusiasm,  sayinjjj  that  it  aimed 
at  nothinj;  less  than  to  furnish  a  eoncentration  of 
all  useful  knoivlcdi^c  (not  even  a  Hanerofl  dared 
to  speak  of  knowled,i;e  without  tiie  sliil)boleth  of 
"useful"  !  )  ;  that  it  aimed  at  coileelinL;,  di,L;est- 
in-;,  diffusini;-  all  the  learning  which  could  in 
any  manner  be  made  the  fit  subject  of  public 
instruction,  and  promote  the  honor  and  advan- 
tage of  the  nation  ;  that  in  a  University  a  career 
must  be  opened,  woX.  places  established  (p.  47). 
After  referring  to  the  growth  of  the  Universi- 
ties of  Herlin,  of  Munich  and  of  Gottingen,  he 
went  on  to  say  that  in  New  York  the  study  of 
Medicine  and  Surgery  was  favored  by  the  very 
condition  of  being  in  a  metropolis  ;  Law  in- 
struction likewise  was  bound  to  be  very  suc- 
cessful. "The  pursuits  of  Philosophy  and  the 
Arts,  on  the  contrary  (p.  49),  may  have  a 
harder  struggle.  Our  countrymen  profess, 
many  of  them,  to  strive  to  see  how  much  of 
the  learning  of  former  ages  may  be  dispensed 
with,  rather  than  how  much  may  be  retained." 
—  "The  rejection  of  the  wisdom  of  the  past 
does  not  awaken  originality,  but  produces 
poverty  of  intellect  by  the  loss  of  materials  on 
which  originality  should  be  exercised."  The 
project  of  establishing  a  University  in  New 
York  was  favored  by  important  factors,  e.g., 
the  numbers  of  our  people,  the  character  of  our 
government,  the  relative  age  of  our  population, 
the  basis  of  our  social  system,  the  period  of 
our  history,  when  the  old  states  were  in  truth 
rapidly  becoming  the  mothers  of  new  ones,  by 
the  condition  of  our  strength,  since  the  weak- 
ness of  ttKlay  became  tomorrow  the  confidence 
and  admiration  of  the  world ;  and  lastly  by 
the  character  of  our  population,  proverbially 
ambitious  and  inquisitive.  "  On  New  York 
itself  (p.  51)  a  successful  University  might  not 
only  reflect  a  brilliancy  of  reputation,  but  also 
confer  inestimable  benefits.  It  might  assist  in 
giving  an  honorable  direction  to  the  destinies 
of  the  city,  and  might  aid  in  developing  the 
talent     required    for    the    wisest    and    noblest 


employment  of  the  vast  material  wealth  uliirh 
is  so  rapidly  increasing." 

The  first  communication  of  the  afternoon 
session  October  20,  —  President  Hates  of  Mid- 
dlebury  being  again  in  the  chair,  —  was  a 
paper  by  Dr.  P'rancis  Lieber  of  Boston,  on  the 
(ierman  Universities,  explaining  the  real  cause 
of  their  eminence  (54-68).  Teaching,  in  Ger- 
many, was  a  real  profession.  The  /lonorariuin 
(it  was  a  favorite  idea  of  the  founders  to  make 
the  new  University  so  popular  as  to  make  it 
self-supporting)  of  (ierman  University  Pro- 
fessors could  never  be  great  in  Mathematics, 
even  in  the  case  of  a  Gauss  ;  not  even  a  Ifer- 
iiiami  or  a  Boeckh  would  derive  much  emolu- 
ment from  the  fees  of  his  classical  lectures  ; 
and  this  was  even  more  so  in  the  case  of 
Hebrew.  No  American  lecturer  on  such  topics 
could  subsi.st  on  lecture  fees.  f^ut  would  not 
the  truly  useful  (p.  60)  courses  provitle  a  hand- 
some return  to  the  academic  teacher .-'  As 
soon  as  we  ascended  above  the  sphere  of  ma- 
terial wants,  what  indeed  was  useful?  'Ihe 
noblest  aims  were  also  generally  the  most  re- 
mote in  realization.  Mow  was  the  usefulness 
of  a  science  to  be  determined  .''  P'urther  on  he 
spoke  of  the  neglect  of  the  general  study  of 
History.  German  too  (p.  63)  should  be  taught, 
although  the  common  business  of  life  (this  was 
seventy  years  ago)  provided  little  for  this  study 
in  comparison  with  P"rench  and  Spanish,  which 
were  more  immediately  wanted  and  were  more 
in  vogue.  The  Professors  should  not  have  to 
rely  on  their  fees.  Could  youtJis  adequately 
judge  of  men  (p.  64),  and  in  regard  to  that 
very  matter  in  which  they  still  had  to  learn  .-' 
A  Professor  of  Medicine  might  safely  depend 
on  fees  ;  not  so  a  Professor  of  Hebrew  (p.  65). 
One  important  cause  of  the  scientific  and 
literary  ambition  of  Germany  was  Jier  utter 
luatit  of  political  life.  (Italics  our  own).  Lieber 
also  adverted  to  the  disinclination  prevailing  in 
the  United  States  for  gymnastics. 

The  next  speaker  was  Theodore  Dwight 
Woolsey  (b.  1801).  His  paper  furnished  a 
luminous  account  of  the  inner  organization  of 
the  French  Colleges,  particularly  those  of  Paris, 


56 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


Heiiri  IV.,  Louis  le  Grand,  St.  Louis,  Bourbon, 
Charlemagne ;  the  organization  of  classes  and 
studies,  grades,  titles,  salaries,  fees,  and  the 
annual  concoiirs  for  prizes  in  the  great  hall  of 
the  Sorbonne.  Greek,  Geography  and  the 
Sciences  had  impressed  Mr.  Woolsey  as  being 
neglected  for  an  over-culti\'ation  of  Latin.  The 
Rev.  \V.  C.  Woodbridge  of  Hartford  (p.  78) 
urged  that  the  difficulty  of  goxernment  in  our 
Colleges  arose  from  the  fact  that  we  attempted 
to  educate  men  and  boys  in  the  same  establish- 
ment. The  mode  of  appointing  Professors  being 
under  discussion,  Professor  Benjamin  Silliman 
of  Yale(b.  1779,  Editor  since  18 18  of  Silliman's 
Journal, and  the  "Nestor  of  American  Science" ) 
spoke  of  the  way  in  vogue  in  New  Haven. 

On  the  second  day,  October  21,  President 
Bates  in  the  chair,  Professor  Perdicari  (a 
Greek)  of  Washington  College  (Trinity),  Hart- 
ford, presented  a  lengthy  paper,  advocating  the 
introduction  of  modern  Greek  (his  own)  j^ro- 
nunciation  (on  p.  102  for  Cony  read  Korais). 
W'ilHani  Clianiiing  Wuodhridge  (who  soon 
afterwards  undertook  the  Ktlitorship  of  the 
American  Annals  of  Education,  one  of  the  first 
Americans  who  devoted  themselves  to  the 
furtherance  of  Pedagogy  as  a  science  anil  as  a 
profession),  made  an  interesting  report  on  Fel- 
lenl)erg's  institution  at  Hofwyl  in  Switzerland. 

Subsequently  the  meeting  took  up  the  much 
mooted  question  of  the  day,  viz.,  that  of  o/^iu- 
ing  the  classes  at  College.  This  was  ad\(»cated 
by  Lieber,  by  Gallaudet  and  i^y  Jared  Si)arks. 
Gallaudet  advocated  substantially  wliat  we  now 
have  :  the  principle  of  electives.  The  Ver- 
mont Professors  advocated  maintaining  the 
practice  of  prescribed  studies  for  all.  In 
these  debates,  which  were  quite  spirited.  Pro- 
fessor Keating  of  Philadelphia  made  the  state- 
ment, noteworthy  to  us  (p.  131),  that  the 
average  age  of  College  graduation  was  eighteen. 
We  had  nothing,  he  said,  to  carry  education 
beyond  that  grade.  But  he  did  not  intimate 
that  any  one  could  have  any  professional  inter- 
est in  gaining  what  we  today  call  graduate 
instruction.  What  then  were  the  motives  he  ad- 
duced for  study  beyond  the  A.B.  level  of  1830  } 


On  p.  1 32  he  speaks  of  "  those  young  men,  who, 
either  from  the  affluence  of  their  circumstances 
or  from  their  thirst  after  knowledge,  are  dis- 
posed to  devote  a  few  additional  years  to  the 
acquisition  of  a  thorough  knowledge  of  any  one 
department  of  science  or  literature." 

This,  too,  was  seventy  years  ago.  It  is,  I 
believe,  the  first  formal  though  halting  and 
tentative  suggestion  of  graduate  stud)-  in  the 
records  of  the  history  of  American  education. 
Further  on,  the  education  of  classical  teachers 
being  under  discussion,  Henry  E.  Dwight  of 
New  Haven  (p.  133  sq),  spoke  on  the  matter. 
Somewhat  inadequately  he  spoke  of  the  Scliiil- 
leJtrerseviitiar  of  (jermany  ;  we  had  no  normal 
schools  as  yet.  Teaching  with  us,  said  he,  was 
resorted  to  for  a  few  years  by  graduates  of 
colleges  and  then  abandoned  forever.  "  lulu- 
cation  has  consequently  never  become  a  dis- 
tinct profession  in  the  United  States,  but  a 
stepi)ing  stone  to  one  of  the  learned  profes- 
sions. In  consequence  of  this,  instructors  are 
less  respected  in  our  count r)-  than  In  any 
other,  and  few  men  of  talents  are  willing  to 
devote  their  lives  to  teaching,  or  even  to  pur- 
sue it  longer  than  their  necessities  compel 
tliem,  unless  there  is  a  prospect  of  obtaining 
a  i)lace  in  some  of  our  colleges.'  Reverting 
to  the  concrete  matter  in  hand  he  went  on  to 
say  (p.  139)  that  "the  friends  of  literature 
throughout  the  Union  are  looking  with  in- 
tense interest  towards  this  University.  "  New 
York  would  soon  be  the  heart  of  the  Union  : 
the  fifty  steamboats  (p.  140)  which  entered 
this  port,  were  bringing  more  than  a  thousand 
strangers  daily  to  this  metropolis.  "  As  our 
population  becomes  more  dense,  there  must  be 
a  greater  division  of  mental  as  well  as  jihysical 
labor,  and  to  meet  the  wants  of  the  country, 
our  literary  institutions  must  be  remodelled,  or 
new  ones  must  be  established."  Prophetic 
words  indeed  and  true,  but  not  for  1830,  when 
the  entire  population  of  cities  in  the  whole 
country  was  but  864,509,  or  6.y  per  cent  of 
the  whole,  less  than  the  single  borough  of 
Brooklyn  has  today  ;  and  the  total  population 
of  tlie    country  was   about    equal    to  the  com- 


IIIS'I'OK}-   OF    NFJr    YORK    f  SI  I' KKSITV 


S7 


bincd  pitpulatioii  ot  New  N'mk  ami  IV-iuisyl- 
vaiiia  on  the  threshold  ol  the  TweDtiith 
Centiiiy    (i  2,S66,02o). 

On  ( )et()l)ei"  22  the  exercises  bej;an  witli  a 
prayer  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  \'ates,  ol  C'hitle- 
nani;(i,  I'resitleiit  IJates  in  the  eliair,  supported 
by  the  lloii.  All)ert  (iallatin  ami  the  llcjn. 
Judge  Helts.  'I'lie  lirst  subject  of  discussion 
was  "  rolice  "  (tliscipline).  The  ideas  of  W'ood- 
bridjje  particularly  were  noble  and  luminous, 
the  debate  being  car- 
rietl  on  by  Bates, 
Dewey,  Sillinian, 
W'aiiiwright,  Marsh, 
Kmory,  Sparks,  Rice 
of  \'irginia,  and  Pat- 
ton  of  Nassau  Hall, 
the  topic  being  con- 
tinued in  the  after- 
noon session.  An- 
other matter  was  one 
in  which  the  Hon. 
lulward  Livingston, 
then  a  United  States 
Senator  from  Louisi- 
ana, took  a  particu- 
larly strong  interest, 
viz.,  a  National 
Academy  of  Science 
and  Literature, 
which  had  before 
been  advocated  by 
Lieutenant  Mitchell 
of  West  Point,  who 
referred  to  the  as- 
semblage as  a  "  Convention  of  the  Literati  of 
our  country." 

On  this  Friday  afternoon  at  last  the  Hon. 
Albert  Gallatin  gave  utterance  to  his  educa- 
tional ideas  (pp.  169-182)  as  follows  (his  main 
object  being  to  depreciate  the  "dead"  lan- 
guages). He  reasoned  thus  :  while  admitting 
and  even  laying  great  stress  on  the  perfec- 
tion of  the  Greek  language  and  the  excellence 
of  Greek  literary  production,  he  urged  the 
fact  that  the  Greeks  had  learned  no  language 
but  their  own.      His  inference  was  that  if  Eng- 


ALBERr    (lAM.AriN 


lish  were  tauglil  as  thoroughly  to  American 
youth,  and  they  made  it  the  chief  instrument 
of  their  culluir,  they  might  equal  the  (jreeks 
in  culluie.  .Somewhat  shallow  for  a  Gallatin  : 
the  Romans  e.  g.,  who  in  j)olitical  initiative 
and  devotion  to  civil  law  have  many  points  of 
contact  with  the  American  character,  owed 
almost  all  their  intellectual  culti\atioii  to 
(ireete.  The  rcdnctio  ixd  absiiniitni  \suw\{\  be 
consummately  easy.      But  let  us  follow  Gallatin 

further.  The  present 
classical  education 
was  for  tlic  few ; 
lliere  was  need  of  a 
practical  and  useful 
hno'olcdgc  for  the 
uiauy  ;  there  was  the 
opi^robrium  of  inferi- 
ority which  would 
cling  to  non-classical 
higher  schools.  This 
was  all  wrong.  He 
desired  a  fair  experi- 
ment of  an  Rtii^lish 
Colle<ie  to  help  break 
down  the  prejudice 
of  confining  the  term 
of  "  scholar  "  to  one 
versed  in  the  classics. 
The  attempt  made  in 
1794-95  of  establish- 
ing an  academy  with 
(jreek  and  Latin  in 
every  county  of  Penn- 
sylvania had  failed, 
because  it  was  not  supported  by  public  opinion 
(p.  179).  He  concluded  this  part  of  his  address 
with  these  words  (p.  180):  "Without  intending 
to  compare  together  subjects  which  admit 
of  no  comparison,  may  I  be  allowed  to  say 
that  if  before  the  Reformation  the  way  to 
the  word  of  God  and  to  his  worship  was 
obstructed  by  the  improper  use  of  the  Latin 
language,  we  now  find  the  same  impediment 
arresting  a  more  general  diffusion  of  human 
knowledge."  Mr.  Gallatin  then  gave,  as  he 
had  been  desired,  some  account  of  the  College 


58 


UNIVERSITIES   JND    THEIR    SONS 


of  Geneva.  After  Professor  Edward  Robinson 
had  reported  on  Perdicari's  proposition  as  to 
modern  Greek,  the  convention  adjourned. 

On  the  last  day,  Saturday,  October  23,  1830, 
Dr.  Hamm  of  Ohio  (the  only  member  repre- 
senting a  state  west  of  the  Alleghenies)  took 
his  seat.  Dr.  Gallaudet  followed  closely  in 
the  lines  of  debate  uttered  t)n  the  previous  da}- 
by  Mr.  Gallatin.  After  him  Dr.  Lieber  spoke 
of  successful  non-classical  schools,  e.  g.  the 
Ecole  Polytcchniqtic  of  Paris.  Lieber  evidently 
had  been  strongly  stirred  by  Gallatin  on  the 
preceding  day,  and  he  now  launched  forth 
into  a  warm  defense  of  classical  education  ; 
nor  could  he  believe  that  in  this  country, 
"where  all  matters  had  taken  a  practical  turn, 
any  danger  was  to  be  apprehended  ixoxw  too 
extensive  a  study  of  the  classical  languages." 
The  final  Resolutions,  as  well  as  the  general 
expectation,  looked  forward  to  another  conven- 
tion in  the  fall  of  1831.  Why  it  was  never 
held  we  have  been  unable  to  ascertain. 

The  universality  of  these  discussions  is 
curiously    illustrated    by    one   of    the    themes, 


"Thoughts  on  a  University  for  the  Poorer 
Classes."  Most  varied  were  the  postulates 
presented  to  the  first  Council.  Some  demanded 
an  equivalent  to  what  now  are  called  the 
"  Lectures  for  the  People  ;  "  others  wanted  a 
Prussian  University  transplanted  to  American 
soil.  Some  wanted  a  minimum  of  require- 
ments, others  an  institution  for  graduate 
instruction.  Some  wanted  to  elevate  the 
best  extant  work  to  the  highest  European 
levels,  others  wanted  something  truly  demo- 
cratic. The  graduates  of  Columbia,  Princeton, 
Union,  Yale  naturally  wanted  something  not 
inferior  to  their  own  Colleges.  If  Johns 
Hopkins,  if  night  schools,  the  Pratt  Institute 
and  Cooper  Union,  the  City  College  of  New 
York  and  President  Harper's  (of  Chicago) 
University  Convocation  could  have  been  rolled 
into  one,  all  the  friends  of  the  new  movement 
would  have  been  satisfied,  but  not  otherwise. 
The  task  of  the  first  executive  officer  there- 
fore was  bound  to  prove  one  of  extraordinary 
difficulty,  even  imder  the  most  favorable 
circumstances.  E.  g.   s. 


APPKNDIX    TO    ClIAl'lKR    I 


The  first  meeting  recorded  took  place  on  December  iC, 
18.29.  John  Delafield,  Esq.,  (married  to  a  granddaughter  of 
Gen'l  Morgan  Lewis)  was  Secretary  during  all  the  pre- 
liminary work.  He  became  the  first  otticial  Secretary  also 
of  the  Council,  resigning  on  December  24,  1S32,  being 
opposed  to  the  Washington  Square  Purchase.  The  sub- 
sequent general  meetings  of  persons  interested  were  as  fol- 
lows:  on  December  30,  1829;  January  8,  1830;  January  11  ; 
January  14;  January  15;  January  18  ;  January  20;  January 
22;  January  25  ;  January  29  ;  February  i,  2,  3,  5,  8,  15,  22, 
25;  March  i  ;  then  a  pause  to  July  29,  1830.  Committees 
were  appointed  with  the  chairman  thereafter  named  :  On 
Publication,  Dr.  Mathews;  Application  to  the  Legi.slature 
and  Corporation,  Hugh  Maxwell;  Plan  of  Instruction,  Rev. 
Dr.  Wainwright  ;  Conference  with  Columbia  College,  Rev. 
Dr.  Mathews  ;  Sub-committee  of  "  Standing  Committee," 
Rev.  Dr.  Wainwright;  on  Plan  and  Mode  of  Subscriptions, 
Rev.  Dr.  Mathews ;  Trustees  to  receive  Subscription, 
George  Griswold ;  on  Religion,  Rev.  Dr.  Milnor ;  on  Sub- 
scriptions, Myndert  Van  Schaick ;  on  Donors  and  Dona- 
tions, Rev.  Dr.  Mathews;  on  Restrictions  on  Limitation  of 
Sects  in  the  Council,  Th.  R.  Mercein ;  on  Almshouse 
("  The  New  York  Institution"),  W.  T.  McCoun;  to  forward 
pamphlets  to  Legislature,  G.  Zabriskie ;  to  confer  with 
Common  Councils,  H.  T.  Wyckoff. 

Among  the  propositions  communicated  to  Mayor  Walter 
Bowne   by   T.    H.    Hobart,   senior   Trustee   of    Columbia 


College,  under  date  of  February  l,  1830,  was  the  following: 
"That  if  the  corporation  of  the  city  should  resolve  to  ap- 
])ropriate  the  building  called  the  Old  Almshouse  to  literary 
jjurpose  "  (this  was  the  de.sire  of  the  projectors  of  New 
Nork  U  niversity),  "  and  should  grant  the  same,  or  an  equiva- 
lent thereto,  to  the  Trustees  of  Columljia  College,  the  said 
corporation  shall  be  immediately  entitled  to  ai)i)oinl  'I'rustees 
of  the  College  agreeably  to  the  above  provisions  "  (i.e.  oiu 
Trustee  for  every  ;?20,ooo  of  value  conveyed  to  Columbia, 
to  which  the  Mayor  and  Recorder  were  to  be  added,  making 
twelve  City  Trustees  in  all,  as  the  Almshouse  pro])erty  was 
valued  at  $200,000).  The  new  University  failed  to  secure 
this  property  or  the  temporary  use  of  it.  In  place  of  the 
"Standing  Committee  "  of  the  winter  and  spring  of  1830  we 
shall  presently  affix  a  list  of  the  subscribers  to  whom  in 
October  1830  was  sent  notice  by  Mr.  John  Delafield  to  lake 
part  in  the  election  of  the  First  Council. 

An  "  Executive  Committee  "  was  appointed  on  February 
22,  1830,  consisting  of  the  following  persons  :  Morgan  Lewis, 
72  Leonard  Street;  Jonathan  M.  Wainwright,  i  Rector; 
James  M.  Mathews,  93  Liberty;  John  Delafield,  30  Varick  ; 
Myndert  Van  Schaick,  335  Proadway ;  Henry  J.  Wyckoff. 
6  Broadway  ;  Thos.  R.  Mercein,  5  Laight  ;  James  Lenox, 
59  Broadway  ;  G.  P.  Di-sosway,  99  John  ;  David  L.  Rogers, 
19  Market  ;  Cyrus  Mason,  110  Liberty  (all  these  being  resi- 
dential addresses).  The  meetings  of  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee were  held  as  follows  :     On  March  2,  9,  16,  23  ;  one 


IIISTORT   OF   NEW    YORK    UN  I  FURS  ITT 


59 


undated  (pioljrtbly  July)  "8";  July  19;  July  2.S,  1830;  011 
Thursilay,  2i;th  of  July,  a  general  meeting  of  the  "  Standing 
t;()mniittee  "  (i.e.  the  subscribers  at  large)  was  held,  and  in 
the  meeting  of  July  31,  1S30,  the  membersof  this  E.xecutive 
Committee  were  appointed. 

At  this  meeting  Mr.  John  Delafield  (at  whose  professional 
and  business  abode,  the  I'henix  Hank,  the  first  meeting  of 
the  Kxecutive  Committee  had  been  held  on  Marcli  2)  pre- 
sented the  following  report ;  "  In  February  la.st  its  Standing 
Committee  of  the  University  of  the  City  of  New  \ork  had 
so  far  matured  the  great  principles  and  leading  features  of 
the  Institution,  and  felt  they  had  so  grafted  it  in  the  affec- 
tions of  the  people,  that  they  then  committed  its  interests  to 
the  protection  and  guidance  of  an  K.xecutive  Committee  of 
eleven  members.  That  Committee  entered  upon  its  duties 
with  a  full  sense  of  the  heavy  responsibilities  laid  on  them, 
more  e.specially  the  accomplishment  of  the  subscription 
which  the  .Standing  Committee  had  thought  it  right  to  limit 
in  relation  to  its  completion  to  the  first  day  of  August  next. 
It  is  with  pleasure  the  Kxecutive  Committee  now  reports 
the  successful  issue  of  their  labors.  More  than  one  hundred 
thousand  dollars  have  been  subscribed  or  secured  to  the  ob- 
jects of  the  Institution,"    .  .  .  etc. 

In  a  general  meeting  of  the  shareholders,  July  31,  1S30, 
the  following  was  unanimously  adopted:  Resolved,  that  a 
Committee  of  eleven  members  be  appointed  to  nominate 
candidates  for  the  Council  or  Board  of  Direction  in  whom 
the  government  of  the  University  shall  vest  according  to 
the  terms  and  principles  of  the  subscription  list."  —  The 
following  gentlemen  were  reported  by  the  chair:  Hy.  J. 
Wyckoff,  Morgan  Lewis,  George  Griswold,  James  Lenox, 
J.  M.  Wainwright,  J.  M.  Mathews,  M.  Van  Schaick,  II. 
Maxwell,  Sam'l  Ward,  Jr.,  M.  E.  Thomson,  John  Delafield. 

In  the  meeting  of  the  reappointed  Executive  Committee 
held  Tuesday,  August  31,  1830,  after  Dr.  James  M.  Mathews 
had  broached  the  idea  of  a  Literary  Couvcntion  of  experts 
(actually  held  in  October  1S30),  the  following  was  unani- 
mously "  Resolved :  that  a  Committee  of  three  members  be 
appointed  by  the  chair  to  open  and  conduct  a  correspond- 
ence with  the  Learned  and  Literary  Men  of  the  United 
States  in  relation  to  a  Convention  of  such  persons  by 
invitation  from,  and  in  behalf  of,  the  University  of  the 
City  of  New  York,  with  a  view  to  a  comparison  of  ideas 
and  infoimation  on  the  subject  of  Education;  and  that 
the  Committee  in  their  discretion  be  empowered  to  take 
measures  for  carrying  the  said  Convention  into  effect." 
J.  M.  Wainwright,  J.  M.  Mathews  and  John  Delafield  were 
appointed  such  committee. 

It  is  a  positive  contribution  to  the  histoiy  of  American 
culture  to  reproduce  Mr.  John  Delafield's  list  of  "  Parties  to 
be  invited  to  the  Convention."  Professor  Robinson  ;  Pro- 
fessor Stuart,  Andover ;  Professor  Farrar,  Cambridge; 
President  Humphrey,  Amherst  ;  President  Wayland,  Prov- 
idence; President  Day,  New  Haven;  Professor  .Silliman, 
New  Haven  ;  Profe.ssor  Goodrich,  New  Haven  ;  President 
Marsh,  Hurlington,  Vermont  ;  President  Pates,  Middlebury  ; 
Bishop  Brownell,  Hartford;  Professor  Perdicari,  Hartford; 
Professor  Dewey,  Pittsfield ;  President  Nott,  Schenectady ; 
President  Davis,  Hamilton  College;  President  Milledoler, 
New  Bninswick ;  Professor  DeWitt,  New  Bninswick  ; 
Professor  Patton.  Jersey  (Princeton) ;  President  Carnahan, 
Princeton;  Professor  McLean,  Princeton;  Professor  Vethake, 
Carlisle ;  W.  C.  Woodbridge,  Boston ;  Edward  Cornelius, 
Boston;  President  Lord,  Dartmouth;  Dr.  Yates. Chittenango; 


President  Griffin,  Williamstown ;  Henry.  E.  Dwight,  New 
Haven;  Professor  Turner,  New  York;  President  Duer, 
New  York  (Columbia)  ;  Professor  Moore,  New  York  ; 
I'resident  Mason,  Geneva;  Hon.  S.  Van  Rensselaer, 
Albany;  James  Wadsworth,  (ieneva;  Jared  Sparks,  Boston; 
Hon.  ii.  Everett,  Bo.ston  ;  Hon.  1).  Webster,  Boston;  Hon. 
Judge  Story  ;  George  Ticknor,  Boston;  President  Delancey, 
Philadelphia;  Professor  Adrain,  Philadelphia;  Professor 
Sewall,  Columbian,  I).  C. ;  Mr.  Duponuau,  Philadelphia; 
Chief  Ju.stice  (Jibson,  Carlisle;  James  Hall,  Ellington, 
Conn.  ;  Mr.  Cogswell,  Northampton  ;  Mr.  Newton,  Amherst  ; 
Professor  ICalon,  Lansiiigburgli  ;  Dr.  Fiske,  Middletown; 
Mr.  Weld,  Philadelphia;  Nathaniel  Chauncey,  Philadelphia; 
Thomas  H.  (Jallaudet,  Hartford. 

The  Nominating  Committee  met  on  Sejiteniber  S  and  10, 
1S30,  under  the  Presidency  of  Henry  J.  Wyckoff.  This 
work  had  this  particular  and  addition  element  of  attention 
that  they  were  bound  to  avoid  giving  a  majority  to  any 
single  denomination,  a  consideration  which  of  course  neces- 
sitated the  description  of  denominational  connection,  lh\is 

1.  J.  M.  Wainwright  E.  (Prot.  Ep.) 

2.  J.  M.  Mathews  I).   (Dutch  Reformed) 

3.  S.  H.  Cox  P.   (Presbyterian) 

4.  James  Milner  E. 

5.  Cyrus  Mason  1". 

6.  Spencer  H.  Cone  H.   (Baptist) 

7.  Richard  Varick  P. 

8.  Albert  Gallatin  E. 

etc.,  etc. 

The  Committee  further  met  on  Monday,  September  13; 
Friday,  September  17  ;  Thursday,  September  23  ;  and 
Wednesday,  September  29,  —  six  meetings  in  that  month. 
We  understand  they  were  kept  bu.sy  by  private  enquiries  and 
conferences  to  make  sure  of  candidates*  willingness  to  serve 
eventually.  On  October  8  the  list  of  the  thirty-two  names 
was  at  last  definitely  settled  and  completed.  The  list  is  given 
in  the  hi.story.  Ten  years  later  but  four  out  of  the  thirty-two 
names  were  still  on  the  roster  of  the  Council,  viz.,  Mathews, 
Van  Schaick,  Tallmadge,  Griswold  —  and  no  more. 

The  following  notice  was  published  in  the  daily  papers  of 
New  York,  October  11-12-13,  1830:  ^^  I'liivcrsity  of  the 
City  of  A'ew  York.  An  Election  for  Members  of  the  Council 
of  the  University  according  to  the  terms  of  sub.scription 
adopted  by  the  shareholders,  will  be  held  at  the  rooms  of 
the  Historical  Society,  on  Wednesday  evening  next,  the  13th 
inst.  The  Poll  will  be  opened  at  seven  and  closed  at  eight 
o'clock.  By  order  J.  Delafield,  .Secretary."  The  Election 
by  the  by  was  adjourned  to  Friday  afternoon  the  15th,  at 
3  P.M.,  to  give  every  shareholder  an  opportunity  to  deposit 
his  ballot. 

It  remains  for  us  now  —  a  most  essential  matter  in  this 
recital  —  to  append  the  list  of  subscribers  printed  by  the  care 
of  John  Delafield  for  the  puqiose  of  this  first  election: 
D.  Austin,  Saul  Alley,  Benj.  Aymar.  G.  Arcularius,  J. 
Adriance.  E.  Arrowsmith,  M.  Armstrong,  L.  Brewster,  J. 
Binninger,  S.  Bloomfield,  J.  Brodhead.  T.  Brown.  T.  Boor- 
man,  Thomas  Boyd,  E.  E.  Baldwin,  J.  A.  Brevoort,  Sam'l  R. 
Betts,  J.  Curtis.  Wm.  Bedlow  Crosby,  Sam'l  Hanson  Cox, 
T.  L.Chester,  J.  Chesterman,  W.  W.Che.ster.  S.  H.  Crone,  E. 
Clark,  N.  G.  Games,  S.  Y.  Clark,  E.  D.  Comstock,  J.  Cram, 
A.  \..  Cox,  J.  Chardavoyne,  J.  Constantine.  P.  W.  Cole, 
John  Cole,  Jno.  S.  Crary,  Wm.  Cooper,  J.  Delafield.  R. 
Donaldson,  Cornelius  Dubois,  T.  C.  Doremus,  S.  Da\ton, 


6o 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR    SONS 


J.  Daymon,  G.  P.  Dissosway,  George  Dubois,  W.  W.  De 
Forest,  Edw'd  Delafield,  Rob't  Emmet,  T.  A.  Emmet,  J. 
W.  Francis,  D.  Fanshaw,  Hickson  W.  Fields,  D.  Graham, 
Geo.  Griswold,  Albert  Gallatin,  G.  Griffen,  Seth  Geer,  M. 
H.  Grinnell,  Baldwin  Gardiner,  J.  S.  Hone,  J.  Haggerty, 
S.  S.  Howland,  J.  P.  Hall,  J.  C.  Halsey,  J.  F.  Hance,  E. 
Higgins,  J.  Henriques,  Timothy  Hedges,  J.  15.  Harden- 
burgh,  John  Johnston,  A.  C.  Jackson,  Chas.  St.  John, 
E.  W.  King,  \Vm.  Kemble,  Morgan  Lewis,  Jas.  Lenox,  E. 
Lord,  A.  N.  Lawrence,  Cornelius  I-awrence  (first  Mayor 
elected  by  the  people  directly  1834),  T.  C.  Levins,  L. 
Lowerre,  Z.  Lewis,  Oliver  M.  Lownds,  J.  M.  Mathews,  W. 
C.  Mulligan,  T.  L.  Moffat,  Hugh  Maxwell,  James  Milnor, 
Thos.  R.  Mercein,  R.  Maitland,  W.  J.  McCoun,  W. 
Mathews,  H.  Mathews,  O.  Mathews,  C.  Y.  Moulton,  J. 
Marsh,  J.  Mackay,  Jr.,  A.  Mclntire,  M.  C.  Morgan,  Wm. 
McMurray,  Archibald  Maclay,  Cyrus  Mason,  Valentine 
Mott,  P.  J.  Nevins,  Robt.  Nunns,  M.  M.  Noah,  Wm.  Nunns, 
P.  Nefus,  Mr.  Newbold,  Francis  Olmsted,  J.  Ordronaux, 
Waldron  B.  I'ost,  W.  W.  Phillips,  Th.  Price,  Almos  Palmer, 


R.  M.  Pennoyer,  Absalom  Peters,  E.  Riggs,  Z.  Ring,  J. 
Rankin,  A.  Ross,  J.  Russel,  D.  L.  Rogers,  J.  H.  Rogers, 
B.  L.  Swan,  Chas.  Starr,  S.  S.  Swartout,  F.  Sheldon, 
Suydam  and  Jackson,  Thos.  Stokes,  D.  Selden,  Rob.  Sedg- 
wick, Stephen  Smith,  James  Suydam,  J.  F.  Sibell,  J.  A.  Storm, 
Is.  Sayres,  Lambert   Suydam,  J.  F.  Sheafe,  Garritt  Storm, 

F.  A.  Tracy,  M.  E.  Thompson,  I).  E.  Tyler,  Thos.  Tobias. 
E.  Townsend,  James  Tallmadge,  L.  Torboss,  E.  Townsend, 
Chas.  G.  Troup,  P.  H.  Taylor,  F.  C.  Tucker,  M.  Van  Schaick, 
Rich'd  Varick,  Steph.  Whitney,  Sam.  Ward,  Jr.,  J.  M. 
Wainwright,  by  Sam.  Ward,  Jr.,  H.  T.  Wyckoff,  Sam'l 
Whittemore,  W.  W.  WooLsey,  Wm.  Ware,  R.  J.  Wells, 
J.  B.  Wheeler,  J.  W.  Webb,  H.  Wheeler,  John  Ward, 
R.  R.  Ward,  H.  Westervelt,  W.  Woram,  James  Wadsworth, 

G.  Zabriskie. 

Of  the  thirty-two  members  of  the  Council  elected  by  these 
shareholders,  eleven  were  recorded  as  Protestant  Episco- 
palians, seven  as  Dutch  Reformed,  nine  as  Presbyterians, 
two  as  Baptists,  one  as  Methodist,  one  as  Friend,  one  with- 
out any  denominational  adscription.  e.  G.  S. 


CHAPTKR    II 


Chanckm.ok   Matiif.ws   and  W'asmincton  Square 


TO  jiuli^o  truly  let  us  cast  a  brief 
glance  at  the  general  status  of  liberal 
education  in  the  United  States 
seventy  years  ago.  The  article  (American) 
Colleges  in  Lieber's  ICncyclopaedia  Americana 
presents  in  tabular  form  the  main  data  of 
1828-1829.  I'orty-three  institutions  are  there 
named  :  Maine  had  two,  New  I  lampshire  one, 
Vermont  two,  Massachusetts  three,  Rhode 
Island  one,  New  York  four  (Columbia,  Union, 
Hamilton,  Geneva),  New  Jersey  two,  Pennsyl- 
vania five,  Maryland  one  (R.  C),  the  District 
of  Cohunbia  one,  Virginia  foiu".  North  Caro- 
lina one,  South  Carolina  two,  Georgia  one, 
Tennessee  three,  Kentucky  two,  Ohio  three, 
Indiana  one,  Illinois  none  ;  Michigan  was  still 
a  territory. 

The  tale  is  soon  told  :  Thirty-four  in  the 
thirteen  older  states,  nine  in  the  newer  com- 
monwealths. Harvard  in  1 829-1 830  had  an 
undergraduate  body  of  252  students,  the  two 
upper  classes  being  officially  designated  as 
"Senior  Sophistus  "  and  "  Junior  Sophisters." 
In  her  College  Faculty  proper  she  had  six 
Professors  and  two  Tutors,  no  more.  Even 
there  do  we  see  something  of  the  cumulation 


of  didactic  work  :  one  member  of  the  Faculty 
is  Hancock  Professor  of  Hebrew  and  other 
Oriental  Languages,  and  —  Professor  of 
Latin  ;  another  is  Alford  Professor  of  Natural 
Religion,  Moral  Philosophy  and  —  Civil  Polity. 
The  Law  School  enrolled  but  twenty-four 
students.  Not  a  single  undergraduate  was 
from  Connecticut  ;  but  three  were  from  the 
city  and  state  of  New  York.  Yale,  which 
only  a  few  years  before,  in  1827,  had  with.stood 
a  movement  made  in  her  own  corporation  to 
make  the  study  of  the  "dead  languages" 
optional,  in  official  language  sometimes  referred 
to  New  Haven  as  "  this  metropolis."  Yale 
had  324  undergraduates.  There  were  six 
Professors  and  —  eight  Tutors.  Only  one 
Professorship  was  endowed,  and  the  entire 
income  from  investment  was  a  little  more  than 
two  thousand  dollars.  Harvard  had  30,000 
vohmies,  Yale  8500,  Columbia  5000,LTnion  50CO. 
In  Philip  Hone's  diary  there  is  this  entry  for 
Wednesday,  February  2,  183 1  :  "The  follow- 
ing gentlemen  were  on  Monday  last  elected 
officers  of  the  new  University  in  this  city  : 
Albert  Gallatin,  President  of  the  Council  ; 
Morgan    Lewis,    Vice-President  ;    John    Dela- 


IIISTORr   OF   NKIV    YORK    UNIIKKSriT 


61 


field,   Secretary  ;     Samuel    Ward,    Treasurer  ;  Tlie  tirst  Cnuiuil  itself  did  not  please  all  the 

James   M.  Mathews,    D.D.,  Chancellor   of  the  shareholders.     In  the  ICveiiinj;  Post  of  October 

University."      Dr.  Mathews's  second  wife  was  23,    i<S30,  e.g.,  one    may     find  a  very   angry 

a     Hone.       A   few    months    later,    April     21,  communication  from  a  "  lay  shareholder "  and 

1.S31,    the     Uni\ersity    was     incorporated     in  "friend   of   the   Universit),"    who   is  outraged 

Albany,  and  it  was  jirovided   in  i^   i,   "Hut  the  by  the  fact   that   no  L'nitarian   clergyman  was 

University  shall   not    own    real   estate  at   any  placed  in  the  council.     But  he  is  not  friendly 

time    yielding    an    income   exceeding    Twenty  to  the  idea  of  having  clergymen  there  at  all  ; 


ACT 


INCORPORATING 


UNIVERSITY 


1.1  J'T  OF  NEW  YORK, 


PASSED  APRIL  18,  1831. 


clergymen,  he  says, 
"  on  account  of  their 
insidated  jiosition 
andexclusixe  pursuits 
are  /ess  qualified  as 
a  body  than  men  of 
other  professions  to 
be  patrons  of  liberal 
learning  " ;  the  writer 
fears  that  the  new 
University  "maybe- 
come  an  engine  of 
sectarianism."  That 
the  founders  had 
failed  to  put  the  Rew 
William  Ware  into 
the  council  seems  to 
have  displeased  him 
greatly,  and  he  sj^oke 
not  only  of  "  blind, 
superannuated,  big- 
oted despotism  "  but 
dragged  in  the  In- 
quisition, Rome  and 
Madrid. 

It  w\as  not  until  the 
fall  of  1832  that  the 
work    (tf    instruction 

toward  the  object.  The  capital  is  divided  into  actuall)'  was  begun.  The  place  chosen  was 
transferable  shares  of  525  each,  and  sul:)scrip-  Clinton  Hall,  southwest  corner  Nassau  and 
tions  are  now  making  (1830-183 1 )  so  as  to  Beekman,  where  Temple  Court  now  stands, 
increase  the  capital  very  considerably."  It  is  south  of  the  City  Hall.  It  had  been  hoped 
however  a  little  odd  that  Williams's  Register  at  first  (American  Annals  of  Education,  1832, 
for  1832  exhibits  no  augmentation  whatever  p.  531  sq)  to  get  the  use  of  buildings 
of  that  sum.  They  did  not  begin,  then,  belonging  to  the  city  for  a  few  years,  in 
to  teach  in  183 1  ;  jiossiblv  monitions  and  which  case  tuition  might  have  been  lower: 
suggestions  from  some  of  the  educational  the  desire  was  to  purchase  a  site  contiguous  to 
leaders  of  the  "  Convention  "  of  1830  induced  the  mass  of  the  population,  but  it  was  unex- 
the  founders  to  greater  caution.  pectedly  difficult  to  obtain  a  suflficient  quantity 


Thousand  Dollars." 
(The  i)roperty  of 
Columbia  in  con- 
temporary statistics 
was  rated  as  repre- 
senting a  value  of 
$400,000.)  In  §  8 
we  read  that  "  Per- 
sons of  every  reli- 
gious denomination 
shall  be  equally 
eligible  to  all  offices 
and  appointments  "  ; 
in  §  3  that  "  no  one 
religious  sect  shall 
ever  have  a  majority 
of  the  board." 

Meanwhile  the 
new  College  did  not 
give  any  instruction 
as  yet,  in  1831.  W^il- 
liams's  Annual  Reg- 
ister for  1 83  I  speaks 
of  the  shareholders  of 
New  York  Univer- 
sity as  "  gentlemen 
who  /lavc  subscribed 
the  sum  of  gi  15,000 


NKW  YORK: 
Wm.  A.  Mercein,  Printer,  240  Pea ri  street,  corner  of  Burliuc  i>lii.. 


1831. 


FACSIMILE    TITLEPAGK    OF    CHARTER 


62 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


of  ground,  otherwise  buildings  would  already 
have  been  in  progress.  Albert  Gallatin  how- 
ever did  not  even  await  the  beginning  of 
instruction  before  he  resigned.  His  biogra- 
pher, Stevens,  intimates  that  he  was  displeased 
with  the  influence  and  leadership  of  clergymen 
in  the  new  scheme.  Besides,  we  may  add,  his 
earnest  desire  of  putting  clas.sics  into  a  merely 
subsidiary  or  optional  place  had  failed. 

Morgan  Lewis  became  President,  and  James 
Tallmadge  Vice-President,  of  the  Council. 
William  Bedlow  Crosby  also  had  entered  the 
same.  The  actual  inauguration  of  Chancellor 
and  instruc- 
tors took 
place  on  Sep- 
tember 26, 
1832,  in  the 
lecture  room 
of  Clinton 
Hall.  These 
exercises 
passed  off 
more  quietly 
perhaps  than 
would  other- 
wise have 
been  the  case, 
on  account  of 
the  dread  \isi- 
tation  of  the 
cholera  in  the 

summer  of  1832.  In  the  City  of  New  York 
alone  five  thousand  five  hundred  and  fifty-seven 
persons  had  died  from  the  first  of  July  1832  to 
the  latter  jxart  of  September.  The  country  was 
in  gloom  :  at  Hamilton  College  the  public 
Commencement  was  omitted  on  this  account  : 
Saratoga  Springs  had  been  almost  deserted  by 
the  votaries  of  pleasure. 

Of  these  exercises  of  September  26,  1832, 
we  have  accounts  by  the  Morning  Courier  and 
New  York  E^nquirer,  September  27,  and  by  the 
New  York  Commercial  Advertiser  of  the  same 
date.  General  James  Tallmadge  presided. 
The  "Hall  was  easily  thronged  to  o\'er-flowing 
with  an  audience  of   the  first  respectability." 


CUNTON    H.\LL 


The  exercises  were  commenced  with  prayer  by 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Milnor  of  St.  George's  Church, 
Avho  in  his  prayer  invoked  the  divine  bless- 
ing upon  the  city  (the  columns  of  the  daily 
papers  were  constantly  filled  with  the  acting 
of  Fanny  Kemble  at  the  Park  Theatre),  still 
laboring  under  the  visitation  of  the  cholera. 
Dr.  Milnor  also  stated  that  the  University 
would  be  prepared  to  furnish  those  who  did 
not  wish  to  pursue  a  full  Academic  course 
with  the  means  of  receiving  instruction  in 
such  branches  of  Science  and  Literature  as 
they   desired  to    cultivate.      The    subscription 

list  was  rather 
commenced 
than  com- 
pleted ;  the 
efforts  of  the 
council  had 
been  much  in- 
terrupted by 
the  late  epi- 
demic. The 
Rible  with  its 
incomparable 
literature  and 
the  study  of 
its  antiquities 
were  to  be 
introduced  as 
a  classic ;  and 
by  furnishing 
the  evidences  of  its  truth  to  the  students  the 
University  would  present  a  barrier  against  the 
progress  of  infidelity.  The  Faculty  with  the 
exception  of  one  or  two  gentlemen  were  present 
and  were  inducted  by  Dr.  Milnor. 

The  new  Chancellor's  inaugural  address 
reveals  the  sanguine  disposition  which  seems 
to  have  been  a  part  of  his  character.  After 
insisting  upon  the  essentially  Christian  char- 
acter of  the  new  in.stitution  of  learning,  he 
turned  to  the  classics  and  the  moral  questions 
involved  in  their  use;  but  to  reject  them  on 
this  ground  was  like  rejecting  the  orders  of 
ancient  architecture  in  any  building  because 
the  finest  specimens  in  which  they  are  exhib- 


IIISTORT   OF   NKIV   YORK    U N I lERSI'l'}- 


•3 


ilcd  were  once  temples  for  paj^an  worship.  1  le 
even  noted  the  possibility  of  studying  the 
"dead  lani^uages"  in  their  historical  sequence  ; 
Hebrew,  (ireek,  Latin.  The  importance 
wliich  would  be  attached  to  the  study  of 
Mathematics  and  Physical  Science  in  the  Uni- 
versity "in  an  ai(e  so  eminently  i)ractical  and 
utilitarian,"  was 
briefly  noted.  The 
Chancellor  finally 
addressed  the  Pro- 
fessors by  way  of 
greeting,  and  stated, 
that  "  the  number  of 
intelligent  youths 
who  yesterday  pre- 
sented themselves 
for  examination  af- 
forded a  flattering 
pledge  for  the  fu- 
ture prospects  of 
the  Seminary.  We 
learn  that  the  num- 
ber is  greater  than 
might  rationally 
have  been  or  was 
expected. "  As  a 
matter  of  fact  the 
figures  in  Williams's 
Annual  Register  for 

'33.  '34,  '35  'i''^'  sur- 
prisingly large,  soon 
exceeding  200;  if  it 
is  said  that  the  ma- 
jority were  not  can- 
didates for  a  degree, 
but  studied  some  modern  language,  or  Engi- 
neering, or  Painting,  then  it  must  not  be 
forgotten  that  for  this  very  class  was  the 
new  institution  called  into  life.  Hone's  Diary 
shows  how  evenly  the  pursuits  of  the  leaders 
of  New  York  Society  then  were  allotted  to 
gain,  to  politics,  and  to  social  pleasures,  and 
unconsciously  the  concluding  flourish  of  the 
editorial  writer  to  whom  we  owe  this  account 
ends  with  an  anticipation  of  that  future 
time    "when   the   new    University    shall    have 


J.\MKS    M.    M.VrHKWS 


become  a  great  and  tiuurishiiig  i.mi'okium  of 
learning  and  science,  renowned  at  home  and 
abroad." 

Williams's  Annual  Register  for  '33,  review- 
ing the  (lata  of  the  closing  year  '32,  contains 
this  statement  (p.  202)  :  "A  site  for  the  Uni- 
versity   on    the    eastern    side    of    Washington 

Square  (Dr.  Ma- 
thews paid  ^40,000 
for  it).  The  erec- 
tion of  the  buildings 
is  to  be  commenced 
during    the    present 

spn'ij;-  ('33)-  The 
style  of  the  archi- 
tecture will  be 
Gothic.  The  num- 
ber of  students  now 
in  the  University 
(i.e.,  at  Clint(in  Hall) 
is  one  himdred  and 
fifty-seven."  The 
catalogues  from 
1832-1835,  if  any 
were  printed,  are  un- 
fortunately lost.  In 
that  age,  when  there 
were  no  training 
schools  of  jirofes- 
sional  scholars, 
clergymen  by  taste 
and  avocation  were 
natural]  y  most 
nearly  fitted  for  the 
work  of  higher  in- 
struction.       And 


so  we  find  in  the  first  Faculty  the  Rev.  Edward 
B.  Robinson.  That  eminent  scholar  Avas  then 
thirty-eight  years  old  and  destined  to  become 
the  foremost  scriptural  antiquarian  of  America. 
He  had  recently  returned  from  European 
studies,  and  then  spent  a  few  years  at  Andover. 
His  stay  at  the  Universit)'  did  not  extend  be)'ond 
a  year  ;  the  Union  Theological  Seminary  soon 
gained  his  services. 

Rev.  Henry  P.  Tappan,  A.M.,  was  ap|winted 
Profes.sor  of  Intellectual  and  Moral  Philosophy 


64 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


and  Belles-Lettres.  An  A.B.  Union  1825,  he 
was  now  twenty-seven  years  old,  having  studied 
Theology  at  Auburn  1 825-27,  and  having  minis- 
tered to  churches  at  Schenectady  and  Pittsfield, 
and  later  had  \isited  the  West  Indies  for  his 
health. 

John  Torrey,  M.D.,  born  1796,  now  thirty- 
six  years  of  age,  had  never  taken  pleasure  in 
the  practice  of  medicine,  but  had  taught  Chem- 
istry, Mineralogy  and  Geology  at  West  Point 
for  a  few  years,  to  1827.  He  became  Profes- 
sor of  Chemistry  and  Botany  in  the  College  of 
Physicians  and  Surgeons 
(in  Barclay  Street), 
which  position  he  main- 
tained even  while  teach- 
ing at  New  York  Uni- 
versity. His  prominence 
in  Botan)'  in  the  course 
of  time  was  destined  to 
secure  for  him  a  national 
reputation.  His  fitness 
for  this  post  had  been 
probably  fully  recog- 
nized b)'  Edward  Dela- 
field,  M.  D.,  and  by 
Joseph  Delafield,  as  well 
as  by  Dr.  Valentine 
Mott,  who  with  Edward 
Delafield  was  associated 
with  Dr.  Torrey  in  the 
College  of  Physicians 
and  Surgeons. 

Rev.  John  Mulligan, 
a  native  of  Ireland,  undertook  the  work  in 
Latin  and  Greek.  We  shall  hear  of  him  a 
little  further  on  from  an  alumnus  who  attended 
the  inauguration. 

Major  D.  B.  Douglas,  A.M.,  is  given  as 
Professor  of  Natural  Philosophy,  Architecture 
and  Civil  Engineering.  He  had  been  active 
in  the  construction  of  the  Morris  Canal  in 
New  Jersey  ;  he  was  an  important  counselor 
in  the  designing  of  the  University  Building 
on  Washington  Square,  and  he  laid  out  the 
general  plan  of  Greenwood,  where  later  he  was 
buried. 


HENRY    VETHAKE 


Henry  \"ethake,  A.M.,  Professor  of  Mathe- 
matics and  Astronomy,  was  born  in  British 
Guiana  1792,  and  was  an  A.B.  Columbia  1808 
at  sixteen.  In  181  3,  at  twenty-one,  he  became 
Tutor  in  Mathematics,  which  post  he  soon  ex- 
changed for  that  of  Professor  of  Mathematics 
and  Natural  Philosophy  at  Queens  College 
(Rutgers).  He  taught  later  at  Princeton, 
18 1 7-2 1,  then  at  Dickinson,  1822-29.  Evi- 
dently a  somewhat  restless  man,  his  communi- 
cation to  the  Academic  Convention  of  1830 
revealed  him  as  something  of  a  radical  reformer, 
in  many  ways  in  close 
accord  with  Gallatin's 
views. 

George  Bush  was  born 
at  Norwich,  Vermont, 
1796,  A.  B.  Dartmouth 
18 18,  then  studied  at 
Princeton  Seminary,  and 
ministered  to  a  church 
in  Indiana.  "  His  elec- 
tion (Griswold,  Prose 
Writers  of  America,  p. 
354)  to  the  Professor- 
ship of  Hebrew  and 
Oriental  Literature  in 
the  University  of  the 
City  of  New  York  in 
1 83 1  may  have  had 
some  influence  on  the 
directi(jn  of  his  studies, 
and  is  the  one  in  which 
he  was  fitted  to  acquire 
the  greatest  influence  and  reputation."  Pro- 
fessor Bush  in  1830  had  published  through 
Harpers  a  well-written  volume  on  Mohammed. . 
His  decision  to  illustrate  the  theme  from  scrip- 
tural i:)rophecy  reveals  j)erhaps  the  earliest  illus- 
tration of  that  strain  of  visionary  hermeneutics 
which  in  Frelinghuysen's  administration  ulti- 
mately carried  the  author  into  the  Swedenbor- 
gian  denomination. 

The  activity  of  S.  F.  B.  Morse  in  the  field 
of  art  was  simply  continued  in  the  precise 
locality  where  it  had  been  established  for  some 
years,  Clinton  Hall.     But  neither  he,  nor  Rev. 


IIISTOK}'  OF  NEW   YORK    UN II  F.KsriT 


65 


William  MriK-iipcutsch  for  Gcniian,  I)e  Nevares 
£or  Spanish,  Da  Pontc  lor  Italian,  nor  Parmcn- 
ticr  for  I<"rcnch,  nor  Major  Douglass,  the  father 
of  the  lCni;ineerinj4"  School  of  New  York 
Uni\ersit\,  were  included  in  the  <;overnin,i; 
Faculty  ;  they  were  merely  authorized  to  teacli 
such  classes  as  offeretl  themselves,  and  collect 
the  fees  gatherable  therefrom.  This  at  the  time 
was  substantially  the  practice  at  Harvard  and 
Vale,  where  those  studies  were  optional,  and  a 
special  fee  was  demanded  of  the  student. 
George  Ticknor  of  llarxard,  1  l)elie\e,  was 
the  first  college  professor  in  any  department 
of  modern  languages  at  this  time  whose  chair 
was  endowed  (the  Smith  foundation).  llcniy 
BcKstwick,  A.M.,  was  Instructor  in  History, 
Geography  and   Chronology. 

A  project  of  having  popular  lectures  given  on 
History,  by  \'ethake  ;  on  Moral  Philosophy  l:)y 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Samuel  H.  Cox,  the  father  of 
Bishop  Cleveland  Coxe ;  on  the  History  of 
Commerce,  Agriculture  and  the  Mechanic  Arts 
by  Dr.  Francis  Lieber  ;  on  Physical  Astronomy 
by  Major  Douglass,  and  on  Chemistr}-  by  Dr. 
John  Torrey,  was  perhaps  suggested  by  the 
special  advantages  of  Clinton  Hall,  or  also  b)' 
the  fact  that  James  Tallmadge  was  President 
of  the  American  Institute,  which  transacted 
its  affairs  in  Clinton  Hall.  Dr.  Cox  actually 
did  deliver  lectures  to  the  Young  Men's 
Society. 

The  cornerstone  of  the  University  Building 
on  Washington  Square  was  laid  on  Jul)-  16, 
1833.  An  article  in  the  New  York  Mirror  of 
August  31,  1833,  emphasizes  the  fact  that 
the  site  was  "so  far  to  tlic  suburbs" :  thus  an 
impetus  would  be  given  by  Letters  to  a  corre- 
sponding northward  movement  of  Commerce, 
and  Law  as  well.  The  New  York  Gazette  of 
July  16,  1833,  has  a  notice  and  invitation  to 
attend  the  laying  of  the  cornerstone,  signed 
by  "A.  M'Lay,"  i.e.  by  Dr.  Archilxald  Maclay, 
Secretary  of  the  Council.  The  Courier  of 
July  17,  1833,  has  a  full  description.  The 
procession  was  formed  of  the  officers,  profes- 
sors and  students  of  the  University,  the  Pres- 
ident and  professors  of  Columbia  College,  the 


clergy,  the  Mayor,  Recorder  anti  other  city 
authorities.  They  assembled  at  the  center 
of  the  square  and  marched  to  the  site.  After 
an  invocation  and  address  by  the  Rev.  Dr. 
James  Milnor  of  St.  George's,  Chancellor 
Mathews  spoke  of  the  peculiar  objects  con- 
templated in  the  plan  of  instruction  which 
had  been  adopted,  namely  to  render  education 
auxiliary  to  the  practical  purposes  of  life,  with- 
out falling  below  the  standard  of  scholarship 
maintained  b)  the  other  institutions  of  the 
country.  lie  then  proceeded  to  perloim  the 
ceremony  of  depositing  the  cornerstone  (in 
which  were  enclosed  copies  of  the  Scriptures, 
the  charter  and  statutes  of  the  University 
and  several  other  i)ublicati()ns  relating  to  the 
institution  and  to  the  events  of  the  da)),  and 
dedicated  the  structure  "in  the  name  of  the 
Most  High  (iod,  The  I-'ather,  The  Son  and 
The  Holy  Ghost,  to  the  cause  of  Freedom  — 
of  P"reedom  civil,  intellectual  and  religious ; 
and  to  that  high  cause  for  which  our  fathers 
were  first  exiles  and  then  warriors.  May  this 
institution  furnish  able  and  devoted  sons  who 
will  appreciate  and  maintain  the  privileges 
transmitted  to  them  as  their  heritage  and  their 
birthright.  — We  dedicate  it  :  ' 
To  the  cause  of  L  etters  —  of  Science  and  of 
Education :  the  brightest  earthl}-  ornaments  of 
a  nation  free  and  happy  as  ours,  and  without 
which  freedom  itself  soon  degenerates  into 
coarse  licentiousness  and  results  in  anarchy 
and  every  evil  work.  We  dedicate  it  : 
To  tJie  cause  of  Religion,  for  without  this  the 
tree  of  Knowledge  is  severed  from  the  tree  of 
Life ;  but  with  it,  Freedom  and  Knowledge 
alike  become  sanctified  into  blessings  that 
endure   forever. 

And  firmly  and  permanently  as  we  now  have 
laid  this  cornerstone  in  its  place,  would  we 
also  lay  this  Institution  deep  in  the  affection 
and  confidence  of  this  community,  and  commit 
it  confidently  to  the  care  and  patronage  of 
Him  who  sees  the  end  from  the  beginning, 
and  in  whom  we  trust  that  after  our  names 
and  memorials  shall  have  passed  away,  this 
University  will   remain   a  pillar    of    light  and 


66 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR   SONS 


glory  to  our  city  and  our  Nation.  £sto 
Perpctua."  The  ceremony  "  closed  with  a 
prayer  and  benediction  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Cone." 

In  the  New  York  Mirror  of  September 
13,  1834,  there  is  an  engraving  by  Adams 
made  after  a  drawing  by  Alexander  J.  Da\is, 
and  an  appreciative  article  (both  engraving  and 
jmrt  of  letterpress  are  copied  verbatim  by 
Williams's  Register  for  1835).  This  page  of 
the  Mirror  is  now  preserved  in  the  Museum  of 
University  Heights  through  the  thoughtfulness 
of  one  of  the  University's  most  generous  bene- 
factors, William  F.  Havemeyer,  Esq.  In  that 
article  we  read  of  the  edifice  intended  for 
the  University  of  the  city  of  New  York  as 
"  luar/j  completed."  As  a  matter  of  fact  the 
work  of  erecting  this  fine  College  building — - 
the  finest  of  that  era- — did  not  proceed  with 
uninterrupted  smoothness. 

In  the  administration  of  Cornelius  W.  Law- 
rence, the  first  Mayor  chosen  by  direct  election 
of  the  i)eople,  riots  marked  the  first  year  of 
fuller  municipal  autonomy.  One  of  these  was 
"the  Stone-cutter's  Riot."  One  of  the  local 
historians,  William  L.  Stone,  on  p.  466  of  his 
History  of  New  York  City,  1872,  makes  this 
relation  of  the  matter  :  "While  the  Unixersity 
was  building,  the  contractors  for  economy's 
sake  chose  to  i)urchase  the  marble  at  Sing 
Sing,  and  employ  the  State  prisoners  to  cut 
and  hew  it  before  bringing  it  to  the  city.  No 
sooner  was  this  known  than  it  raised  the  ire 
of  the  stonecutters'  guild  in  the  city  to  fever 
heat.  Believing  themselves  aggrie\ed,  the\-  held 
meetings,  paraded  the  city  with  incendiary 
placards  and  e\"en  went  so  far  as  to  attack 
the  houses  of  sexeral  worthy  citizens.  The 
Twenty-seventh  Regiment  (later  the  Seventh) 
was  called  out  by  the  Mayor,  Cornelius  W. 
Lawrence.  .  .  .  The  feeling  howe\er  was 
so  intense  that  it  was  thought  best  not  to 
disband  the  troops  entirely,  and  accordingly 
a  portion  of  the  regiment  lay  under  arms 
in  Washington  Parade  ground  for  four  da}s 
and  nights."^ 

1  Note:  The  historian  of  this  narrative  although  effici- 
ently aided  b)'  eminent  local  antiquarians  like  William  Kelby 


In  Williams's  Annual  Register  for  1836  we 
read :  "  //  [the  University]  is  built  of  marble 
from  Sing  Sing,"  etc.  This  identification  of  an 
institution  of  learning  with  the  building,  as  if 
thus  the  institution  could  be  entirely  seized, 
comprehended,  appreciated  and  measured  by 
the  physical  eye,  was  current  in  our  land,  and 
may  still  be  observed  in  those  parts  of  it  whose 
civilization  is  of  a  more  recent  date.  Clearly 
this  stately  and  beautiful  pile  gained  consider- 
ation for  the  University  at  the  hands  of  those 
who,  like  the  editors  of  the  New  York  Mirror, 
had  bestowed  nothing  but  a  brief  and  sneering 
notice  on  that  excellent  achievement  of  the 
founders,  the  Academic  Convention  of  October 
1830.  The  Mirror,  edited  by  G.  V.  Morris, 
N.  r.  Willis  and  Theo.  Fay,  and  representing 
the  best  cultivation  and  taste  ot  that  era,  was 
evidently  captivated  by  the  noble  structure 
and  bestowed  its  good  will  on  the  institution 
itself.  On  p.  287,  March  7,  1835,  the  Mirror 
discourses  on  "the  progres.s,  condition  and 
prospects  of  this  great  institution:"  —  "never 
was  a  measure  better  qualified  to  give  to  educa- 
tion a  great  impulse  tt>ward  the  perfection  of 
utility"  :  —  it  was  our  first  effort  to  "combine 
facilities  of  instruction  in  everything  that  it 
becomes  a  man  to  know,  whatever  may  be  his 
destined  pursuit  in  life."— After  reciting  the 
classes  already  formed,  the  article  goes  on  to 
make  this  very  remarkable  statement:  "■and 
till'  income  from  tuition  /las  paid  tlie  salaries  of 
all  the  professors  engaged  in  these  various 
branches  of  learning."  A  pious  wish,  clearl)', 
but  we  cannot  say  at  this  distance  of  time  to 
whom  this — economic  ideal  —  may  be  traced. 

The  building  itself,  so  much  in  proportion 
beyond  the  resources  of  the  young  College, 
without  doubt  prt)\'ed  a  severe  drain  on  the 
founders,  who  were  res(jlved  in  this  mode  to 
gain  more  directly  the  established  position  they 
coveted  for  the  young  College  by  presenting  at 
once  something  palpable,  splendid  and  appeal- 

of  the  New  York  Historical  Society,  has  not  as  yet  suc- 
ceeded in  his  efforts  to  verify  these  data  from  the  daily 
press  of  the  time.  The  author  of  the  Memorial  History  of 
New  York  in  his  letterpress  gives  August  '34,  and  in  his 
chronological  index  August  '35. 


insroRT  OF  NKir  tokk  unifersitt 


67 


in<;  ti)  civic  pride.  The  fact  remains  tliat  the 
Treasurer's  office,  hein^^  Iar<,^ely  managed  by 
the  Chancellor,  must  have  afforded  little  satis- 
faction to  tiie  holder.  Tiie  fu-st  Treasurer,  in 
I  S3 1,  was  .Samuel  W'aid,  Jr.  ;  in  1S32,  Fred- 
erick A.  Tracy  ;  in  1834,  W'aldron  H.  Post  ; 
in  1835,  Ohadiah  Holmes.  The  Mirror  (March 
7>  ''^35)  S^'cs  on  to  say  :  "The  superb  build- 
ing, now  in  progress  of  erection  near  Waverley 
Place  (Washington    S(|uare  evidently  was  yet 


its  ])arts  was  not  yet  completed,  even  at  the 
conclusion  of  1836.  It  was  on  Saturday  the 
twentieth  da)'  of  May  1837  only,  that  the  build- 
ing was  at  last  dedicated,  "to  the  Purpose  of 
Science,  Literatuie  and  Religion,"  with  an 
address  by  the  President  of  the  Council,  the 
lion.  James  Tallmadge.  At  that  time  (Mirror 
June  10,  1837),  entering  through  the  great 
central  western  portal  and  ascending  to  the 
lower  corridor  ruiuiing  the  whole  length  of  the 


FIRST    UNlVERSirV     liUlLDINc;,     WASHINGTON     S(jU.\RE 


raw  and  new)  will  be  finished,  it  is  hoped,  in 
the  course  of  the  year,  and  efforts  are  already 
making  to  procure  apparatus  of  every  descrip- 
tion that  may  be  necessary  in  the  several  pro- 
fessorships of  natural  and  mechanical  science, 
and  a  library.  For  these  purposes  as  well  as 
for  the  completion  of  the  building,  funds  arc 
yet  waiitiiii^,  tf)  obtain  which  an  appeal  is  made 
to  the  judicious  liberality  of  the  citizens." 

Instruction     indeed     began    at    Washington 
Square  in    1835,  but   the  building  in  many  of 


building  north  and  south,  the  first  room  upon 
the  right  was  that  of  the  janitor.  Then  fol- 
lowed the  Department  of  Chemistry  (Professor 
Beck),  to  which  three  rooms  were  dexoted  ; 
opposite  these  was  the  Department  of  Professor 
Mason,  viz.  of  Belles-Lettrcs  and  Evidences  of 
Revealed  Religion;  "north  of  this  are  the 
apartments  of  the  Eitclcian  and  Pliilovia 
tJicau,"  which  rooms  were  "fitted  \\\>  in  a 
-Style  of  taste  and  elegance  highly  creditable 
to    the    young     gentlemen    members."      The 


68 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR    SONS 


remaining  rooms  of  this  basement  story  were 
then  occupied  by  preparatory  schools,  "  but  ivill 
probably  sooti  be  devoted  to  the  departments  of 
Law  and  Medicine^     (Italics  are  ours.) 

Ascending  the  broad  staircase  ..."  on  the 
right  and  left  are  the  rooms  of  the  Professors 
of  Modem  Languages.  The  ne.xt  apartments 
to  these  on  each  side  are  those  of  the  Latin 
and  the  Greek  Professors,  Rev.  G.  Proudfit 
and  Dr.  R.  Patton ;  these  rooms  together 
with  those  of  the  Chancellor,  Doctor  J.  M. 
Mathews,  and  the  Professor  of  Litellectual 
Philosophy,  Rev.  H.  P.  Tappan,  which  are 
at  the  northern  and  southern  extremities 
of  the  main  part,  and  of  noble  dimensions, 
enjoy  a  delightful  prospect  upon  Washington 
Square.  Opposite  the  main  staircase,  upon 
the  same  corridor,  is  the  small  chapel  capable 
of  containing  about  four  hundred  persons 
and  employed  at  present  for  dail)-  prayers. 
A  row  of  clustered  oaken  columns  supports 
the  centre  of  this  apartment.  The  northern 
and  southern  apartments  on  this  side  of  the 
corridor  are  of  ample  and  beautiful  ]-»ro]X)rtions, 
and  devoted,  the  one  to  Mathematicks,  the 
other  to  Natural  Philosophy  and  Astronomy  ; 
the  first  containing  a  beautiful  collection  of 
mathematical  models  and  instruments,  the 
last  a  magnificent  philo.sojihical  apparatus. 
These  departments  are  under  the  care  of  two 
gentlemen.  Professors  Hackley  and  Norton, 
educated  at  West  Point,  and  employed  for 
some  years  as  instructors  in  the  Military 
Academy,  whence  they  have  introduced  the 
system  of  the  Polytechnick  School  of  Paris 
into  the   University. 

"Ascending  by  two  hea\y  staircases,  we 
come  on  the  north  to  the  apartment  of  the 
Professor  of  Geology  and  Mineralogy,  Doctor 
L.  D.  Gale,  containing  a  valuable  cabinet  in 
beautiful  Gothick  glass  cases,  and  a  large 
number  of  illustrative  drawings,  paintings 
and  maps  ;  and  to  the  private  apartment  of 
Mr.  J.  Davis,  Architect,  one  of  the  chief 
objects  of  attraction  in  the  building.  On  the 
south,  and  corresponding  to  these  rooms,  are 
the    Library    and    private    apartments  of    the 


Librarian.  Upon  the  centre  of  this  story  is 
the  floor  of  the  great  Chapel,  from  which  it 
rises  to  the  height  of  near  Q)  one  hundred 
feet.  This  splendid  apartment  is  modelled 
after  King's  College  Chapel,  and  is  in  the 
pointed  style  of  the  Tudor  age,  furnishing, 
probably,  the  only  specimen  of  a  fine  Gothick 
interior  in  the  country.  The  ceiling,  which 
is  in  imitation  of  light  free-stone,  is  supported 
by  highly  ornamented  corbels,  and  enriched 
by  magnificent  pendants,  tracery  and  shields. 
The  organ  is  in  a  richh-carved,  colossal  oaken 
case,  with  towers,  buttresses  and  pinnacles. 
The  great  western  window,  twent)'-fi\e  by 
fift}-  feet,  is  entirely  of  painted  or  stained 
glass.  The  large  central  compartment  in  the 
arch  of  this  window  is  a  painting  of  the 
Archangel  Michael,  treading  Satan  under  his 
feet.  The  four  surrounding  compartments 
are  paintings  emblematick  of  the  Seasons, 
and  the  whole  is  surmounted  by  the  emblem 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  form  of  a  dove. 
The  galleries  are  ma.ssive,  oaken  and  richly 
carved.  No  one  can  enter  this  chapel  without 
being  at  once  arrested  and  filled  with  emotions 
of  wonder  and  delight.  The  loftiness  of  the 
ceiling,  the  airy  grandeur  of  the  many-pointed 
arches,  the  beauty  and  brilliancy  of  the 
windows,  especially  the  western,  the  sober 
religious  light,  the  colours  of  the  .stained-glass 
thrown  upon  the  walls  and  columns,  combine 
to  produce  an  impression  in  the  highest  degree 
sublime. 

"The  rooms  of  the  upper  story  adjacent  to 
the  Chapel,  on  the  north  side,  are  occupied 
by  the  Professor  of  the  Literature  of  the  Arts 
of  Design,  S.  F.  B.  Morse,  with  his  pupils ; 
those  on  the  south  by  the  Professor  of  Arabick, 
Syriack,  Persian  and  Kthiopick.  Doctor  Isaac 
Nordheim  "  (Nordheimer).  (Hush  is  not  named 
in  this  recital.)  We  also  learn  from  this 
article,  that  no  less  than  forty  scholarships 
had  been  founded  by  individuals  of  different 
religious  denominations,  and  that  no  young 
man  had  ever  been  refused  admission  to  the 
Unixersity  for  want  of  ability  to  meet  the 
expenses   of   his    education. 


COUNCIL. 

"Ocn' JAMES  TALLMADGE,  Prcsiclent. 

Rev.  JAMES  MILNOR,  D.  D.,  Vice  President. 

Rev.  A.  MACLAY,  Secretary. 

O.  HOLMES,  Esq.,  Treasurer. 
MOSES  ALLEN,  Rsq.,  J^^N  JOHNSTON,  E.sq., 

CORNELIUS  BAKER,  Esq.,  l^O^ERT  KELLEY    Ksq 

WALTER  BOWNE   Exq.  Rev.  JAMES  M.  MATHEWS,  D.D. 

WliuS  W.  CHESTER,  Esq.,  VAU^.NTINE  MOl^T.  M^D 
E.  D.  COMSTOCK,  Esq.,  Rev.  ABSALOM  PElLRb,  D.  D., 

Rev.  SPENCER  H.  CONE,  W.  B.  POST,  Ivsq., 

J.  S.  CRARY,  Esq.,  CHARLES  STARR,  Esq 

W.  B.  CROSBY,  Esq.,  FREDERICK  A.  TRACY    Esq., 

EDWARD  DKLAFIELD,  M.  D.,    S.  VAN  RENSSELAER,  Esq., 
G.  P.  DISOSVVAY,  Ksq.,  MYNDERT  VAN  SCHAICK,  E.sq. 

J.  LORIMER  GRAHAM,  Esq.,      STEPHEN  WHITNEY,  Esq., 
GEORGE  GRISWOLD,  Esq.,  B.  L.  WOOLLEY,  Esq., 

J.  PRESCOTT  HALL,  Esq.,  WILLIAM  W.  WOOLSEY,  Esq. 

Hon.  CORNELIUS  W.  LAWRENCE,  Mayor,  (ex  oflicio.) 


J.  V.  GRFJiNFIELD,  Esq., 
F.  A.  TALLMADGE 


Esq.,   ^ 

G.  W.  l>;^S:\Sr'  '^'■'  r"^"  ^^^  ^^^^  corporation. 
H.  ERBEN,  Esq.,  J 


CHANCELLOR  AND  PROFESSORS. 

Rev.  JAMES  M.  MATHEWS,  D.  D.,  Chancellor. 

DAVID  B.  DOUGLASS,  Professor  of  Civil  Engineering  and  Archi- 
tecture. 

S.  F.  B.  MORSE,  Profes.sor  of  the  Literature  of  the  Arts  of.  Design. 

Rev.  HENRY  P.  TAPPAN,  Profcs.sor  of  Inlelleclual  and  Moral  Philo- 
sophy and  Belles- Lettres. 

ROBERT  B.  PATTON,  Professor  of  Greek  Language  and  Literature. 

Rev.  JOHN  PROUDFIT,  Professor  of  Latin  Language  and  Literature. 

CHARLES  L.  PARMENTIER,  Professor  of  French  Language  and 
Literature. 

LORENZO  L.  DAPONTE,  Professor  of  Italian  Language  and  Literature. 

MIGUEL  CABRERA  DE  NEVARES,  Professor  of  Spanish  Language 
and  Literature. 

CHARLES  RABADAN,  Associate  Professor  of  do. 

ISAAC  NORDHEIMER,  Acting  Professor  of  German  Language  and 
Literature. 

Rev.  GEORGE  BUSH,  Professor  of  Hebrew. 

CHARLES  W.  HACKLEY,  Professor  of  Mathematics. 

WILLIAM  A.  NORTON,  Acting  Professor  of  Natural  Philosophy  and 
Astronomy. 

LEWIS  C.  BECK,  M.  D.,  Profes.sor  of  Chemistry  and  Botany. 

Hon.  B.  F.  BUTLER,  Professor  of  Law,  and  Principal  of  the  Law 
Faculty.* 

L.  D.  GALE,  M.  D.,  Professor  of  Geology  and  Mineralogy. 

ISAAC  NORDHEIMER,  Professor  of  Arabic,  Syriac,  Persian,  and 
Ethiopic. 

Rev.  CYRUS  MASON,  Professor  of  the  Evidences  of  Revealed  Religion. 

*  The  other  Professors  in  the  Law  Faculty  will  be  appointed  within  a  few 
weeks;  and  the  course  of  legal  instruction  will  be  coninienccd  simultaneously 
by  Mr.  Butler  and  the  other  Professors  early  in  May,  1837. 


COUNCIL   AND    FACULTY,    1 836 


JO 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


The  address  of  this  function,  \vc  have  said, 
was  delivered  by  James  Talhnadge,  then  fifty- 
nine  years  of  age,  Lieutenant-Governor  of  the 
State  in  1825-1 826,  and  recently  returned  from 
a  visit  to  Europe,  particularly  to  Russia  (1836). 
His  address  has  been  prcser\ed  in  print.  It 
rc\'eals  the  characteristic  note  of  utilitarianism, 
pitched  in  a  \ery  high  key  and  glorifying  "  un- 
taught genius."  We  are  told  how  many  more 
patents  were  issued  in  the  United  States  than 
in  England  ;  education  is  conceived  entire!}- 
from  '\\.^  icoiioinic  as/^crt :  the  achievements  of 
Eli  Whitney,  of  Fulton,  of  Stevens,  Perkins 
and  Eckford  are  justly  e.xtolled.  But  there  is 
no  adecjuate  conception  of  the  relation  of 
education  to  the  development  of  personal  or 
national  character  and  taste.  Latin  and  Greek 
arc  called  pursuits  that  will  be  of  no  essential 
service  to  the  student.  This  is  the  ever-recur- 
ring view  of  that  generation.  That  certain 
liberal  studies  are  more  than  others  efficient  to 
develop  and  mature  the  essential  jiowers  of 
mind  and  character,  was  a  conception  hc\  ond 
the  intellectual  horizon  of  those  times. 

This  same  date  of  1837,  however,  carries 
with  it  associations  of  national  distress,  of  a 
storm,  the  floods  of  which  did  not  fail  to 
severely  try  the  young  craft  of  the  University 
of  the  City  of  New  York.  Even  before,  in  the 
latter  part  of  1S33,  had  occurreil  the  with- 
drawal of  Vethake.  Mulligan  and  Torrey.  They 
charged  the  Chancellor  '  with  "evils  arising  from 
the  undue  e.xercise  by  the  Chancellor  of  those 
functions  that  belong  to  the  province  of  the 
Faculty  collectively,  or  of  the  Professors  indi- 
vidually." The  eminence  of  John  Torrey  in 
his  further  career,  the  honorable  distinction  of 
Vethake,  who  in  time  attained  to  the  Provost- 
ship  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  are  a 
fair  element  of  proof  that  there  was  cause  for 
complaint.  Chancellor  Mathews  evidently  was 
decidedly  lacking  in  firmness  in  dealing  with 
students.  Conscious  of  his  centripetal  position, 
if  I  may  so  designate  it,  in  the  new  enterprise, 

1  "An  exposition  of  The  Reasons  for  the  resignation  of 
some  of  the  professors  in  the  University  of  the  Cilyof  New 
York."     Printed  by  James  Van  Norden,  1833. 


he  entertained  with  lively  apprehension  the 
prospect  of  offending  anyone,  whether  young 
or  old,  whose  goodwill  could  be  advantageous 
to  the  nascent  College. 

Gale,  Norton  and  Hackley  had  come  into 
the  F'aculty  before,  as  had  Proudfit,  the  latter 
I  believe  through  L^nion  College  connection. 
Cleveland  took  Mulligan's  place.  Charles 
W.  Hackley  (b.  1808,  at  Herkimer,  New 
York,  graduated  from  West  Point  in  1829) 
was  Assistant  in  Mathematics  at  the  Militar}- 
Academy.  During  his  connection  with  New 
York  University  hepublished  .several  catcc/iisins : 
of  Trigonometry  in  1834,  and  in  the  same  year 
a  "Catechism  and  Notes  u]5on  the  Algebras  of 
Bourdon  and  Lacroix."  He  took  orders  in  the 
Protestant-F2piscopal  Church  in  1835,  during 
his  academic  tenure  in  New  York  University. 
His  more  noteworthy  mathematical  books  were 
issued  after  he  joined  the  Faculty  of  Columbia 
College,  in  1843.  Professor  Gale  in  1837  pub- 
lished a  textbook  which  admirably  illustrates 
the  practical  versatility  necessary  for  a  College 
teacher  at  that  time  :  "  Elements  of  Natural 
Philosophy,  embracing  the  general  ])rinciples 
of  mechanics,  hydrostatics,  hydraulics,  pneu- 
matics, acoustics,  ojitics,  electricity,  galvanism, 
magnetism  and  —  astronomy." 

Oi  students'  utterances  of  the  earlier  thirties 
little  or  nothing  has  been  jireserved  in  the  way 
of  characterization  from  the  students'  point 
of  view.  F"ortunatcly  George  A.  Macdonald 
(B.  S.  '91  N.  Y.  U.)  has  preserved  in  the  Uni- 
versity Magazine  (1892,  Nov.,  p.  384)  the 
following  sketch,  written  by  Rev.  Dr.  John  G. 
Hall  of  the  Class  of  1836:  "They  (the  pro- 
fessors) were  all  in  the  mature  and  ripe  years 
of  life  and  all  of  impressive  form  and  bearing  ; 
two  of  them,  at  least,  of  quite  unusual  mag- 
nitude and  stature,  viz..  Chancellor  Mathews 
and  Rev.  John  Mulligan.  Commanding  in 
personal  apjicarancc  much  beyond  the  ordi- 
nary run  of  men,  unusually  affluent  in  social 
intercourse,  with  a  graceful  dignity  of  de- 
meanor toward  all,  equals  and  inferiors  alike, 
and  eminent  in  general  esteem.  Chancellor 
Mathews  was  manifestly  regarded  by  tho.se  who 


«>.rrt^w*'! 


UNIVERSITY  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW-YORK. 


The  Annual  Course  of  Instruction  in  the  Institution,  will  commence  on  Monday,  the  3il  of  October,  under  the 
direction  of  the  following  Professors. 

Rev.  JAMES  M.  MATHEWS,  D.  D.,  Chancellor. 

D.Win  n.   DOUGLASS,  I'rofcasor  of  Civil  Ensrinecring  and  Architecture. 

S.  K.  B.  .MORSE,  I'rof.Hsoroftho  Literatiiro  ofth«  ArtgofD.-."!!.'!). 

Rkv.  HENKY  p.  TAI'PAN,  Prot'unsorof  Intellectual  and  Moral  I'hilosopby  and  Hcllc6-Lcttrc«. 

ROBEKT  B.  PATTON,  ProfiMor  of  Gn.ck  language  and  Literature. 

Rev.  JOHN  PUOUDFIT,  ProfoKsor  of  Latin  Ijinguajrc  and  Literature. 

CHARLES  L.  PAR.MENTIER,  Professor  of  French  Langua^'C  and  Lilcmlure. 

LORK.NZO  L.  D.\  PONTE,  Profiwof  of  Italian  Language  and  Literature. 

MIGUEL  CABRERA  I)E  NEVARES,  Professor  of  Spanwh  Language  and  Literature. 

CHARLES  RABADAN,  Associate  Professor  of  do. 

ISAAC  NORDIIEI.MER,  Acting  ProlV'ssor  of  German  Language  and  Literature. 

Rev.  GEORGE  BUSH,  Professor  of  Hebrew,  and  Oriental  Languages  and  Literature. 

CHARLES  \V.  HACKLEY,  Professor  of  Mathematics. 

WILIJ.AM  A    NORTON,  Acting  Professor  of  Natural  Philosophy  and  Astronomy. 

LEWIS  C.  BECK,   M.  D.,  Professor  of  Chemistry  and  Botany. 

Hon.  B.  F.   BUTLER,  Professor  of  Law,  and  Principal  of  the  Law  Faculty.* 

L.  D.  GALE,   M.  D.,  Professor  of  Geology  and  Mineralogy. 

ISAAC  NORDHEIMER,  Professor  of  Arabic,  Syriac,  Persian,  and  Ethiopic. 

Rbv.  CYRUS  M.\SON,  Professor  of  the  Evidences  of  Revealed  Religion. 

•  The  other  Professors  in  ihc  Law  Faculty  will  be  appointed  wiihin  a  few  weeks;  and  the  course  of  legal  instrucilon  will  be  com- 
menced simultaneously  by  Mr.  Butler  and  the  other  Professors  early  in  May,  1S37. 


I 


Schedule  op  the  Recitations,  axd  other  Exercises,  dvrixo  the  Week. — (Prayers  in  the  Chapel  at 

half  past  nine  o'clock  a.  .m.) 


HOURS. 

MO.XDAY. 

TUESD.W. 

WEDNESDAY. 

THURSDAY. 

FRIDAY. 

SAT. 

Prom  10  to  11  A.M. 

Laiin. 

Kcllislpltres. 

Natural  Philosophy. 

Archilcclure  nnil  Civil 
F.ncinetriug. 

•  G,-olo;y  and  Miner- 
alogy. 

Latin. 

Bellca-lcltres. 

Naiiiral  Philosophy. 

Greek. 

Arrhitecture  and  Civil 

Engineering. 
Geology  d£-Mineratogy 

Lalin. 

Hdlc8.1n.r(;s. 
Natural  Philosophy. 
Chemistry. 
Architecitire  and  Civil 

Eiifiineerin?. 
Geology  &  .Mineralogy 

Latin. 

lielU-8-lettrcs. 
Natural  Philosophy. 
Chemistry. 
Architecture  and  Civil 

Enginecrintj. 
Geology  It  Mineralosy 

Latin. 

Bellcs-lcilres. 
Natural  Philosophy. 
Chemistry. 
Arehitcciiire  and  Civd 

Kngiiicering. 
Geology  &  Mineralogy 

s 
s- 

5' 
O 

s 

1 

From  11  to  12  A.M. 

Mothematica. 
Latin. 
Greek. 

Psychology  and  Moral 
Philosophy. 

Mathematics. 
Greek. 
Latin. 

Psvcholoey  and  Moral 
Philosophy. 

Mathematics. 
Greek. 
Latin. 

Psychology  and  Moral 
Philosophy. 

Mathematics. 
Greek. 
Latin. 

Psychology  and  Moral 
Pliilos.>phy. 

.Mathematics. 
Greek. 
Latin. 

Psycholooy  and  Moral 
Philosophy. 

From  12  lo  1  r.  ». 

Greek. 

Mathematics, 

I-offic 

Philosophy  of  Rhetoric 

and  Critieism. 
Natural  Pliitosophy. 

Greek. 
Mathematics. 

I.oeic. 

Phdosophy  of  Rhetoric 

and  Crilicisro. 
Chemistry. 

Greek. 

Mathematics. 

Lome. 

Philosophy  of  Rhetoric 

and  Criticism. 
Natural  Philosophy. 

Greek. 

Mathematics. 

Logic. 

Philosophy  of  Rhetoric 

and  Criticism. 
Chemistry. 

Greek. 

Matliematics. 

Logic. 

Philosophy  of  Rhetoric 

and  Cniicism. 
Latin. 

From  1  lo  2  r.  m. 

Evidences  of  Revealed 

Relicion. 
Hebrew. 
New  Testament  as  a 

Classic 
F.lemcnury  Drawing. 

Belles-lettres. 
Chaldaic  and  Syriac. 

Evidences  of  Revealed 

Religion. 
Hebrew. 
Elementary  Drawing. 

Belles-lettres. 
Chaldaic  and  Syriac 

Evidences  of  Revealed 

Religion. 
Hebrew. 
Elementary  Drawing. 

From  2  u>  3  p.  H. 

Rabinical  Hebrew. 

Rabinical  Hebrew. 

From  4  to  5  p.  m. 

Arnbic. 

Hebrew. 

Hebrew. 

Hebrew. 

Arabic. 

From  7  to  8  p.  «. 

Persian. 

SanscriL 

Persian. 

Sanscrit. 

•  The  c'asa  in  Geolo^  will  commcDce  in  April. 

NoTC— There  are  also  classes  in  FVeach,  Spanish,  Italian  and  German,  taught  at  such  hours  as  will  be  found  most  conveaieot  to  the  students  and 
professors. 


COURSE    OF    INSTRUCTION,     1 836 


72 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR   SONS 


originated  and  guaranteed  the  new  enterprise, 
as  peculiarly  fitted  for  the  prominent  and 
important  station  to  which  he  was  called. 
Also  allied  by  marriage  to  one  of  the  opulent 
families  (the  Hones)  of  the  city,  and  standing 
among  the  foremost  clergy  of  that  day,  his 
influence  was  wide  and  effectual  among  those 
citizens  who  possessed  the  pecuniary  ability 
to  set  the  nascent  College  well  on  its  feet. 
Professor  Mulligan  was  a  native  of  the  North 
of  Ireland,  where  he  was  educated  in  some 
of  their  best  schools 
and  whence  he  emi- 
grated to  this  country 
as  early  as  1825. 
After  retiring  from 
the  University,  Professor 
Mulligan  resumed  for 
awhile  his  old  associ- 
ation   as    a    teacher    in 

this  city,  and  here,  after  "^     ^ 

a  few  years,  he  died. 
He  was  a  perfect  master 
of  Latin  and  Greek, 
and  taught  them  with 
great  facility  and 
success." 

"Professors  Torrey 
and  Vethake  were  also 
men  of  mark  in  their 
several  professions  and 
well  worthy  of  their 
high  reputation.  But 
perhaps  the  most  en- 
gaging and  attractive  one  to  most  spectators 
of  the  inauguration  was  the  Rev.  Henry  P. 
Tappan,  D.D.,  chosen  as  the  Professor  of 
Mental  and  Moral  Philosoph)-.  He  was  a 
handsome  man.  In  mind  and  manners  a 
thorough  gentleman,  he  was  ever  a  special 
favorite  with  all.  .  .  .  After  his  disconnec- 
tion from  the  University  he  had  a  fash- 
ionable private  school  for  young  ladies  on 
Bleecker  street,  and  subsequently  became  the 
Chancellor  of  the  Michigan  State  University 
at  Ann  Arbor.  ...  He  indulged  to  some 
extent  in  j^ublic  authorship,  at  one  time  ven- 


HENRV    p.    TAPPAN 


turing  to  cross  swords  with  Jonathan  Edwards 
on  the  great  topic  of  the  'will.'  Professor 
John  Torrey  possessed  unusual  eminence  for 
that  day  as  a  chemist.  Mild  in  manners  and 
courteous  always  to  his  pupils,  he  enjoyed 
in  return  their  perfect  confidence  and  high 
esteem.  He  was  a  permanent  resident  of  the 
city,  handsomely  domiciled  in  it,  a  communi- 
cant of  what  was  then  known  as  the  Carmine 
Street  Presbyterian  Church,  and  for  a  succes- 
sion of  years  was  Superintendent  of  the  Sab- 
bath School  there- 
of Professor  \"ethake 
it  is  safe  to  say  that 
ftt^  his    mathematical    abili- 

'  ^^  ties    were     quite     phe- 

nomenal. With  a  mind 
luminous  with  the 
transmitted  genius  of 
the  Alexandrian  sage, 
an)-  dulness  or  stupid- 
ity of  the  students 
went  hard  with  him. 
Neither  could  he  brook 
anything  like  pert  be- 
ha\iour  in  the  class- 
room, or  approximate 
insolence,  as  we  all  saw 
exemplified  on  one  oc- 
casion, in  his  helping 
a  student  to  disappear 
hurriedly  through  the 
door,  from  which 
scarcely  any  one  of  us 
did  much  dissent."  From  this  alumnus  of 
'36  we  also  learn  that  there  was  an  interme- 
diate station  between  Clinton  Hall  and  Wash- 
ington Square,  viz.  a  vacated  public-school 
building  on  Chambers  Street  a  few  doors  from 
Chatham. 

But  we  must  strive  to  bring  this  chapter  to 
a  close.  Friends  of  education  in  New  York 
city  and  state  in  the  early  fall  of  1838  were 
astounded  by  the  summary  removal  of  the 
entire  undergraduate  Faculty  with  the  excep- 
tion of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Cyrus  Mason  —  not 
counting  those  who  were  not  directly  salaried 


HISTOIW  OF   NEW    YORK    UNIVERSITY 


73 


but  merely  gatheretl  the  fees  of  their  particulai 
classes,  i.e.  in  Modern  Lan^ua^es,  I'^n^ineer- 
'\\\<^,  the  i\rts  of  Desii^n,  Hebrew.  These 
were  the  seven  I'rofessors  who  had  made  their 
further  stay  in  the  service  of  the  institution 
de|)endent  u|)on  the  retirement  —  must  we  say 
upon  the  removal.''  —  of  Chancellor  Mathews. 
We  do  not  desire  in  this  place  to  fii;ht  over 
again  the  bitter  controversy  between  the 
Seven  and  the  Cliaiuelior's  supporters  in  the 
Council.  The  management  of  the  finances  in 
the  institution,  managed  as  it  was  from  hand 
to  mouth,  would  ha\e  been  a  very  severe  task 
in  normal  and  prosperous  times  :  it  became 
desjjerate  and  disastrous  when  credit  became 
bad  and  the  financial  crisis  of  i<S37  began  to 
cast  its  black  shadows  ahead.  The  Council 
finally  determined  upon  measures  of  retrench- 
ment. The  withdrawing  Professors  intimated 
that  these  measures  would  not  (sic)  have  been 
necessary,  if  a  change  in  the  Chancellorshij) 
had  been  effected  before. 

This  period  of  acute  unrest  and  trouble 
really  extended  from  February  1837  to  Sep- 
tember 29,  1838,  when,  by  a  slender  majority 
(19  out  of  i"])  a  resolution  was  adopted  declar- 
ing vacant  the  places  of  Professors  Tapi)an, 
Robert  B.  Patton  (Greek),  John  Proudfit 
(Latin),  Lewis  C.  Beck  (Chemistry),  Charles 
W.  Hackley  (Mathematics),  Wm.  A.  Norton 
(Acting  Professor  of  Natural  Philosophy  and 
Astronomy)  and  L.  D.  Gale  (Professor  of 
Geology  and  Mineralogy).  The  publications 
on  both  sides  did  the  University  grievous  harm, 
the  one  side  going  to  extremes  in  the  imputation 
of  wrong-doing,  the  other  in  their  haughty 
tone,  in  which  a  lofty  patronizing  air  sought  in 
a  very  unsuccessful  manner  to  act  as  a  surro- 
gate of  dispassionate  argument.  —  Under  a 
Gallatin  perhaps  the  finances  would  ha\e  been 
differently  managed  ;  we  may  confidently  say 
they  would  have  been. 

With  the  subscription  li.st  principle  the 
financial  crisis  of  1837  with  its  precursory 
calamities  and  its  consecjuences  in  1838  would 
even  in  that  case  have  dealt  a  series  of  sharp 
and    stunning    blows    to    the    young   College. 


Incidentally  we  learn  that  the  actual  cost  of 
the  University  Building  as  reported  by  the 
I""inance  Committee,  including  interest  upon 
money  borrowed,  was  $200,000  (inclusive  of 
ground,  we  believe)  ;  that  apparatus  was  re- 
ported by  the  .same  to  have  co.st  $5836  ;  and 
—  that  the  debt  in  May  1838  was  $170,583. 
We  also  learn,  incidentally,  that  Dr.  Nord- 
heimer,  who.se  stuilents  were  not  of  the  regular 
undergraduate  classes,  was  at  this  time  .so 
noted  an  Orientalist  as  to  count  among  his 
private  pupils  Profe.s.sors  Anthcjn,  Whittingham 
and  Turner  ;  al.so,  that  students  of  the  Kpis- 
copal  Theological  Seminary  attended  Dr. 
Nordheimer  in  Hebrew.  The  .seven  Profess- 
ors thus  were  removed  after  their  keys  had 
been  demanded  from  them  through  two  mem- 
bers of  the  Council. 

In  this  contention  the  Council  lost  men  like 
Rev.  Dr.  Milnor,  Wm.  Bedlow  Crosby,  lulward 
Delafield,  Robert  Kelly,  Samuel  Hanson  Cox 
(father  of  A.  Cleveland  Coxe)  and  others. 
And  it  must  not  remain  altogether  un.said,  even 
by  the  historian  writing  in  the  dispassionate 
third  generation  after  the  events,  that  Chancel- 
lor Mathews  often  erred  in  taking  for  granted 
financially  what  was  merely  possible,  and  reck- 
oning as  assets  verbal  promises  hastily  given  or 
not  always  fully  understood  on  both  sides. 

In  the  following  spring,  1839,  Chancellor 
Mathews  having  meanwhile  (February  1 1, 1839) 
resigned  his  office,  the  Regents,  having  been  re- 
quested to  do  so  by  a  resolution  of  the  Senate  at 
Albany  (prompted  by  a  memorial  of  the  Seven), 
of  date  April  23,  1839,  appointed  as  a  com- 
mittee to  investigate  the  University,  James 
King,  John  A.  Dix  and  Gerritt  Y.  Lansing  ;  the 
first  named  being  at  that  time  Chancellor  of  the 
Uni\ersity  of  the  State  of  New  York.  And 
they  (see  their  Report  to  the  Senate,  January 
II,  1840)  found  "that  (p.  8)  there  was  no 
evidence  presented  to  them,  showing  that  any 
portion  of  the  funds  of  the  University  had 
ever  been  fraudulently  applied  by  any  officer 
of  the  institution,  or  anyone  else  entrusted 
with  the  custody  thereof,  to  private  uses  or 
unauthorized  purposes." 


74 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


But  the  committee  also  said  (p.  8) :  "  It  is 
truly  remarkable  that  from  the  date  of  the 
charter  to  the  period  when  the  testimony  was 
taken  by  the  committee,  there  were  no  regular 
books  of  account  with  the  treasury  of  the 
University  kept  by  anyone  connected  with 
the  institution";  —  and  the  committee  refers 
(p.  9)  to  the  continual  negligence  "  of  the 
Council  to  appoint  a  qualified  bookkeeper." 
The  personal  honesty  of  Chancellor  Mathews 
was  found  to  be  without  a  flaw  (p.  I2)  ;  nay  it 
was  found  that  on  the  15th  of  March  1839 
"  there  was  a  balance  reported  due  to  the  late 
Chancellor,  from  the  University,  by  the  audit- 
ing committee,  of  $13,421."  From  this  docu- 
ment as  well  as  from  others  we  learn  not  only 
that  rents  were  collected  from  certain  parts  of 
the  University  Building  from  the  very  begin- 
ning, but  that  this  form  of  investment  was 
distinctly  contemplated  from  the  very  outset, 
rents  e.g.  collected  from  students  and  Professors 
for  their  private  accommodation.  And  the 
committee  also  reported  to  recommend  that  a 
debt  still  standing  against  the  University  for 
marble  on  a  contract  made  with  the  agents  of 
the  government  of  the  State  of  New  York  at 
the  Sing  Sing  Prison  be  canceled  by  the  state  ; 
"the  contractors  (p.  13)  failed  to  fulfill  their 
engagements,  which  rendered  it  necessary  for 
the  builders  to  dismiss  the  workmen  at  the 
University  Hall,  and  thus  a  year  was  lo.st  in 
the  completion  of  the  building."  This  sum 
amounted  to  $9,860.19,  which  the  State  subse- 
quently canceled.  The  present  historian  grate- 
fully records  this  benefaction,  as  well  as  the 
further  fact  that  the  Legislature  on  April  17, 
1838,  had  granted  the  University  an  annuity 
of  $6000  for  five  years  and  until  otherwise 
directed  by  law.  This  too  is  recorded  in  this 
narrative  with  cordial  gratitude. 

But  it  must  not  be  forgotten  by  the  friends 
of  education  in  this  great  commonwealth  that 
in  1 8 1 4  the  State,  when  much  poorer,  had  made 
gifts  to  Union,  and  more  particularly  had  given 
to  Columbia  College,  a  gift  so  vast  in  the 
ultimate  appreciation  of  this  particular  gift  as 
to  enable  Columbia  to  expand   as    she  subse- 


quently did  expand  ;  and  to  make  gifts  like  the 
one  quoted  above  appear  a  bagatelle  in  com- 
parison. The  land  now  inclosed  and  limited 
by  Fifth  and  SLxth  avenues  and  by  Forty- 
seventh  and  Fifty-first  streets,  a  tract  of  some 
twenty  acres,  long  known  as  Dr.  David 
Hosack's  Botanical  Gardens,  or  simply  Elgin 
Gardens,  was  "  granted  to  and  vested  in  the 
Trustees  of  Columbia  College  in  the  City  of 
New  York,  their  successors  and  assigns  ;  but 
this  grant  is  made  upon  the  express  condition 
that  the  College  establishment  shall  be  re- 
moved to  the  said  tract  of  land  hereby 
granted,  or  to  lands  adjacent  thereto  within 
twelve  years  from  this  time"  (i.e.  by  1826); 
"and  if  the  said  establishment  shall  not  be  so 
removed  within  the  time  above  limited,  then 
and  from  thenceforth  this  grant  shall  cease 
and  be  void,"  etc.  But  the  state  about  five 
years  later  relieved  Columbia  of  this  obliga- 
tion, v.  chapter  CXX.,  Thirty-.seventh  Session, 
Laws  of  New  York,  passed  Aj^ril  13,  18 14. 
And  Union  College  by  this  same  Act,  §§  1-5, 
was  granted  permission  to  raise  by  a  lottery 
sums  of  $100,000,  of  $30,000,  of  $20,000,  and 
of  $50,000,  respectively,  the  last  item  being 
intended  for  the  increase  of  the  charity 
fund.  Other  beneficiaries  of  this  Act  were 
Hamilton  College,  the  College  of  Physicians 
and  Surgeons,  etc. 

Chancellor  Mathews  long  survived  his  retire- 
ment from  the  Chancellor.ship,  maintaining  his 
seat  in  the  Council  to  the  year  1847.  At  four- 
score years  of  age  he  published,  in  1865, 
"  Recollections  of  Persons  and  Invents,  chiefly 
in  the  City  of  New  York  :  being  Selections 
from  his  Journal,  by  J.  M.  Mathews,  D.D., 
1865."  In  this  volume  (pp.  195  sqq)  he 
republishes  his  address  delivered  October 
20,  1830,  at  the  opening  of  the  Academic 
Convention.  His  address  at  the  Inauguration 
of  the  Faculty,  September  26,  1832,  is  also 
printed  (pp.  2  i  5  sqq).  Of  his  retirement  he 
speaks  without  the  faintest  trace  of  bitterness. 
We  also  learn  that  the  Council  (p.  241)  in 
accepting  his  resignation  of  P'ebruary  1 1,  1839, 
requested  that  he  sit  for  a  portrait  to  be  paid 


HISrORT  OF   NEW   YORK    UNlVKRSl'Vr 


7S 


for  by  the  Council.  W'c  caniiol  hel])  niarvcliii,-; 
that  in  the  rctrospctt  of  1865  Dr.  Mathews 
still  in(luli;es  in  so  niueli  resonant  thoii^^li  va,i(ue 
rhetoric  without  tersely  desii^natin^  the  real 
merits  of  the  movement  ol    1830. 

The  first  Chancellor  lacki'd  the  keen  sense 
of  the  actual,  real  and  present  thini;s,  a  faeuit) 
which  must  always  predominate  in  e\ecuti\e 
capacity  of  a  hi.L;h  order  :  heinj;'  carried  alon<;' 
pleasantly  enough  on  the  current  of  cultivated 
New  York  life,  and  |uirsuin.n"  ■graceful  rhetoric 
as  well  as  colIo(|uial  and  soiial  \irlues,  he 
essayed  a  task  which  was  clearl)'  he)'ond  his 
strenj^th.  Had  he  been  so  fortunate  as  to  find 
a  coadjutor  who  could  have  taken  full  charii^e  of 
all  financial  matters,  his  work  would  ha\e  been 
more  prosperous.  Chancellor  Mathews  jiassed 
away  in  1870  at  the  great  age  of  eighty-five 
years.      In  vtn<^nis  iiini^iia  7'o/inssc  sat  est. 

The  convulsion  of  September  29,  183S,  left 
a  veritable  chasm  and  void  in  the  teaching 
staff  of  the  University,  but  she  was  greatly 
favored  in  the  successors  of  the  Seven,  liut  as 
Ebenezer  A.  Johnson,  Joslin,  John  William 
Draper,  Tayler  Lewis  and  Caleb  S.  Henry 
really  belong  to  the  administration  of  Theodore 
Frelinghuvsen,  we  shall  deal  with  them  later  on. 


Before  closing  this  chapter  we  must  sj)eak 
briefly  of  a  few  teachers  of  the  first  adminis- 
tration. Charles  Dexter  Cleveland  (b.  Salem, 
Mass.,  1802,  A.H.  Dartmouth,  1827,  1S30 
Professor  of  (ireek  and  Latin  in  Dickin.son), 
Proft'ssor  of  Creek  and  Latin  1833-1834,  .soon 
afterwards  migrated  to  Philadelphia  where  he 
established  a  flourishing  .school  for  young 
women.  lie  wa.s,  even  before  his  gradua- 
tion at  College,  in  1826,  and  thereafter,  a  re- 
markably prolific  and  industrious  author  of 
manuals  dealing  with  Latin  and  Greek,  .soon 
however  turning  more  decidedly  towards  Kng- 
lish  literature.  He  was  a  .siK-ciali.st  in  Milton. 
If  the  University  could  have  jiermanently 
maintained  his  services,  he  might  in  time 
ha\e  rivaled  Charles  Anthon  as  a  j)roducer 
of  <lidaclic  books.  Of  Robert  1^.  I'atton 
(Greek  1 834-1 838)  we  are  told  that  in  his  fir.st 
year  he  taught  Greek  Literature  and  —  Nat- 
ural Hi.story!  Can  anything  better  illustrate 
the  age  of  textbook  rehearsing.-'  Of  John 
Proudfit,  D.  I).,  that  great  dragnet  of  American 
literature,  Au.stin  Allibone  reports  that  he  pub- 
lished "The  Captives;"  a  Comedy  of  Plautus, 
with  JCnglish  Notes,  New  York,  18  mo. 

E.   G.  .S. 


APPENDIX    TO    (TI.XPTKR    II 


There  was  a  strong  desire  to  secure  Dr.  Thomas  II. 
Gallaudet  as  Professor  of  what  we  would  now  call  Peda- 
gogy, but  the  correspondence  with  him  led  to  no  satisfactory' 
result.  "The  Council"  (Minutes  of  November  26,  1830) 
"then  instructed  the  Committee  on  a  Plan  of  Organization 
to  inquire  into  the  propriety  of  establishing  in  the  University 
(i  Di-parlmeiit  for  the  iiistniitii'ii  of  Teachers  of  Common 
Schools  and  to  report  thereon."  —  Three  names  were  put  in 
nomination  for  Chancellor  on  January  24,  1 831,  Mathews, 
Wainwright  and  Milnor,  the  latter  two  withdrawing  their 
names  promptly.  .\11  three  were  clergymen.  Samuel  Ward. 
Jr.,  twice  moved  for  a  measure  looking  towards  union  with 
Columbia.  In  the  memorial  to  the  Legislature  (Minutes  of 
Council,  January  28,  1831)  the  following  noteworthy  para- 
graphs occur:  "To  those  conversant  with  the  existing  state 
of  our  Common  Schools,  no  defect  is  more  prominent  and 
.serious  than  the  want  of  caf^acity  in  the  teacher.  This  is  by 
no  means  owing  to  a  want  of  compelenf  tiio7t>le</ffe.  Very 
many  instructors,  and  we  might  proliably  add  with  justness 
a  great  majority  of  them,  have  acquirements  sufficient  for 
the  instruction  they  are  called  to  give.  But  where  such  is 
the  case  they  have  rarely  a  knowledge  of  tench iii^:     The  art 


of  presenting  proper  subjects  to  children,  under  proper 
arrangements,  so  as  to  enable  their  pupils  to  comprehend 
what  is  taught,  and  more  especially  to  call  into  e.\ercise  the 
faculty  of  thinkings  your  petitioners  apprehend  is  but  little 
known  to  the  great  body  of  teachers."  —  "The  Committee 
on  provisional  appointments"  (Jan.  7,  1831)  "beg  leave  to 
submit  tlie  names  of  the  following  gentlemen  as  persons 
who,  in  their  opinion,  would  be  suitable  to  deliver  Lectures 
and  e.xcite  public  attention  in  behalf  of  the  University: 
Albert  Gallatin,  Francis  Wayland,  Joseph  Story,  Benjamin  F". 
Butler,  Daniel  Webster,  Samuel  Miller,  Thomas  S.  Gnmke. 
William  Wirt,  George  Davis  (Speaker  of  the  House),  Eli- 
phalet  Nott,  Benjamin  Silliman,  John  Welch,  Edward  Liv- 
ingston, J.  McPherson  Berrien,  Robert  Greenlow,  Henry 
Bostwick."  —  May  24,  iSji,it  was  reported  that  of  the  sub- 
scriptions of  5101,250,  only  530,455  was  actually  paid  in, 
leaving  570,795  outstanding.  —  On  October  12,  1831.  an 
offer  of  G.  W.  Bruen  (for  Matthias  Bruen)  was  reported  : 
no  feet  on  Broadway,  above  Niblo's  Garden,  running 
through  to  Crosby  street,  were  offered  to  the  University 
for  540,000:  the  busine.ss  men  of  the  Council  were  willing 
to  take  this,  but  trouble  a.s  to  title  induced  them  to  aban- 


76 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


don  this  property. —  On  December  6,  1S31,  there  were 
allowed  for  expenses  incurred  for  and  on  account  of  the 
Literary  Convention  of  October  1830,  S561.25,  of  which 
$508.98  was  for  printing  and  paper. — Albert  Gallatin's 
letter  of  resignation  was  dated  October  22,  1831,  and  is 
spread  on  the   Minutes  of  November  i,  1831  : 

To  John  Delafield,  Sec'y. 

Sir:' 

Having  intimated  at  the  last  meeting  of  the  Council  of 
the  University  of  the  City  of  New  York  that  the  state  of  my 
health  did  not  permit  me  to  perform  any  longer  the  duties  of 
President  or  Member  of  the  J5oard,  I  beg  leave  hereby  to  re- 
sign my  seat,  and  to  pray  that  I  may  not  be  put  in  nomina- 
tion at  the  next  election.  It  is  with  sincere  regret  that  I 
feel  myself  compelled  to  take  this  step  and  to  separate  from 
the  Gentlemen  with  whom  I  had  the  honor  to  be  associated. 
I  entertain  a  lively  sense  of  their  kindness  and  partiality 
towards  me,  and  I  pray  them  to  accept  my  best  wishes  for 
their  personal  welfare  and  for  the  prosperity  of  the  impor- 
tant Institution  entrusted  to  their  care.  I  have  the  honor 
to  be.  Respectfully,  your  ob't  ser\-ant 

Albert  G.xli.ai'i.n. 

On  January  6  and  18  and  27;  on  February  14  and  20, 
and  April  7,  1832,  there  was  no  quorum  at  meetings  of  the 
Council,  likewise  on  May  i  and  1 5. 

On  May  16,  1832,  a  long  and  elaborate  Report  on  a 
Professorship  of  Law  was  submitted  by  Messrs.  James 
Tallmadge  and  I'rescott  Hall;  this  memorandum  entering 
very  fully  into  what  seems  to  have  been  a  current  argu- 
ment of  the  day  in  opposition  to  Law  Schools  as  such,  viz. 
the  incessant  changing  of  Law.  —  The  Minutes  of  June  5, 
1832  contain  the  following: 

"The  Committee  appointed  at  the  last  meeting  to  apply 
to  the  Judges  of  the  Suprfcme  Court  in  reference  to  a  Pro- 
fessorship of  Law  in  the  University  and  certain  privileges 
connected  therewith.  Reported  that  having  laid  before  the 
Judges  the  views  of   the  Council  as  expressed  in  the  report 


of  the  Committee  on  Law  Profe.ssorship,  the  Judges  were 
pleased  to  make  a  rule  of  the  Supreme  Court  in  the  words 
following  : 

"The  Supreme  Court,  May  28,  1832. 
"In  addition  to  the  rules  of  January  i,  1830,  regulating 
clerkships,  it  is  hereby  ordered  that  any  portion  of  time  not 
e.xceeding  two  years  spent  in  a  regular  attendance  upon  the 
Law  Lectures  in  the  University  of  New  York,  .shall  be 
allowed  in  lieu  of  an  equal  portion  of  clerkship  in  the  office 
of  a  practising  attorney  of  this  Court. 
By  the  Court, 

\Vm.   p.   H.\1,LETT,   Clerk." 

In  the  Minutes  of  same  date,  June  6,  1S32,  we  read  : 
"  Could  they  have  been  furnished  by  the  Honorable  the 
Corporation  with  the  use  of  Buildings  for  a  few  years,  as 
was  at  first  expected,  the  Institution  might  have  gone  into 
operation  with  the  price  of  tuition  at  that  moderate  rate." 
On  July  17,  1S32,  during  the  Cholera  Epidemic  Mr.  Wm. 
Bedlow  Crosby  was  elected  to  the  Council.  —  The  meeting 
of  the  Council  of  July  24  was  in  the  Cholera  epidemic. 
The  following  attended  :  E.  Lord,  Jas.  Milnor,  Cynis  Mason. 
A.  Maclay,  C.  Starr,  AYm.  B.  Crosby,  Th.  Price,  Sam.  \Yard. 
J.  Labagh,  W.  \V.  (Jhester,  M.  Van  Schaick,  Wm.  ^'an 
^Vyck,  Sam'l  H.  Cox,  also  Chancellor  Mathews. 

On  motion  duly  seconded  it  was  "  A't^sohvif,  that  whereas 
the  prevailing  epidemic  renders  it  verj'  doubtful  whether  a 
quorum  of  the  Council  necessary  for  an  election  of  Profes- 
sors and  other  officers  yet  to  be  chosen  can  be  assembled 
sufficiently  soon  to  answer  the  puqioses  of  the  University, 
therefore  KesolrrJ  that  Doctors  Mathews,  Milnor,  Maclay, 
Cox  and  Mr.  Van  \Yyck  be  a  special  committee  with  power 
to  make  such  provisional  arrangements  as  may  be  necessary 
for  a  temporarj'  supply  of  the  Profes.sorships  of  Languages 
and  of  Intellectual  and  Moral  Philosophy,  provided  that 
such  arrangements  can  be  made  with  the  gentlemen  already 
nominated  for  those  professorships."  E.  c.   .s. 


?TRST    ENROLLMENT    OF    STUDENTS,    SEPTEMBER    1S32 


Wm.  McMurray,  Jr. 

Corns.  Mathews 

Robert  R.  Crosby 

Clarkson  F.  Crosby 

Sam.  A.  Hammett 

George  F.  White 

Charles  O.  Baker 

James  Henry  Van  Alan 

A.  K.  Post 

E.  L.  Heyward 

J.  W.  Carrington,  Jr. 

M.  W.  Weed 

J.  Smith 

T.  E.  C.  Doremus 

Henry  A.  Nitchie 

R.  F.  Davison 

Albert  Ward 

Samuel  Pringle 

Daniel  D.  T.  McLaughlin 

Isaac  Dayton 

Henry  Thomas,  Jr. 


I'AKENT    OK    (a'AKDIAN 

Rev.  Dr.  McMurray 
Abijah  Mathews 
Wm.  B.  Crosby 
W.  B.  Crosby 
Augustus  Hammett 
Geo.  B.  White 
Elisha  Baker 
Jas.  J.  Van  Alen 
Waldron  B.  Post 
Wm.  Heyward 
J.  W.  Carrington 
Harvey  Weed 
Dan'l  Smith 
Francis  Doremus 
Jno.  Nitchie 
J  no.  R.  Davison 
Caleb  T.  Ward 
Thomas  Pringle 
Edward  McLaughlin 
Edward  Daj-ton 
Henry  Thomas 


KESIDENCE 


New  York 
New  York 
New  York 
New  York 
New  York 
Brooklyn 
New  York 
New  ^'ork 
New  York 
New  York 
New  York 
New  York 
Middletown 
New  York 
New  York 
New  York 
Staten  Island 
New  York 
New  York 
New  York 
Brooklyn 


N.  Y. 


IIISTORr   OF   NEW    YORK    UNIlKKSI'll 


77 


Samuel   Kellogg 

Alfretl  Vail 

J  no.   15.  Morton 

Jno.   N.  foil 

Jno.  t'ragin 

v.  A.  Sterling 

Ransom  Taylor 

James  S.  Evans 

Moses  B.  Maclay 

William  15.  Maclay 

\\.  lulward  Hniue 

Washington   Iiuiah 

William  C.  S<|uier 

John  C.  Hall 

Daniel   Ilighie 

Edw.   W.  Cone 

Benjamin  Wood,  Jr. 
John  I).  Shelton 

A.  R.  Van  Nostrand 

Richard  Cioodman 

Fenelon   II  asbrouck 

M.  V.  W.  Fowler 

Amos  H.  Lambert 

Edward  Hyde 

Charles  Suydam 

Joseph  Ache.son 

Wm.  A.  Leonard 

John  T.  Ring 

<;.  W.  Ring 

Wm.  E.  Allen 

Aaron  K.  Thompson 

Ferdinand  S.  Mumford 

James  R.  Creacen 

Henry  S.  Dodge 

Wm.  H.  Talbot 
S.  H.  Newbold 

James  N.  McElligett 

Wm.  H.  Neilson 
Thos.   W.  R  Dawson 

Willm.  Hall,  Jr. 
Jeremiah  S.  Lord 
Cornelius  Conkling 
Joseph  G.  Gilbert 
James  B.  Oakey 
Daniel  H.  Scully,  Jr. 
Xpi(rT65ouXos  Ei5a776Xi7S 
.\aron   Henriques 
Aaron  B.   Belknap 
W.  P.   Wainwright 
George  (iordon,  Jr. 
George  Gritfin,  Jr. 
Burtis  C.  Megie 
Charles  S.  Mills 
Wm.  H.  T.  Russell 
R.  J.  Livingston 
George  S.  Wilson 
Jas.  S.  Wilson 
James  H.  Bell 

William  R.  Casey 

William  V.  Mason 


I'AKBNT    OK    (il'AKDIAN 

Mrs.  Matilda  Kellogg 
Stephen  Vail 
Archibald  McCulliim 
Jno.  Coit 
Beiij.  Cragin 
F.  A.  Sterling 
Theodore  Taylor 
Jas.  Evans 

Rev'd  Archibald  Maclay 
Rev.  A.  Maclay 
Nathaniel  Bunce 
Aaron   1 1,   lud^ili 
Job  S(|iiii:i 

Wm.  Hall 
Abm.  Higbie 
Rev.  S.  H.  Cone 
Benjamin  Wood 
Nathan  Shelton 

Jno.  K.  tioodnian 

Doct.  Stephen  Hasbrouck 

P.  V.  B.  Fowler 

Jno.  Lambert 

Simeon  Hyde 

Ferdinand  Suydam 

Wm.  .\cheson 

Wm.   H.  Leonard 

Z.  Ring 

Z.  Ring 

M.  Allen 

M.  E.  Thompson 

F.  S.  Mumford 

John  Greacen 

Sam'l  N.  Dodge 

Benj'n  Talbot 

Herman  Le  Roy 

Jane  E.  McElligett 

Wm.  Neilson 

Isaac  Leek 

Wm.  Hall 

Charles  S.  Lord 

Thomas  W.  Conkling 

Joshua  Gilbert 

Dan'l  Oakey 

Daniel  H.  Scully,  Senr. 

J.  M.  Mathews 

Joseph  Heniiques 

Aaron  Belknap 

Eli  Wainwright 

Geo.  Gordon 

(Jeorge  Griffin 

Elizabeth  Megie 

T.  W.  Mills 

C.  H.  Russell 

Maturin  Living.ston 

Amelia  Hicko.x 

Isaac  Bell,  Esqr. 
James  K.  Casey 
John  Mason 


KKSIDI'.NCn 

New  York  N.  V. 

Morristown  N,  J. 
Elizabethtnwn          " 

Brooklyn  N.  \. 

Doughuss  Mass. 

New  York  N.  V. 

New  York  " 

New  York  " 

New  York  " 

New  York  " 

New  ^'ork  " 

New  York  " 

Rah  way  N.  J. 

New  York  " 

Jamaica  " 

New  \'ork  " 

Stat  en  Island  " 

Jamaica  " 

New  York  " 

New  York  " 

New  N'ork  " 

Shawaiigunk  " 
South  Reading    Ma.ss. 

New  \"ork  N.  Y. 

New  York  " 

New  York  " 

Matteawan  " 

New  York  " 

New  York  " 

New  York  " 

New  York  " 

New  York  " 

Brooklyn  " 

New  York  " 

Brooklyn  " 

New  York  " 

New  York  " 

New  York  •' 

New  York  " 

New  York  " 

Brooklyn  " 
Sniithtown,  L.  I.     " 

New  York  " 

New  York  " 

New  \'ork  " 

New  \'ork  " 

New  York  " 

New  Burgh  " 

New  York  " 

Savannah  " 

New  York  " 
New  York 

Hartford  Conn. 

New  York  N.  ^'. 

New  York  " 

Clinton  " 

Clinton  " 

New  York  " 

Baltimore  Md. 

New  N'ork  N.  V. 


78 


UNIVERSITIES  JND    THEIR   SONS 


Edward  C.  Halliday 
Sidney  M.  Stone 
Stephen  Bogardus 
Edward  M.  Bedlow 
William  Chalmers 
Rowland  Bourne 
Garniss  E.  Baker 
Jedediah  Huntington 
John  L.  Bartlett 
John  D.  Johnson 
Richard  M.  Chipman 
Robert  R.  Kellogg 
Wm.  R.  Gordon 
D.  W.  Holly 
W.  G.  Megrath 
Augustus  Pell 
James  G.  Evans 
Edward  B.  Elgar 
James  M.  Burnham 
Daniel  Dodd,  Jr. 
John  Knox 
Benj.  R.  Nichols 
R.  T.  Livingston 


PARENT    OR    GUARDIAN 

Robert  Halliday 

Wm.  R.  Bogardus 
Henry  Bedlow 
James  Chalmers 
Rev'd  George  Bourne 
Jacob  S.  Baker 
Benjamin  Huntington 

Wm.  M.  Johnson 

Timothy  Kellogg 
Elizabeth  Gordon 
W.  C.  Holly 
M.  Megrath 

A.  D.  Pell 

B.  J.  Seward 
Matthias  B.  Edgar 
Michael  Burnham 
Allen  Dodd 

Benj.  Romaine 
K.  S.  Livingston 


RESIDENCE 

New  York 

N.  Y. 

New  Haven 

Conn. 

Acquachanonk 

New  York 

N.  Y. 

New  York 

" 

New  York 

" 

New  York 

" 

New  York 

'■ 

New  York 

" 

New  York 

" 

Mass. 

New  York 

N.  Y. 

New  York 

" 

Bloomingdale 

" 

New  York 

" 

New  York 

" 

New  ^'ork 

" 

New  York 

•' 

New  York 

" 

Orange 

N.   J. 

New  York 

N.  Y. 

New  York 

" 

Red  Hook 

" 

CHAPTER    III 

TllK      EUCLEIAN     AND     THE      PlIILOM  ATHK.W.  PkOFESSOR     SaMUEL      FiNI.EV     BkEESE     MoRSE 

AND    THE    Invention    of    the    Electric   Telegraph.  —  Some    Earlier    Alumni. — 
Ex- Attorney-General   B.   F.   Butler's  Plan  for   a   Law  School 


THE  institution  of  literary  association .s 
in  American  Colleges  is  ortjanically 
connected  with  tlie  spirit  and  tiie 
direction  of  American  civilization.  However 
limited  erudition  may  have  long  remained  with 
us,  the  faculty  of  utterance,  graceful,  forceful  or 
profound,  was  always  fostered  by -the  prospect 
of  the  Ixir.  the  pulpit,  the  press  and  political 
canvass  and  campaign.  The  very  era  of  1830 
may  in  some  respects  be  called  the  golden  age 
of  American  oratory,  when  Webster,  Clay  and 
Calhoun,  Benton  and  Everett,  shone  as  stars 
of  the  first  magnitude  in  the  firmament  of 
national  life.  The  current  \  iew  of  the  func- 
tion and  importance  of  literary  societies  is 
well  expressed  by  an  article  in  the  (weekly) 
Atlas  of  New  York,  of  September  12,  1833. 
called  forth  by  a  recent  oration  of  Gulian 
C.  Verplanck  at  Geneva  (Hobart)  College  : 
"  Most  of  the  Colleges  in  the  United  States 
have  one  or   more  associations  for   cultivatincr 


the  flowers  and  fruits  of  Icarninir  and  brinjr- 
ing  into  active  u.se  the  in.structions  acquired 
in  the  regular  pursuits  of  the  schools  ;  and 
it  has  grown  into  a  custom  with  very  many 
of  them,  in  their  emulation  for  siriXMioritv. 
to  invite  the  mo.st  di.stinguished  scholars  of 
the  country  to  enrich  their  harvests  with  the 
acquisitions  of  their  talents  and  their  fame." 
The  predecessor  of  the  ICuclcian  was  the 
Adeli^hic  Society,  whose  organic  law  was  com- 
pleted in  P'ebruary-March,  1833.  In  the 
preceding  December  (1832)  the  library  com- 
mittee had  reported  a  subscription  of  money 
and  of  169  volumes.  Alfred  Vail,  a  Fresh- 
man of  that  winter,  afterwards  so  distinguished 
in  assi.stinjr  Morse  in  brinmnfr  out  his  electrical 
telegraph,  was  among  the  most  earnest  workers 
in  the  young  society.  The  janitor  by  March 
I,  1833,  charged  the  young  gentlemen  §8. 00 
for  candles  and  attendance.  The  young 
gentlemen     promptly    essayed     a    periodical. 


HISTORT  OF  NEW  YORK    UNiyERSITT 


79 


the  Adclphic  Monthly  Maj^uzine,  on  which 
in  a  ve-ry  brief  time  they  spent  5103.00,  and 
their  pul)Hsher  at  a  very  early  sta^e  of  his 
literary  venture  "showed  coiilenipt  for  llie 
injunctions  of  the  society." 

As  tlie  cataloi^ues  for  the  first  years  are 
lost,  tlie  records  of  the  literary  societies  i;ain 
atlditional  imp)rtance  ;  their  list  of  members 
e.  ,i;\  .shows  that,  whereas  the  overwhelmiiiL;' 
majority  were  residents  of  the  city,  most  of 
them  had  been  born  el.sewhere  :  New  York  as 
a  great  city  was  of  very  recent  "^^rowth.  The 
rubric  of  "Native  I'lace"  exhibits  New  York 
C'itv  l)ut  rarelv  :  we  notice  Ma.s.sachu.setts,  the 
valley  of  the  Hudson,  lVnns\  Ivania,  West 
Indies,  Loni;'  Island,  Rhode  Island,  Georgia, 
X'ermont,  South  Carolina,  "New  Burgh," 
New  York.  A  Greek,  I'hotius  Kavu.sales, 
was  admitted  March  28,  1835;  he  afterwards 
went  to  "Oberlin  In.stitute,"  Ohio. 

vSoon  after  the  Adelphic  body  had  comi)leled 
its  constitution,  it  peri.shecl  ;  jierhaps,  as  was 
intimated  at  the  time,  through  an  excess  of 
amendments  proposed  ;  very  possibly  the  Adel- 
phic Monthly  was  too  great  a  task. 

The  ICucleian  Society,  which  succeeded,  e.g. 
to  the  minute-book  of  the  Adelphi,  was  in  full 
existence  on  June  28,  1833,  on  which  date  M. 
V.  B.  Fowler  in  an  address  made  before  the 
Kudeians  uses  the  phrase  :  "for  we  cannot  but 
denominate  this  a  reorganization  of  the  old 
sex:iety."  It  was  customary  for  the  retiring 
Presidents  to  copy  their  valedictories  into  the 
minute-bt)ok,  which  farewells  often  show  a 
conscious  striving  after  dignified  expression 
and  well  balanced  periods.  The  great  point 
was  the  record  of  honorary  members.  These 
gentlemen  generally  took  this  attention  seri- 
ously enough  ;  the  annual  oration  or  poem  was 
often  if  not  always  delivered  by  one  of  them, 
and  the  current  press  paid  much  attention  to 
them  ;  and  these  orations  were  often  intellectual 
events  in  that  generation.  Among  honorary 
members  we  notice  Gov.  Peter  \Toome,  Hon. 
Daniel  Webster,  Hon.  William  Wirt,  Hon. 
Edward  I-Aerett,  Hon.  Theodore  Frelinghuy- 
sen    (all    elected     November    i,    1833),    Hon. 


Gulian  C.  Verplanck  (April  25,  1834),  Hon.  B. 
I'".  Butler,  Prof.  Morse  (October  23,  1835), 
His  l'-\cellency  Andrew  Jackson  (April  i, 
1836),  Hon.  C'aleb  Gushing  (October  28, 
1836).  I-"rom  the  V^aledictory  Address  of  J.  K. 
Caldwell  Doremus  (a  Senior  then)  of  Decem- 
l)er  18,  1835,  we  learn  how  they  considered 
and  estimated  the  fir.st  annual  oration  delivered 
by  one  of  the  Society's  hononny  members: 
" 'Twas  the  first  of  tho.se  grand  annual  occa- 
sions which  are  calculated  to  give  that  dignity 
and  eclat  to  our  society  which  will  rank  it  [the 
hi.storian  edits  precisely]  high  in  the  estima- 
tion of  the  Public  and  give  it  an  honorable 
name  throughout  the  Literary  world."  (The 
s|)eaker  on  that  occasion  was  the  Rev.  Dr. 
John  Breckenridge  of  Baltimore.)  "  On  the 
sixteenth  of  July  la.st  the  Kucleian  Society 
fir.st  attained  to  the  standard  of  similar  I n.sti- 
tutions  in  the  old  established  Colleges  of  the 
land."  In  the  fall  of  1835  the  Council  had 
assigned  them  a  hall  in  the  new  University 
Building  on  Washington  Square,  and  the  de- 
lighted members  promptly  furnished  it  "  like  a 
council  chamber." 

As  to  honorary  members  we  find  no  dimi- 
nution in  the  40-'<==*  of  distinguished  names, 
e.g.  President  Wm.  Henry  Harrison  (January 
15,  1841),  Wa.shington  Irving,  E.sq.  (June  10, 
1 841),  Speaker  Winthrop,  T.  McKlrath  of  the 
New  York  Tribune,  Archbishop  (later  Cardi- 
nal) Hughes,  former  President  Martin  \'an 
Buren,  LL.D.  (July  2,  1841),  Jared  Spark.s, 
former  President  J.  Quincy  Adams.  Lack  of 
space  will  not  permit  me  in  this  place  to  even 
name  all  the  members  of  Lucleian,  who  have 
added  to  the  renown  of  the  L^niversity  or  be- 
friended her  when  she  needed  cheer  and  help. 
A  few  must  suffice.  Benjamin  X'aughn 
Abbott  (November  6,  1846),  Charles  Baird  and 
Henry  M.  Baird  (October  15,  1847),  Au.stin 
Abbott  (December  3,  1847),  Lyman  Abbott 
(December  3,  1847)  !  <^*"  the  .same  day  there 
entered  A.  Ogden  Butler,  born  at  (ieneva 
(PLditor,  Standing  Committee,  Assistant  Libra- 
rian), who  in  his  will  established  a  fund  of 
^5000,  the  income  in  part  to  encourage  excel- 


8o 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


lence  in  essay  writing.  Mr.  Ogden  Butler 
was  the  only  son  of  Hon.  Charles  Butler, 
to  whom  the  New  York  University  owes  so 
much.  Among  autograph  acknowledgments 
of  election  there  are  preserved  letters  from  the 
pen  of  Theodore  Frelinghuysen,  Newark,  June 
12,  1837;  of  William  Dodge,  New  York,  Janu- 
ary 12,  1837;  J.  Nordheimer,  "New  York 
University,  March  15,  1838;"  of  Cardinal 
Hughes;  of  Judge  Betts,  June  23,  1841,  ad- 
dressed to  Robert  Ogden  Doremus,  Secretary  ; 
from  Ale.xander  Reid, 
"  Nassau  Hall,  Decem- 
ber 18,  1 84 1,"  from  A. 
Cleveland  Coxe,  De- 
cember 14,  1843,  and 
James  W.  Alexander, 
College  of  New  Jersey, 
13  December,  1843. 
A  jewel  in  this  collec- 
tion is  a  note  from 
James  Russell  Lc)well, 
dated  "Elmwood,  Cam- 
bridge, March  i, 
1844,"  in  which  he  de- 
clines an  invitation  to 
deliver  the  annual 
poem,  saying,  "  I  have 
always  made  it  a  i)rin- 
ciple  to  decline  invi- 
tations of  this  kind, 
believing  that  in  a 
publicly  spoken  poem 
one  must  necessarily 
disappoint    either  his  hearers  or  himself." 

James  Harper  of  the  famous  publi.shing 
house  acknowledged,  dating  82  Cliff  Street, 
October  28,  1846;  there  is  a  note  from 
Howard  Crosby,  New  York,  November  20, 
185 1  ;  from  Lyman  Abbott,  203  West  34th 
Street,  New  York,  24  April,  1867.  This  is 
the  last  autograph  so  preserved. 


the  First  Congregational  Church,  spiritual  and 
moral  earnestness  and  some  didactic  faculty. 
Andover  Academy  and  Yale  College  have  the 
distinction  of  enrolling  him  among  their  alumni. 
Day  and  Benjamin  Silliman  had  kindled  and 
furthered  his  scientific  interests.  He  gradu- 
ated at  Yale  in  181 1.  Still  his  aspirations 
long  were  of  a  twofold  nature.  It  really  was 
his  first  profession  of  painting  which  brought 
him  into  New  York  University.  He  had  gone 
with  Washington  AUston  to  London,  there  to 

learn  to  paint  under 
W'est  and  Copley. 
The  gold  medal  which 
he  won  from  the  Royal 
Academy  in  London, 
on  May  13,  1813,  may 
have  had  much  to  do 
his 


m 


deter  m  i  n  i  n  g 


SA^rUEL    F.    B.    MORSE 


Samuel  Finley  Breese  Morse,  born  1791,  at 
Charlestown,  Massachusetts,  inherited  from  his 
father,    the  Rev.    Jedediah    Morse,    Pastor    of 


career  for  the  earlier 
part  of  his  life.  Nor 
had  the  encouragement 
of  Benjamin  West 
failed  to  urge  him  on 
in  this  career.  Even- 
tuall)-,  after  some  slen- 
der success  in  New 
England,  he  settled  in 
New  \'ork,  from  whose 
municipal  authorities 
he  had  receixed  a  com- 
mission in  1 824- 1 825 
to  paint  a  full-length 
portrait  of  Lafayette. 
In  1826  he  organized  the  "National  Acad- 
emy of  Design,"  in  opposition  to  the  older 
"  American  Academy  of  Fine  Arts,"  of  which 
the  venerable  Colonel  John  Trumbull  was  Presi- 
dent. Morse  denied  with  much  positiveness 
that  any  body  which  did  not  teach  art  had  any 
right  whatever  to  the  name  of  Academy.  His 
own  "  National  Academy  "  was  modeled  after 
the  Royal  Academy  of  London,  his  own  school ; 
it  was  primarily  to  teach,  and  also  to  give  an 
annual  exhibition  (v.  "Acadetnies  of  Arts,"  "a 
Discourse,  delivered  on  Thursday,  May  3, 
1827,  in  the  Chapel  of  Columbia  College,  be- 


IIISTORr   OF   NEIV    TORK    UNIVERSITY 


8i 


fore  the  National  Academy  of  Desii^ni,  on  its 
l""irst  Anniversary,  by  Samuel  1'".  H.  Morse  ; 
on  i)|).  -4-25  he  speaks  feelin^dy  of  the  dis- 
couraj^emcnts  of  American  artists  returning; 
from  abroad  ;  pp.  28  sqc|  show  what  work  was 
actually  done  at  the  Academy  of  Desij^n).  In 
this  School  of  Art,  Anatomy  was  to  be  tau<;ht 
as  well  as  Mythology  ;  William  Cullen  liryant 
in  the  earlier  years  (inured  as  Lecturer  on 
Mythology.  Clinton  1  lall,  which  recei\  ed  the 
classes  of  the  University  in  1832,  had  har- 
bored even  before  the  rooms  of  the  Academy 
of  Design.  Morse's  appointment  was  that  of 
"  Professor  of  the  Literature  of  the  Arts  of 
Desi<;n."  The  first  of  the  preserved  catalogues, 
that  of  1836,  announces  on  p.  12,  under  the 
ji^eneral  head  of  Literature  of  the  Arts  of  De- 
sign : 

1.  Lectures  on  the  principles  of  the  Arts  of  Design. 

2.  Painting  as  a  Profession. 

In  the  same  autumn  of  1S32  in  which  the 
University  bei^an  to  teach,  Morse  returned 
from  Havre  to  New  York  on  the  ship  Sully, 
and  on  this  voyage  conceived  and  outlined  his 
great  invention,  even  drawini;"  the  instrument 
in  his  notebook.  At  the  Alumni  banquet  of 
the  New  York  University  held  at  the  Astor 
House  on  June  29,  1853,  Morse  made  the  fol- 
lowing statement  (recorded  in  the  New  York 
Tribune  of  June  30,  1853)  :  —  "The  President 
(George  II.  Moore,  later  Librarian  of  the 
Lenox  Library)  now  proposed  the  health  of 
Professor  Morse,  inventor  of  the  Electric 
Telegraph.  This  was  received  with  loud 
applause.  The  Professor  responded  as  follows  : 
When  I  received  the  flattering  invitation  of 
your  committee  to  be  present  on  this  occa- 
sion, and  at  the  coming  of  age  of  your  hon- 
ored association  (for  it  seems,  this  is  your 
twenty-first  anniversary)  my  first  impulse  was 
to  decline,  but  on  second  thought  I  sent  you 
my  acceptance,  for  I  had  some  ancient  recol- 
lections and  endearing  associations  connected 
with  the  University,  which  I  wished  to  revive 
more  vividly,  and  too  —  shall  I  say  it  ?  —  I 
was  a  little  startled  at  the  phraseology  of 
your  worthy  President's  note.      He  says,  'The 


Alumni  are  justly  proud  of  the  name  and 
fame  of  their  Senior  Profes.sor.'  Siiiior 
{''rofcssor ?  Ye.s,  it  is  indeed  so.  Si.xteen 
years  have  brought  me  unconsciou.sly  to  this 
position.  Yesternight,  on  once  more  entering 
your  Chapel,  and  while  listening  to  the  lucid 
and  able  address  of  my  friend  at  the  head 
of  the  Medical  Department,  1  more  than 
once  realized  a  Kip  Van  Winkle  sensation. 
There  were  the  well-known  walls  of  the 
\encral)le  pile  unchanged.  The  same  marble 
.staircase  and  marble  floor  I  once  so  often 
trod,  and  so  often  with  a  heart  and  head 
overburdened  with  almost  crushing  anxieties. 
Separated  from  the  ChajK-l  but  by  a  thin 
partition  was  that  room  I  occupied,  now 
your  Philomathean  Hall,  whose  walls  —  had 
thoughts  and  mental  struggles  with  their  alter- 
nation of  jo)s  and  sorr<jws,  the  power  of 
being  daguerrcjtyped  upon  them  —  would  show 
a  thickly-studded  gallery  of  evidence  that 
there  the  Hriarean  infant  was  born,  who  has 
stretched  forth  its  arms  with  the  intent  to 
encircle  the  world.  Yes,  my  worthy  friends, 
that  room  of  the  University  was  the  birth- 
place of  the  Recording  Telegraph.  Attempts 
indeed  have  been  made  to  assign  it  to  other 
parentage,  and  its  birthplace  to  other  localities. 
Personally  I  have  very  little  anxiety  on  this 
point,  except  that  the  truth  should  not  suffer, 
for  I  have  a  consciousness  which  neither 
sophistry  nor  ignorance  can  shake,  that  that 
room  is  the  place  of  its  birth,  and  a  confi- 
dence too  that  its  cradle  is  in  hands  that 
will  sustain  its  rightful  claim.  You  have 
been  pleased  to  honor  me  by  your  attentions 
this  day.  Be  assured  it  is  one  of  the  most 
gratifying  amends  for  the  many  trials  through 
which  I  have  passed,  that  I  have  the  gener- 
ous appreciation  of  the  Alumni  of  our  L^ni- 
versity.  The  credit  ()f  my  invention  does 
pertain  to  your  Alma  Mater,  and  if  this  fact 
adds  character  and  name  to  our  Institution, 
so  that  the  memories  that  are  awakened  by 
the  name  of  the  University  shall  be  influ- 
ential in  restraining  her  sons  from  all  that 
would  tarnish  her  fair  fame,  and  inspire  ambi- 


82 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR    SONS 


tion  to  add  to  her  honors,  I  shall  experience 
a  higher  gratification  than  any  personal  def- 
erence that  has  been,  or  can  be,  bestowed 
upon  me  by  foreign  nations  or  my  own 
countrymen.  I  would  pro^DOse  to  you  the 
following  sentiment  :  Von  r  A /ma  Maier  —  may 
she  never  have  occasion  to  blush  for  an)- 
of  her  sons,  nor  ask  in  vain  their  sympathy 
and  aid." 

And  we  learn  from  the  cliief  work  on  Morse's 
life  ("The  life  of  Samuel  F.  B.  Morse,  LL.D., 
Inventor  of  the  Electro-Magnetic  Recording 
Telegraph,  by  Samuel  Irenaeus  Prime,  Apple- 
ton  &  Co.,  1875  ")  tliat,  by  September  1837,  a 
few  months  after  the  dedication  of  the  fully 
completed  University  Building,  Morse  consid- 
ered the  invention  fairly  complete,  though 
rude  as  yet  ;  and  on  September  2,  1837,  Sat- 
urday, he  exhibited  the  invention  to  Professor 
Daubeny  of  Oxford,  England,  in  the  (get)logi- 
cal)  cabinet  of  the  University,  using  a  circuit 
of  1700  feet  of  copper  wire  .stretched  back 
and  forth  in  that  room  (as  reported  by  our 
Professor  Gale,  Prime,  p.  203).  Professor 
Torrey  also  was  present.  "  This  exhibition 
of  the  telegrai:)h,  although  of  very  rude 
and  imperfect  machinery,  demonstrated  to  all 
present  the  practicability  of  the  invention,  and 
it  resulted  in  enlisting  the  mean.s,  the  skill 
and  the  zeal  of  Alfred  Vail  (A.B.  N.Y.U. 
1836),  who  early  the  ne.xt  week  called  at 
the  rooms  and  had  a  more  j^erfect  explana- 
tion from  Profcs.sor  Morse  of  the  character 
of  the  invention." 

Soon  after  this  Mr.  \'ail  interested  his  father. 
Judge  Stephen  Vail,  owner  of  the  Speedwell 
Iron  Works  near  Morristown,  New  York,  and 
his  own  brother  George.  The  \''ails  invested 
money  in  the  enterpri.se  and  acquired  one- 
f()iu-th  of  the  patent  riglit.  The  support  of 
A.  Vail  proved  of  decisive  importance  in  the 
final  struggle  before  Congress  and  the  actual 
opening  of  the  Baltimore-Washington  line ; 
Vail  operating  at  the  Baltimore  end  and 
Morse    himself    at    the   capital. 

From  the  famous  painter  Daniel  Huntington 
(Prime,  p.  308  sq),  we  learn   that   his  teacher, 


Morse,  occupied  his  new  quarters  in  the  Uni- 
versity building  (in  July  1835),  leaving  Green- 
wich Lane,  and  that  while  he  still  resided  in  the 
latter  "  he  was  particularly  impatient  to  get 
into  tJie  nciv  rooms,  in  order  to  put  into  opera- 
tion his  plan  for  an  electric  telegraph,  allusit)ns 
to  which  he  continually  made."  In  the  earlv 
part  of  1836,  Hon.  Hamilton  Fi.sh,  in  a 
room  in  the  University  building,  witnessed 
the  telegraph  in  operation.  In  the  winter  of 
1 835-1 836  James  F"enimore  Cooper,  in  com- 
pany with  Commodore  Shubrick,  visited  the 
University  for  the  same  purpose.  F'or  Morse's 
sjilendid  testimony  as  to  Alfred  Vail  see  Prime, 
p.  312  sqq.  Morse's  letter  to  Secretary  of 
tiie  Treasury  Le\i  Woodbiuy  at  Washington 
was  dated  "  New  York  City  University,  Sep- 
tember 27,  1837."      The  noted  disj)atch, 

"  Attention,  tlie  Universe  I  " 

"  liy  Kingdoms,  Right  Wlieell" 

was  sent  in  a  public  test  made  in  the  Univer- 
sity on  January  24,  1838.  We  hope  some  day 
to  see  a  commemorative  bu.st,  or  a  painting  of 
Morse  working  in  his  studio,  in  Washington 
Square,  adorning  the  Museum  of  the  Hall 
of  h'ame  at  University  Heights.  Morse  and 
\'ail  belong  to  America  and  the  world  :  in 
a  special  .sense  they  belong  to  New  York 
University. 

The  .strongest  drift  of  that  first  era  was 
towards  the  study  of  Divinity  and  the  clerical 
]>rofession  :  nearly  one-half  of  the  A.B.'s  to 
1839  followed  that  course.'  William  R.  Gordon, 
'34,  who  then  studied  Divinity  at  New  Bruns- 
wick, wielded  an  acti\e  pen,  particularly  as  a 
controversialist  in  dealing  with  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church,  with  Sj)irituali.sm  and  with 
Secession  ;   other  writings  were  expository  of 

1  Note.  —  In  glancing  at  the  Ahnnni  of  the  first  admin- 
istration we  e.\press  our  great  obligation  to  the  gentlemen 
who  prepared  the  Biographical  Catalogue  of  1894:  John  M. 
Reid  '39,  Amasa  S.  Freeman  '43,  Wm.  C.  Ulyat  '46,  Wilson 
I'hraner  '47,  Robert  Lowry  '50,  George  1).  Baker  '60,  John 
J.  Stevenson  '63,  Israel  C.  Pierson  '65,  Theodore  F.  Bum- 
ham  '7i>  Charles  R.  Gillett  '74,  Albert  W.  Ferris  '78, 
Charles  S.  Benedict  '80,  Cephas  Brainard  Jr.  "Si,  James 
Abbott  '83,  of  whom  several  have  passed  away  since  that 
memorable  year  '94. 


iiiyroio'  OF  NEi-v  roKK  unii-  eksitt 


83 


l)()int.s  of  creed.  In  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church  Jedediah  V.  1  Iiintinj^ton,  '35,  was 
active,  becoming  also  an  lulitor  of  the  Metro- 
politan of  Baltimore  and  of  the  Leader  of 
St.  Louis. 

Arthur  Clevekmd  Co.\e,  one  of  the  most 
noted  divines  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Churcli  in  America,  A.B.  '38,  ultimately  ('65) 
became  Bishop  of  Western  New  York,  (^f 
his  theoloi^ical  \vritin,<;s  and  editorial  labors, 
such  as  the  edition  of  the  Ante-N'icene  h'athers, 
or  his  noted  appeal  ('69)  for  an  Ecumenical 
Council,  we  cannot  si^eak  here.  Some  of  his 
hymn.s,  strong  with  the  .strenj^th  of  spiritual 
earnestness  and  Chri.stian  truth,  are  found  in 
many  hymnals:  as  this  one,  written  in  1839, 
when  he  was  only  twenty-one,  and  prefij^uring 
his  course  —  a  noble  hymn,  kin  to  a  mai's/oso 
on  a  fine  organ  : 

"  Oh,  where  are  kings  and  empires  now, 

Of  old  that  went  and  came  .' 
But,  Lord,  thy  church  is  praying  yet, 

A  thousand  years  the  same. 
We  mark  her  goodly  battlements, 

And  her  foundations  strong; 
We  hear  within  the  solemn  voice 

Of  her  unending  song." 

Alfred  Augustine  Watson,  '37,  was  conse- 
crated Protestant  P!piscopal  Bishop  of  North 
Carolina  in  1884.  Edward  Hopper,  '39  (d.  '88), 
while  Pastor  of  the  Market  Street  Pre-sbyterian 
Church  in  New  York  City,  in  1871,  wrote  the 
admirable  hymn  : 

"  Jesus,  Saviour,  pilot  me 
Over  life's  tempestuous  sea; 
Unknown  waves  before  me  roll. 
Hiding  rock  and  treacherous  shoal ; 
Chart  and  compass  come  from  thee, 
Jesus,  Saviour,  pilot  me." 

Of  the  same  Class  of  1839  was  the  Rev.  Wil- 
liam Weston  Patton,  whose  book  on  I'ra)er 
was  issued  in  twenty  editions  in  the  ten  years 
from  1 875-1 885,  and  who,  after  having  edited 
the  i\dvance,  at  last  became  President  of 
Howard  University  at  Washington,  1877- 1889. 
The  Rev.  John  Morrison  Reid,  of  the  .same 
cla.ss,  having  been  active  in  the  service  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  became  President 


of  Genesee  College  (later  the  Syracuse  Uni- 
versity) 1 859-1 864,  and  subsequently  editor  of 
important  i)eri()dical  publications  of  his  Church, 
such  as  the  Western  Christian  Adxocate,  and 
the  Northwestern  Christian  Advocate. 

After  the  theologians  come  the  lawyers  — 
but  somewhat  less  in  number  tiiaii  one-half  of 
the  former,  the  most  noted  one  perhaj)s  of  these 
years  being  John  Taylor  Johnston,  '39.  He 
studied  law  at  Yale,  '39-'4i,  and  also  with  the 
eminent  jurist  Daniel  Lord.  Later  he  became 
a  railroad  president,  as  well  as  a  patron  of  art, 
viz..  President  of  the  Metropolitan  Museum  of 
Art.  Of  his  services  as  a  member  and  as 
President  of  the  Council,  and  of  his  benefac- 
tions, we  will  have  to  sjjcak  in  the  recital  of 
later  administrations.  Other  avocations  were 
less  marked  among  the  earlier  alumni,  such  as 
the  medical  profession,  in  wliich  Dr.  James 
Joseph  Acheson,  '33,  may  be  mentioned.  A 
few  teachers:  R.  H.  Bull,  '39,  taught  Civil 
Engineering  in  the  University  from  1853  to 
1885.  A  few  were  occupied  in  commerce  or 
public  life;  R.  R.  Crosby,  '34,  and  Clarkson 
Moyd  Crosby,  '35,  were  both  older  brothers  of 
Howard  Crosby. 

Of  purely  literary  men  two  are  noteworthy  : 
Cornelius  Mathews  of  '34,  and  Richard  Crant 
W'hite.  The  former  was  accorded  a  place  in 
R.  W.  Griswold's  "Prose  Writers  of  America," 
2d  ed.,  1847,  P-  542.  At  twenty  he  began  to 
contribute  to  the  Knickerbocker  and  to  the 
American  Monthly  magazines.  His  monthly, 
the  Arcturus,  lasted  for  a  year  and  a  half.  His 
strivings  for  a  distinctive  Americanism  in 
letters  and  culture  were  largely  based  on  fac- 
titious and  fanciful  notions.  Of  more  lasting 
fame  and  merit  is  the  name  of  Richard  Grant 
White,  '39.  His  work  in  the  domain  of  literary 
criticism  is  certain  of  an  extended  and  honor- 
able life.  His  edition  of  Shakespeare,  in 
twelve  volumes,  jiublished  by  Little,  lirown  & 
Company  of  Boston,  and  his  Words  and  their 
U^ses  (a  keen  study  in  purism  of  I£nglish),  are 
probably  his  most  noted  achievements.  His 
vigorous  and  incisive  pen  marks  him  a  master 
of  English  Prose. 


84 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR   SONS 


(95)  The  "Minute  Book  of  the  Philomathean 
Society  of  the  University  of  the  City  of  New 
York"  shows  that  this  Hterary  society  was 
founded  on  October  29,  1832,  in  the  very 
month  in  which  instruction  began,  and  that 
the  original  members,  of  whom  but  few  gradu- 
ated, were  these:  Fenelon  Hasbrouck,  '35, 
William  Edgar  Allen,  Joseph  G.  Gilbert,  Sam- 
uel A.  Hammett,  Edward  L.  Heyward,  Isaac 
P.  Martin,  \Vm.  H.  Neilson,  A.  Kintzing  Post, 
John  Ring,  '2,6,  Henry  Thomas,  James  H. 
Van  Alen,  Marcus  W.  Weed,  '36.  The  meet- 
ings for  some  time  were  held  in  the  lecture- 
room  of  Dr.  Mathews's  church  in  "Garden 
Street "  (Exchange  Place).  Some  problems 
of  their  first  winter  were  such  as  these : 
"  Ought  Honor  or  Wealth  to  be  most  sought 
after  by  Man  ?  "  "  Is  Andrew  Jackson  or 
Henry  Clay  most  fit  for  the  office  of  President 
of  the  United  States"  (Nov.  15,  1832).?  "Is 
the  fear  of  punishment  cr  the  expectation  of 
reward  the  greater  incentive  to  industry  ? " 
On  January  28,  1833,  they  decided  that  "we 
are  indebted  to  Education  more  than  Nature 
for  our  Character  and  Talents."  Agreeably 
to  the  swiftly-veering  mood  of  diilcis  iuvcntas 
the  members  swung  easily  from  grave  to  gay. 
At  one  time  they  proposed  this  problem  : 
"  Were  the  English  justifiable  in  sending  Na- 
poleon Bonaparte  to  the  Island  of  St.  Helena  ?" 
The  very  next  subject  was  this  (February  5, 
1833)  :  "When  a  pig  is  led  to  market,  with  a 
rope  tied  about  its  neck,  the  other  end  of 
which  is  held  by  a  man,  is  the  pig  led  by  the 
rope  or  by  the  man  ? "  which  Aristotle  would 
have  put  in  the  category  of  the  Sophistical 
Elcnchi.  Very  seriously  they  essayed  this 
topic  (March  25,  1833)  :  "Are  all  minds  origi- 
nally equal  .■'  "  which  however  on  May  3  they 
"dropped."  On  June  7,  1833,  it  was  voted  that 
members  '.'wear  a  badge  on  all  public  occa- 
sions." On  June  22,  Mr.  L.'s  charges  of  S5.00 
for  gaslight  and  attendance  at  eight  meetings 
were  declared  exorbitant.  They  also  deter- 
mined after  three  debates  on  June  29,  1833, 
that  Brutus  ivas  "justifiable  in  killing  Caesar." 
In  the  first  meeting  of  July  6,  1833,  Christo- 


pher Evangeles  (a  Greek)  was  elected  Presi- 
dent, the  society  reassembling  on  October  9, 
1833.  On  October  14  Professors  Hackley, 
Norton,  Cleveland,  Patton  and  Gale  were 
elected  honorary  members.  The  topic  for 
debate  of  that  meeting  strongly  brings  before 
us  the  political  question  which  finally  was  set- 
tled in  the  Civil  W'ar  :  "  Which  is  likely  to  do 
most  good,  the  Colonization  or  Abolition 
Society  ?  "  The  Colonization  Society  won  in 
the  next  meeting.  They  also  put  forward  for 
debate  (October  19,  '33)  "Whether  the  study 
of  the  dead  languages  is  of  use,  or  not,  to 
those  who  do  not  intend  to  be  professional 
persons."  This  was  very  generously  decided 
in  the  affirmative.  The  poems  of  N.  P.  W'illis 
(of  the  Mirror)  were  much  declaimed  by  young 
people  at  the  time. 

On  December  12,  1833,  the  meetings  \vere 
transferred  to  Professor  Tappan's  room,  from 
the  lecture-room  of  the  Chancellor's  church. 
Their  topics  on  the  whole  remained  very 
grave :  e.  g.  "  whether  Intemperance  or  the 
Slave-Trade  had  proved  more  injurious  to  the 
human  race."  After  discussing  the  advantage 
to  women  of  a  "polished  education"  versus 
"  domestic  acquirements,"  they  despaired  of 
settling  it,  and  turned  to  the  question  (January 
24,  1834)  "  Would  the  immediate  emancipation 
of  slaves  in  the  United  States  be  justifiable .''  " 
— -  decided  in  the  negative.  On  P'riday,  Jan- 
uary  31,  1834,  I-^enelon   Hasbrouck  j^resented 

a    Greek    motto,    "  toTs    AiKaibis     KoX/^Kna    rjSeTai,, 

which  the  Society  incontinently  adopted.     He 

probably  meant  :  "  roh  SiKatois  ra  KoXUvra  avhavu," 
or    "01    StKuioi    Tois   KaAAioTOis    rjhovTai.         On    the 

same  date  Hon.  B.  ¥.  Butler  of  Washington, 
Attorney-General,  United  States  Senator 
Theodore  Frelinghuysen  of  New  Jersey  and 
the  Hon.  Edward  Everett  were  "offered" 
as  honorary  members.  On  February  7,  the 
by-laws  had  reached  —  thirty-eight  articles. 
On  March  21,  communications  were  received 
from  Hon.  G.  C.  Verplanck  and  Hon.  Pklward 
Everett  accepting  the  honorary  membership 
offered  by  the  Society.  Official  as  well  as 
unofficial    contact  with    Eucleian    was    almost 


IIISTOR]-    OF    NEir    I'ORK    L' M IKKSl'll 


H5 


unifi)nnl\-  inoductivc  of  tiffs  and  frictiDii. 
By  resolution  of  April  iS,  Professor  Cabrera 
was  to  be  i;iven  a  medal  of  the  Society  upon 
his  return  to  Spain.  On  April  19,  Daniel 
Webster  was  elected  honorary  member;  and 
this  very  serious  question  was  proposed  for 
debate  ;  "  Is  political  ambition  consistent  with 
moral  intei^rity  ? "  On  Ai)ril  25,  the  theme 
clearly  was  that  of  political  secession,  due 
perhaps  to  events  of  recent  years  concerning 
South  Carolina  and 
nullification.  On  May 
17,  "a  letter  from  the 
Hon.  D.  W^ebster  was 
read  and  accepted." 
On  Friday,  June  13, 
the  Society  was  so 
evenly  divided  on  the 
question,  "  Is  Pleas- 
ure or  Industry  more 
conducive  to  happi- 
ness .■* "  that  the  Presi- 
dent had  to  decide: 
and  he,  like  the  youth- 
ful Hercules  at  the 
parting  of  the  ways, 
chose  Industry.  On 
June  20  letters  were 
received  from  the 
Hon.  B.  F.  Butler  and 
Hon.  E.  Everett. 

On  April  10,  1835, 
it  was  resolved  "that 
the  Philomathean"  be 
read  :  evidently  a  ven- 
ture in  publication.  No  copy  is  ]Dreserved  in 
the  University  Library  at  this  writing.  On 
May  I  they  requested  the  Hon.  John  Ouincy 
Adams  to  become  their  Orator  at  Commence- 
ment of  1835.  On  June  26  the  Eucleian  and 
Philomathean  had  a  joint  session  on  account  of 
coming  Commencement,  and  tickets  were  gi\en 
out.  The  name  of  A.  C.  Co.\  was  entered 
for  admission  No.  90,  on  date  December  23, 
1836:  the  e  at  the  end  being  added  by  a 
later  hand  and  in  different  ink.  But  these 
details  may  suffice    to  illustrate   the    life   and 


tho     interests     of     the     I'iiiloniathean     in     the 
earliest   days. 


BENJ.4MIN 


In  the  )car  l(S35  the  Hon.  B.  1-".  Butler  ])ub- 
lished  his  "  Plan  for  the  organization  of  a  Law 
Faculty,"  and  for  "a  .system  of  instruction  in 
Legal  Science  in  the  University  of  the  City 
of  New  York,  ])iepared  at  the  request  of 
the  Council."  Mr.  Butler  was  at  the  time 
Attorney-General  in  the  Cabinet  of  Andrew  Jack- 
son, having  in  1833 
succeeded  to  the  Hon. 
Roger  B.  Taney. 
]5orn  in  Kinderhook, 
New  York,  in  1795, 
his  abilities  when  he 
was  only  a  boy  had 
attracted  the  atten- 
tion of  his  townsman 
Martin  Van  Buren, 
in  whose  ofifice  he 
studied  law.  Accom- 
panying Van  Buren 
to  Albany  he  had 
been  admitted  to  the 
Bar  in  1817.  Within 
sixteen  years,  at 
thirty-eight,  he  took 
his  seat  as  Attorney- 
General  at  Washing- 
ton. 

His    "  Plan  "    pro- 
\ided  for  at  least  three 
Professors  and   three 
'■  ^''■•''^^  years   of  stud)-.      He 

intimates  that  ordinarily  the  grade  of  attorney 
and  solicitor  was  reached  at  twenty-one,  and 
this  entirely  through  service  in  the  ofifice  of 
a  lawyer  ;  the  higher  degree  of  counsel  being 
attained  three  years  later.  This  course  of  three 
years  was  to  be  grafted,  somehow,  upon  the 
practice  of  clerkship.  The  courts  had  then  (p. 
I  3)  as  a  general  rule  required  that  the  whole 
term  of  clerkship  should  be  spent  in  the  office 
of  a  practicing  attorney  and  solicitor  and  under 
his  direction  ;  for  study  in  a  law  school  (but) 
one  year  was  usually  allowed —  i.  e.  the  obliga- 


86 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


tion  of  clerkship  was  in  that  case  reduced  by 
a  single  year.  Most  law  schools  had  been 
priv'ate,  conducted  by  a  single  lawyer,  often  in 
small  country  towns.  The  Attorney-General 
distinctly  intimated  that,  at  that  time,  in  an 
alternative  of  abandoning  law  school  or  office 
work,  the  aspirant  for  the  profession  would 
cling  to  the  latter.  Mr.  Butler  proposed  for 
the  initial  or  "  Primary "  department  :  Prac- 
tice and'  Pleading,  Organization  and  Jurisdic- 
tiorrof  Courts,  modes  of  proceeding  in  Common 
Law,  in  Equity,  Admiralty,  and  in  Criminal 
cases.  For  the  second  or  '■'■Junior"  depart- 
ment he  set  down  the  Law  of  the  Domestic 
Relations,  the  Law  of  Personal  Property  in- 
cluding Commercial  and  Maritime  Law,  being 
matter  particularly  contained  in  the  second 
and  third  volumes  of  Kent's  Commentaries, 
which  Mr.  Butler  cited.  For  the  third  or 
Senior  Department  he  allotted  the  Law  of 
Real  Propert)-,  of  Corporations  and  of  Lquity. 
Besides  this,  all  three  groups  were  to  be  jointly 
instructed  in  what  Mr.  Butler  called  the  Paral- 
lel or  General  Course,  in  which  the  philosoph- 
ical and  historical  aspects  of  Law  were  to  be 
brought  forward,  such  as  Law  of  Nature,  His- 
tory of  American  Jurisprudence,  Constitutional 
Law,  Literpretation  of  Statutes,  Roman  Law 
and  the  like.  The  detailed  and  specific  way 
in  which  Mr.  Ikitler  had  elaborated  the  mode 
of  instruction  points  strongly  to  the  probability 
that  he  looked  forward  to  this  academic  work 
with  a  definite  and  clear  purpose  and  with  real 
pleasure. 

In  the  year  1838  the  new  Law  Department 
was  in  active  operation.  Mr.  Butler  was  Prin- 
cipal of  the  Faculty,  and  associated  with  him 
were  William  Kent  and  David  Graham,  Jr. 
Mr.  Butler  was  "  Professor  of  General  Law 
and  of  the  Law  of  Real  Property  "  ;  Mr.  Kent, 
of  the  "  Law  of  Persons  and  of  Personal 
Property " ;  Mr.  Graham,  of  the  "  Law  of 
Pleading  and  Practice."  The  Inaugural  Ad- 
dresses of  all  three  have  been  preserved  by 
publication  (1838,  New  York).  All  three 
exhibit  that  absence  of  technical  character  and 
that  elaboration  of  graceful  diction  and  particu- 


lar attention  to  literary  merit  so  characteristic 
of  the  era  preceding  the  general  establishment 
of  professional  schools.  Clearly  there  was  not 
as  yet  any  tradition  of  law  schools  ;  the  public 
first  had  to  be  attracted  and  won  over.  The 
earlier  lectures  of  John  W.  Draper  before  the 
young  medical  school  exhibit  the  same  elabo- 
ration of  literary  graces,  and  the  distinct  and 
conscious  effort  to  entertain  and  incidentally 
to  instruct. 

An  able  and  competent  observer  of  that  time 
who  was  quite  close  to  the  new  enterprise,  or 
closely  connected  with  the  authorities  of  the 
young  and  struggling  University,  assigns  sev- 
eral reasons  in  explanation  of  the  fact  that  this 
beginning  of  1838  was  so  shortlived.  In  the 
first  place,  the  troubles  of  the  summer  of  1838, 
the  convulsion  involved  in  the  bitter  contest 
between  the  Chancellor  and  the  seven  Profes- 
sors, reacted  on  the  Law  Department  as  well 
as  on  the  rest  of  the  institution.  Professor 
Graham  resigned  sot)n  afterwards,  and  the 
number  of  l^w  students  did  not  exceed  fif- 
teen or  twenty.  Mr.  Butler  was  appointed  a 
United  States  Di.strict-Attorney  by  President 
Van  Buren,  and  Mr.  Kent  became  a  Circuit 
Judge.  Besides  it  was  intimated  that  the 
adherents  of  the  con.stitutional  interpretation 
of  Marshall  and  Story  would  not  be  friendly 
to  a  juri.st  who  was  identified  with  the  admin- 
istrative i)olicy  of  Jackson  and  Van  Buren. 

To  all  this  perhaps  may  be  added  the  fact  that 
the  habit  of  what  may  fairly  be  called  appren- 
ticeship of  the  future  lawyer  through  clerkship 
in  law  offices  was  too  deeply  settled  in  that  era 
to  have  the  youths,  so  much  younger  and  less 
mature  than  the  law  students  of  the  present 
time,  incline  to  swerve  from  the  line  of  train- 
ing of  their  own  principals,  and  to  serve  two 
masters.  Even  in  the  Universities  of  England 
law  instruction  was  then  of  very  recent  origin, 
and  the  I^w  Schools  of  Harvard  and  Yale 
{Annals  of  Yale  College  from  its  foundation 
to  the  year  1831,  by  Ebenezer  Baldwin,  New 
Haven,  2d  edition,  1838,  p.  172)  were  in  their 
infancy,  enrolling  but  a  scanty  number  of 
pupils.   (Harvard  had  24  in  1829-30.)  Splendid 


l/IXTORr  OF  NEW   YORK    UNiyERSI'lT 


87 


as  had  liccn  the  services  to  American  jurispru- 
dence of  Chancellor  Kent,  the  Law  School  of 
Colunihia  had  maintained  hut  a  languishing- 
and   limited  existence. 


Of  the  {'"acuity  Minutes  of  these  earlii-r 
years  not  much  is  to  he  said.  The  incessant 
iterations  of  having'  names  entered  in  the 
"  Discipline  Hook,"  disorder  in  halls,  in  Chapel, 
in  Readini;"  Room,  remind  us  that  the  students 
of  that  time,  avera,t;in,i;-  from  fourteen  or  fifteen 
to  eighteen  and  nineteen  years  of  at(e,  were 
mainly  youths,  rather  than  younj^  men.  The 
actual  entrance  into  the  fine  structure  on 
\Vashinii:ton  Square  seems  to  have  had  some 
beneficent  influence  upon  the  prestige  of  the 
young  College.      In  the  semi-annual  examina- 


tions of  I'Y'hruary  1837,  forty-six  .Sojihomores 
were  named  and  fifty-eight  h'reshmen,  of  whom 
some  thirteen  were  non-Latin.  'Jhe  Minute.s 
also  exhibited  the  following  facts  concerning 
Samuel  Jones  'I'ilden  : 

In  the  final  ])eriod  of  the  College  year, 
June -July  i<S35,  iildrn  was  a  member  of  the 
Sophomore  Class  in  Latin,  but  he  is  specifically 
reported  as  absent  from  the  examination.  The 
Minutes  of  l^'ebruary  25,  1S37,  however,  show 
that  Mr.  Tilden's  examination  in  Latin  and 
(ireek  with  the  Seniors  was  "sustained,"  i.e., 
he  jiassed  ;  but  he  was  absent  from  the  exami- 
nation of  the  Juniors  in  (ireek.  ]'l\idently  he 
had,  after  awhile,  confined  his  .studies  to  the 
Clas.sics,  and  was,  in  effect,  a  special  student 
of  Greek  and  Latin.  e.   g.  .s. 


CHAPTER    IV 

Ch.vncellok  Fkelinc;huvsen  and  the  Earlier   History  of  the 
University  Medical  School 


BEFORE  Chancellor  Mathews  formally 
resigned,  his  successor  had  been 
cho.sen  in  deliberations  of  the  Council 
in  which  Dr.  Mathews  took  a  part.  And  it 
was  determined  to  choose  a  man  who  was  to 
have  no  other  or  additional  function  or  sphere 
of  duty  or  service.  "The  pa.stor  of  a  church," 
says  Dr.  Mathews  in  his  retrospect  published 
twenty-si.x  years  later  (p.  257),  "  especially  in  a 
city,  has  enough  on  his  hands  ;  "  .  .  .  Should 
he  persist  in  bearing  the  responsibilities,  "self- 
preservation  may  at  length  constrain  him  to 
relinquish   both." 

The  second  Chancellor  was  the  Hon.  Theo- 
dore Frelinghuysen  of  New  Jersey.  He  was 
chosen  because  it  was  desired  to  place  at 
the  head  of  the  in.stitution  a  man  of  a  charac- 
ter so  eminent  in  consistency  of  Christian 
Nartues,  combined  with  wide  and  honorable 
experience  in  public  career,  as  to  endow  the 
struggling  College  with  a  prestige  derivable 
from  no  other  source.  The  late  Rev.  Dr. 
Talbot   W.    Chambers  (d.    1896)  published  in 


1863  (Harpers)  a  valuable  biography  of  our 
.second  Chancellor,  from  which  alumni  and 
other  friends  of  New  York  University  may 
glean  a  fuller  and  strf)nger  view  of  the  life 
and  character  of  Theodore  Frelinghuysen  than 
can  be  given  in  my  limited  space. 

At  the  time  he  was  chosen  his  name  was 
familiar  to  all  Americans,  and  he  bore  the  title, 
honorable,  becau.se  unsought,  of  "the  Christian 
Statesman."  He  was  born  March  28,  1787, 
at  Millstone,  Somerset  county,  New  Jersey. 
His  father,  General  Frederick  Frelinghuy.sen, 
was  descended  from  Dutch  ancestors  who  had 
emigrated  from  Westfriesland  in  Holland  in 
the  latter  part  of  the  seventeenth  century. 
General  Frelinghu)'sen  had  acquired  renown 
for  active  and  important  military  service  in  the 
war  of  the  Thirteen  Colonies  against  Great 
Britain,  and  had  subsequently,  in  the  last 
decade  of  the  eighteenth  centur)-,  held  a  .seat 
in  the  United  States  Senate.  Theodore,  whose 
entrance  upon  a  liberal  education  was  due  to 
the   resolute    initiative    of  a   wise   stepmother, 


88 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR   SONS 


graduated  at  Princeton,  1804,  seventeen  years 
of  age,  studied  law,  and  was  in  1 8 1 7  aj^pointed 
Attorney-General  of  New  Jersey,  by  a  Legisla- 
ture the  majority  of  which  was  opposed  to  him 
in  political  belief. 

From  1829  to  1835  he  sat  in  the  United 
States  Senate,  a  consistent  defender  of  the 
Whig  policies  represented  and  advocated  b)" 
Henry  Clay.  The 
year  1830  brought 
him  a  renown  arising 
from  his  advocacy  of 
measures  which 
either  involved  an  ap- 
peal to  the  conscience 
of  higher  political 
morality,  or  expressed 
the  desire  of  the  vast 
majority  of  Christian 
people  in  the  country. 
By  the  appeal  to  tlie 
conscience  of  higher 
political  morality,  I 
mean  his  opposition 
to  the  remov^al  of  the 
Cherokee  I  n  d  i  a  n  s, 
without  their  consent, 
from  Georgia  to  dis- 
tricts west  of  the 
Mississippi,  a  matter 
moreover  which  in- 
volved the  pretence  of 
the  state-sovereignty 
of  Georgia  as  over 
against  the  authority 
of  the  general  govern- 
ment and  the  para- 
mount treaty  obliga- 
tions of  the  United  States.  Though  he  failed 
of  attaining  practical  success  in  this  debate,  his 
speech  was  reprinted  with  others  of  kindred 
policy,  such  as  that  of  Hon.  PZdward  Everett, 
then  a  member  of  the  House,  and  widely 
read  ("  Speeches  on  the  Passage  of  the  Bill 
for  the  Removal  of  the  Indians,  delivered  in 
the  Congress  of  the  United  States.  April  and 
May   1830."     Boston,    published    by    Perkins, 


THKODOKE     KKELINCJHL'VSKN 


etc.).  I  will  quote  a  single  passage  which  is 
fairly  characteristic  of  the  oration  (p.  320, 
Register  of  Debates  in  Congress,  vol.  \T, 
part  I,  1 8  29- 1 8 30)  Washington,  Gales,  Seaton, 
1830):  "Let  it  be  called  a  'sickly  humanity  ' 
—  e\ery  freeman  in  the  land  that  has  one 
spark  of  the  spirit  of  his  fathers  will  feel  and 
denounce  it   to  be  an   unparalleled   stretch  of 

cruel  injustice.  And 
if  the  deed  be  done, 
sir,  how  it  is  regarded 
in  heaven  will  sooner 
or  later  be  known  on 
earth,  for  this  is  the 
judgment  place  of 
public  sins."  The 
sneers  of  opposing 
politicians  may  be 
found  exemplified  by 
Thomas  Benton  in 
his  "Thirty  Years' 
View,"  1855,  Apple- 
ton,  New  York,  vol. 
I,  p.  166,  where  he 
.speaks  of  "the  politi- 
cal and  pseudo-philan- 
thropic  intermed- 
dlers." 

In  the  same  year, 
1830,  May  8,  the  Sen- 
ator from  New  Jersey 
sjwke  in  support  of  a 
bill  of  his  (submitted 
on  March  10)  "to  in- 
struct the  Committee 
on  the  Post  Office 
and  Post  Roads  to 
report  a  bill  repealing 
so  much  of  the  Act  on  the  regulation  of 
post  offices  as  requires  the  delivery  of  letters, 
packets  and  papers  on  the  Sabbath,  and 
further  to  prohibit  the  transportation  of  mail 
on  that  day."  In  1832,  when  the  cholera  was 
approaching,  he  supported  a  resolution  proposed 
by  Clay  recommending  to  the  nation  a  day  of 
public  fasting  —  which  resolution  failed  in  the 
House. 


lllsrORr   OF  NEW   YORK    UNIVERSITT 


89 


After  his  death  luhvanl  Kverett  thus  spoke 
(»!'  Iiiin  (Chambers'  Hioi^raphy,  p.  83)  :  "There 
was  a  classical  finisli  and  a  certain  sedate 
fervor,  if  I  may  so  call  it,  in  his  lan<(ua<ie  which 
commanded  the  attention  of  his  audience 
to  a  de,i;ree  seldom  surpassed.  As  he  spoke 
hut  rarely  he  was  always  listened  to  with 
deference  and  soon  took  rank  with  the  fore- 
most members  of  the  body,  at  a  time  when  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States  contained  some  of 
the  bri<;htest  names  in  oiu"  political  history." 
The  "Great  Quaker  Case,"  trictl  at  Trenton, 
July-Au<(ust  1833,  in  the  stru.i;<;le  between 
the  Conservative  older  body  of  the  Society  of 
Friends  and  the  seceding  Ilicksites  as  to  title 
in  churcli  property,  had  presented  Mr.  Freling- 
huysen  as  standing  in  the  very  forefront  of 
the  Jersey  Har.  Moreover,  after  his  retirement 
from  the  Senate  (1835),  Newark,  but  recently 
incorporated  as  a  city,  twice  elected  him 
Mayor. 

But  he  was  now  fifty-two  years  of  age,  and 
his  nerves  were  weary  of  the  strife  and  con- 
tention of  forensic  debate  ;  he  felt  a  longing 
for  a  sphere  where  a  benign  influence  might 
be  exerted  by  him  in  an  environment  s}m- 
pathetic  and  peaceful,  amid  academic,  literar}- 
and  religious  as.sociations  such  as  were  most 
dear  to  his  innermost  heart  and  soul.  His 
piety  was  sincere,  consistent  and  profound,  and 
his  biographer  in  1863  aptly  ended  his  recital 
of  Theodore  I'relinghuysen's  life  (p.  263)  with 
the  scriptural  farewell  :  "  Mark  the  perfect 
man  and  behold  the  upright,  for  the  end  of 
that  man  is  peace." 

Chancellor  Frelinghu\sen  was  inaugurated 
on  Wednesday,  June  5,  1839.  in  the  Chapel 
of  the  University.  The  introductory  prayer 
was  spoken  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Phillips  of  the 
Wall  Street  Church.  "  After  which  followed  a 
sacred  ode,  by  a  well-practiced  choir  led  by  Mr. 
Hastings,  and  accompanied  by  the  full,  rich 
notes  of  a  well-trained  organ"  (New  York 
Commercial,  Friday  Evening,  June  17,  1839). 
The  President  of  the  Council,  the  Hon.  James 
Tallmadge.  in  his  address  referred  to  "the 
common    and  unparalleled   embarrassments  of 


1835,  1836  and  1837 — the  great  fire  and 
the  commercial  revulsions."  As  for  the  Uni- 
versity, she  had  fully  shared  in  tliese  di.sa.sters, 
but  now  the  "  friends  of  learning  and  of 
religion  had  effectually  rallied  to  her  aid."  He 
called  the  Washington  Square  building  "the 
first  building  on  the  continent  for  the  i)urposes 
of  education,"  and  designated  the  new  Chan- 
cellor as  "a  man  uniting  the  suffrages  of  all 
parties."  As  to  the  actual  resources  of  the 
University,  the  removal  of  "pecuniary  embar- 
rassments." i.  e.  the  debt,  was  a  matter  of 
the  future  ;  this  accomi:)lished,  what  would  be 
the  re.soiu'ces  for  the  current  sujjjjort  .'  I,  The 
use  of  its  building  ;  2,  its  furniture,  apparatus, 
library  ;  3,  endowment  (Chair  of  FLvidences  of 
Revealed  Religion);  4,  fees  of  tuition  ;  5,  the 
State-bounty  (of  $6,000  per  annum),  and  6, 
above  all,  the  goodwill  of  its  friends."  (The 
figures  have  been  inserted  by  the  present 
writer.)  As  to  the  faithful  friends  of  the 
University  who  had  not  forsaken  it  in  the  dark 
hours  of  1835-1838,  Mr.  Tallmadge  .said  :  "At 
a  later  period  in  the  history  of  our  institution 
they  will  be  remembered  along  with  those 
ancient  patriots  who  in  times  of  peril  never 
despaired  of  the  republic,  or  i')erhaps  with 
those  who  pledged  to  their  great  undertaking 
their  fortunes  and  their  .sacred  honor." 

A  copy  of  charter  and  by-laws  was  solemnl\- 
delivered  to  the  new  Chancellor.  The  latter's 
inaugural  address  reveals  all  the  characteristics 
of  which  we  have  spoken,  above  all  that  moral 
earnestness  knit  together  with  a  deep  religious 
faith.  "  Philosophy  be.st  {promotes  her  true 
dignity  by  a  cherished  sympathy  with  the 
oracles  of  truth.  She  never  inflicted  .so  deep 
a  wound  upon  all  her  interests,  as  when  she 
strove  to  put  down  tlie  religion  of  the  Bible 
and  exalt  upon  its  ruins  the  cold  speculations 
of  infidelity.  The  experiment  was  made  in 
P"rance,  with  human  passion  and  power  to  aid 
in  tlie  trial  —  and  the  results  may  be  learned 
in  a  chapter  of  her  history,  among  the  darkest 
in  the  record  of  time." 

For  the  deeper  purpose  of  this  present  nar- 
rative (apart  from  ex-Senator  FVelinghuysen's 


go 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


urging  the  studying  of  the  American  Consti- 
tution as  expounded  by  Jay  and  Hamilton,  by 
Madison  and  Marshall),  there  is  a  passage  which 
a  student  of  the  history  of  American  education 
will  surely  welcome.  Frelinghuysen  distinctly 
states  that  the  chief  function  of  a  liberal  edu- 
cation is  not  to  furnish  superior  knowledge, 
to  find  avenues  to  turn  into  wealth  the  re- 
sources of  nature,  which  was  the  wearisome 
burden  of  many  of  the  louder  voices  of  that 
era,  but  that  the  chief  work  of  education  was 
the  training  of  the  intrinsic  powers  of  the  mind, 
and  to  bring  a  youth  to  a  true  and  sober  esti- 
mate of  his  real  powers  :  Frelinghu)'sen  nobly 
disdained  to  play  on  the  favorite  and  fashion- 
able chord  of  the  economic  advantages  or 
possibilities  of  education.  "  And  here  we  may 
find  the  appropriate  service  of  education.  As 
the  term  imports,  it  is  designed  to  lead  the 
mind  into  the  proper  use  of  its  powers  ;  to 
train  it  to  the  best  modes  of  thought  and 
reflection ;  to  teach  it  how  to  think  and  how 
to  learn.  Like  the  apprenticeship  of  the 
mechanic,  who  should  first  be  taught  the 
nature  and  use  of  his  tools,  so  the  .student 
must  first  learn  the  nature  of  the  faculties 
which  God  has  bestowed,  and  the  way  by 
which  he  is  to  bring  them  into  exercise. 
He  must  be  schooled  to  draw  upon  himself; 
to  task  his  own  strength  ;  to  feel  that  he 
has  a  i^ower  within  him  which  can  reason, 
combine,  compare  and  judge  ;  and  that 
under  heaven  it  rests  with  his  own  will 
whether  these  powers  shall  or  shall  not 
meet  their  exalted  destinies.  That  system  of 
education  deserves  the  first  jilace  which, 
as  much  as  may  be,  casts  the  youth  upon 
his  own  resources  and  constrains  him  to 
think  soberly  and  justly.  And.  moreover.  In' 
such  discipline  the  man  is  brought  to  better 
acquaintance  with  himself." 

In  the  year  i83cS-i<S39,  preceding  the  sec- 
ond Chancellor's  inauguration,  the  instruction 
in  Greek  was  in  the  hands  of  Tayler  Lewis, 
Latin  in  that  of  Ebenezer  A.  Johnson  ;  Benja- 
min F.  Joslin,  M.D.,  taught  Mathematics  and 
Natural    Philosophy  ;    Caleb   Sprague    Henry, 


Moral  and  Intellectual  Philosophy.  Dr.  Cyrus 
Mason  (Minutes  of  Faculty,  November  23, 
1838)  was  relieved  from  instruction,  "except 
in  the  Evidences  of  Revealed  Religion  and 
Rhetorick,  and  that  he  be  appointed,  with  his 
own  assent,  to  perform  the  duties  of  Librarian, 
Aedile,  and  Assistant  Treasurer."  Da  Ponte, 
who  occasionally  presided  in  Faculty,  was 
assigned  to  work  in  "  Belles-Lettres  :"  in  his 
case  it  meant  History.  Jolm  W.  Draper,  M.D., 
did  not  take  his  seat  in  the  Faculty  until  October 
1839.  On  April  30,  1839,  "^  recitations  were 
held,  in  order  that  all  might  attend  the  semi- 
centennial exercises  to  commemorate  Washing- 
ton's first  inauguration  ;  this  celebration  being 
held  under  the  auspices  of  the  New  York 
Historical  Society.  "  Quarterly  bills  "  report- 
ing on  conduct  and  study  were  regularly  sent 
to  parents  or  guardians.  The  outward  status 
of  the  College  immediately  before  Frelinghuy- 
sen's  inauguration  was  very  feeble,  the  mem- 
bers having  dwindled  away,  particularly  as  to 
the  class  that  entered  amid  the  convulsions  of 
1838,  September-October. 

But  good  and  strong  men  had  come  into  the 
place  of  those  who  retired  in  1838.  One  of 
these  was  the  Rev.  Dr.  Caleb  Sprague  Henry. 
Born  in  Massachu-setts  1804,  A.  B.  Dartmouth 
1825,  and  a  Divinity  student  at  Andover  and 
New  Haven,  he  ultimately  in  1835  took  orders 
in  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  and  a 
stanch  churchman  he  remained,  largely  iden- 
tified with  the  interests  of  his  church  as  an 
editorial  writer.  Even  before  joining  our 
L^niversity  as  Professor,  he  had  publi.shed 
an  ICnglish  version  of  Cousin's  Treatise  on 
Psychology,  which  work  .saw  four  editions  ;  he 
also  brought  out  Guizot's  History  of  Civiliza- 
tion, and  Bautain's  Epitome  of  the  History  of 
Philosophy.  His  character  and  range  of  con- 
victions are  fully  revealed  in  his  "  Dr.  Oldham 
at  Grey.stones  and  his  talks  there,"  i860  and 
later.  He  lived  for  awhile  after  retiring  from 
\Va.shington  Square  at  a  home  of  his  own  in 
the  Highlands  of  the  Hud.son.  His  "  style  is 
the  man  "  ;  jerky  but  forceful,  a  little  given  to 
surprises   of  quasi-paradox,    but    virile    withal. 


iiisTORr  OF  NEiy  roRK  UNiyERsrrr 


91 


lie  is  a  foe  to  evil,  aiul  clear-minded  in  his  con- 
ception of  national  ilan^ers.  'I'he  wide  lanj^e 
of  detailed  and  varieil  knowledge  revealed  by 
these  dialogues  is  confnmed  by  the  testimony 
of  his  pupils  of  Washington  Sc|uare.  He  stands 
as  a  goiKl  type  of  the  "accomplished  scholar" 
who  in  American  culture  i)receded  the  era  ot 
specialists  in  which  we  now  live,  llis  own 
clear-cut  statement  from  an  address  delivered 
before  the  literary  societies  of  the  University 
of  Vermont  in  1S37  is  full  of  historical  sig- 
nificance and  deserves  a  place  in  this  narrative 
(cf.  p.  5  ol  his  volume  of  Academic,  etc.,  Dis- 
courses.    Appleton,  1861)  : 

"  We  have  among  us  no  learned  order  of 
men.  1  use  the  expression  for  its  convenient 
brevity,  not  meaning  by  it  merely  those  who 
are  devoted  to  the  pursuits  of  learning  in  the 
strict  sense  of  the  word,  but  also  all  those 
who  give  their  lives  to  intellectual  enquiry  and 
production  in  any  of  the  higher  departments 
of  science  and  letters.  W^e  have  a  most 
respectable  body  of  educated  men,  some  of 
them  engaged  in  the  ajiplication  of  science 
tt)  the  arts  of  life,  but  most  of  them  are 
exercising  the  different  public  professions. 
Whether  or  not  they  are  all  adequately  appre- 
ciated and  rewarded,  still  we  have  such  a 
class  employed  in  working  with,  combining 
and  applying,  —  in  explaining,  communicating 
and  diffusing,  —  the  knowledge  already  pos- 
sessed. But  in  addition  to  these  we  want 
an  order  ui  men  devoted  to  original  enquiry 
and  production,  who  loithout  reference  to  the 
more  palpable  uses  of  knozvledge  shall  pursue 
truth  for  its  own  sake."  (Italics  our  own.) 
Religion  and  Letters  combined,  Henry  con- 
ceived to  be  the  effective  antidote  against 
the  excessive  love  of  money  or  the  evils  of 
political  strife.  His  American  edition  of  W.  C. 
Taylor's  Manual  of  Ancient  and  Modern  Hi.s- 
tory  (2d  ed.,  1845,  PP-  752-785),  gives  his 
own  sketch  of  American  History  to  1844. 
How  versatile  and  industrious  a  man  ! 

An  extraordinary  man  was  his  colleague 
Tayler  Lewis.  Born  in  1802,  in  Northeastern 
New  York,  he  graduated  at  Union   1820.    In 


his  class  was  William  Seward  of  Auburn,  whose 
name  is  writ  in  large  letters  m  the  Annals  u{ 
American  History.  Tayler  Lewis  studied  law 
but  never  practiced.  He  had  the  intense  l(A'e 
of  knowledge  and  the  penetration  and  perse- 
verance which  rest  content  with  nothing  shc^rl 
of  accjuisilion  at  first  haiul.  His  mastery  of 
Cireek  went  hand  in  hand  with  an  ab.s<;rbing 
study  of  Hebrew  and  other  Oriental  tongues 
which  served  a  profound  faith.  He  read  not  as 
a  schoolma.ster  who  sees  illustrations  of  syntax 
or  odtlities  of  usage  mainly,  but  as  urged  on  by 
a  soul  impelled  by  a  longing  for  eternal  truth  : 
with  a  keen  sense  for  those  elements  of  spiritual 
truth  which  one  of  the  Greek  l*"athers  has 
called  the  'toyos  o-irep/xaTiKos.  In  1833  Lewis 
opened  a  private  classical  school.  His  address 
in  1838  before  the  4>  B.  K.  of  Union  College  on 
"  Faith,  the  life  of  Science,"  attracted  wide  at- 
tention ;  it  was  noticed  by  Chancellor  Mathews; 
Hon.  S.  A.  Foot  of  Albany  and  Hon.  William 
Kent  of  New  York  championed  his  cause 
with  energy.  Thus  Tayler  Lewis  was  chosen 
Professor  of  Greek  in  New  York  University. 

Lewis's  own  sketch  of  Faculty  meetings 
under  Frelinghuysen  (Chambers's  biography  of 
Fr.,  p.  97  sqq)  :  "  Never  shall  I  forget  the 
beautiful  harmony  of  our  Faculty  meetings 
as  they  were  weekly  held  for  nearly  eleven 
years.  We  were  of  various  denominations 
in  religion.  There  was  Dr.  C.  S.  Henry,  a 
profound  thinker,  an  admirable  writer,  a  noble 
man  in  every  way,  but  a  churchman  of  tow^- 
ering  altitude,  even  as  his  eloquent  appeals 
now  place  him  in  the  front  rank  for  loyalty 
and  patriotism.  There  was  Professor  Johnson, 
a  man  of  the  most  precise  New  ICnglandism, 
but  whose  Latin  and  German  scholarship 
are  unsurpassed  in  our  country.  There  was 
Professor  Draper,  of  European  celebrity ; 
Nordheimer,  the  distinguished  Orientalist,  and 
an  Israelite  truly  in  whom  there  was  no 
guile.  There  were  Presbyterian,  P^piscopalian, 
Dutch  Reformed,  Unitarian,  Free -thinking 
(I  use  the  word  in  no  offensive  sense),  Old 
School  and  New  School  ;  but  in  our  weekly 
meetings  there  was  the  most  perfect  brother- 


92 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


hood  of  thought  and  action.  Mr.  Freling- 
huysen  presided  so  kindly,  so  genially,  that 
there  could  be  nothing  sectional  or  sectarian 
in  his  presence.  .  .  .  Mr.  Frelinghuysen  was 
fond  of  treating  things  in  a  familiar,  conver- 
sational manner,  though  no  one  could  be 
more  impressively  dignified  when  the  occasion 
demanded  it.  He  had  a  touch  of  humor,  quite 
a  fund  of  anecdote,  and  in  a  word  that  easy 
sociability,  such  a  well-known  trait  of  gentle- 
men of  the  Bar,  and  which  Mr.  Frelinghuysen 
brought  with  him  from  his  long  practice  in 
the  courts  of  New  Jersey.  All  this  was 
very  pleasant  but  still  not  in  exact  accord- 
ance with  my  high  expectations.  It  was  not 
the  commanding  character  imagination  had 
pictured.  I  would  not  retract  the  word  already 
used  ;  it  was  indeed  a  fault  in  this  great  man 
and  this  pure  Christian,  that  he  had  a  way 
of  so  con.stantly  deferring  to  others.  It  was 
carrying  to  excess  the  Apostolic  precept  :  'Let 
each  man  esteem  others  better  than  him- 
self.' There  were  times  when  he  would  rise 
and  we  saw  before  us  the  man  who  had 
commanded  the  United  States  Senate  ;  but 
he  was  not  now  with  politicians  and  corrupt 
party  schemers  and  amid  scenes  that  would 
arouse  the  eloquence  of  his  indignant  rebuke. 
Surrounded  by  a  small  company  of  literary  men 
and  teachers,  he  sat  in  our  midst  as  primus 
inter  pans,  or  rather  as  one  who  sought 
to  learn  from  others  rather  than  command, 
and  who  would  substitute  tlieir  professional 
knowledge  for  his  own  wide  and  catholic 
experience." 

The  author  of  this  retrospect  was  also  the 
most  eminent  scholar  in  Chancellor  I'Veling- 
huysen's  administration.  It  is  well  known  that 
Tayler  Lewis,  through  classical  scholarship, 
ultimately  passed  into  the  sphere  of  biblical 
erudition  —  this  mainly  during  his  later  period, 
his  sojourn  at  Union  College,  just  as  his  con- 
temporary Theodore  Woolsey  at  New  Haven 
passed  through  kindred  pursuits  co  eminence 
in  philosophical  jurisprudence  and  political  sci- 
ence. Tayler  Lewis's  Plato  contra  Atlicos 
(Harpers,  1845),  or  the  Tenth  Book  of  Plato's 


Laws,  stands  even  today  as  one  of  the  most 
noteworthy  productions  of  American  scholar- 
ship in  the  domain  of  Greek  studies.  It  is  not 
merely  the  sound  commentary  proper  which 
deserves  commendation,  but  the  remarkable 
appendix,  viz.,  the  series  of  seventy-five  chap- 
ters of  diverse  matter  added  by  way  of  excur- 
sus, dealing  with  details  of  the  text  or  suggested 
topics.  The  precision  and  range  of  Lewis's 
knowledge  of  the  spiritual  elements  in  Greek 
literature,  of  the  aspirations  after  God,  accep- 
tation or  rejection  of  a  Providence,  the  Ionic 
schools  of  materialism,  the  scepticism  or  agnos- 
tic suspiria  in  Euripides,  the  tenets  of  Plato 
and  those  of  Aristotle,  the  atomism  of  P^picurus 
and  Lucretiu.s,  all  pass  in  review  in  these  pages. 
Everywhere  Lewis's  statements  and  critical 
observations  impress  the  reader  with  their 
originality.  This  is  scholarship  not  comfort- 
ably gleaned  from  index  or  concordance  :  the 
scholar  and  critic  is  at  the  same  time  an  ardent 
parti.san  for  every  classic  utterance  that  has  a 
spiritual  direction,  or  is  a  manifestation  of 
that  feeling  after  God,  as  St.  Paul  (Acts  27, 
17,  \l/rif-a<i>ij(T(.i(xv)  called  it,  —  groping.  Tayler 
Lewis's  keen  antipathy  to  mechanical  and  ma- 
terial first  principles  as  adequate  explanations 
of  the  world-i)roblem  is  strong  and  profoiuid. 
The  spirit  of  these  treatises  reminds  us  not  a 
little  of  some  of  the  earlier  Greek  fathers.  We 
may  confidently  assert  that  neither  Woolsey 
at  Yale  nor  Felton  at  Harvard  attained  in  any 
kindred  publication  a  wider  range  of  classical 
vision  nor  equalled  the  element  of  personal 
earnestness  of  Tayler  Lewis. 

The  work  in  Latin  after  the  withdrawal  of 
the  Seven  in  1838,  was  undertaken  by  Eben- 
ezer  A.  John.son,  an  alumnus  of  Yale  1833, 
and  a  nati\e  of  New  Haven.  Tutorial  service 
at  Yale  had  not  opened  very  definite  prospects 
of  an  academic  career.  He  prepared  himself 
for  the  Bar,  like  Tayler  Lewis ;  a  choice  of 
life  clearly  not  spontaneous,  and  shortlived. 
.He  came  to  Washington  Square  at  twenty- 
five  years  of  age.  And  he  will  jirobably  long 
remain  unexcelled  in  the  length  of  service  he 
gave  to  our  College.     For  when  he  died  in  the 


IlfsrORV  OF   NEW  YORK    UN  ITERS  ITT 


93 


sunimer  of  i.S()i  lie  had  scrwd  uiuKt  all  the 
Chaiuellois,  coniiiij^-  in  duriiii;  the  last  year 
of  Mathews's  adiniiiistration  and  passinj;-  away 
soon  after  Dr.  MacCrackcn  was  elected  to  the 
full  Chaneellorshii).  A  |)iipil  u|  the  noted 
Kinj;sley  of  \'ale,  who  had  counted  a  Wool- 
sey  amon<;  his  pupils,  Johnson  strove  for  abso- 
lute mastery  ot  ,i;raniniar.  Here  he  was  an 
inflexible  adherent  of  /unipt's  manual.  His 
own  scholarship  however  revolved  very  largely 
around  the  literature  of  Cicero,  which  study  led 
him  into  Roman  antic[uities  and  Roman  Law. 
He  studied  the  works  of 
Mommsen,  Madvi<^,  Na- 
gelsbach,  Hand,  Seyffert, 
Krebs  and  George  Long. 
His  edition  of  the  only 
criminal  case  among  Cice- 
ro's fifty-seven  orations, 
pro  Cluentio  (New  York, 
1844),  remains  the  only 
American  edition  ;  it  was 
chosen  because  an  analy- 
sis of  it  was  found  in  the 
lectures  of  Dr.  Blair, 
which  then  were  still  read 
in  many  Colleges.  We 
learn  from  a  work  on 
American  College  Words 
and  Customs  (Cambridge, 
Ma.s.sachusctts,  1856,  by 
B.  H.  Hall)  that  the  ob- 
ject of  annual  cremation 
by  the  student  body  of 
New  York  University  was  Zumpt's  Latin 
Grammar,  and  that  this  Anto  da  Fc  of 
the  undergraduates'  retribution  was  annually 
held  at  Hoboken,  probably  on  the  "  Elysian 
Fields." 

Of  Professor  John  W.  Draper  we  will  speak 
more  fully  when  we  come  to  discuss  the 
establishment  of  the  Medical  School ;  it  was 
this  enterprise  which  really  brought  him  to 
New  York  from  Hampden  Sidney  College  in 
Virginia  ;  he  took  his  seat  in  the  Faculty  of 
Arts  and  Sciences  in  1839  and  began  his  work 
in  the  Medical  School  in  1841. 


EBENEZER    A.    JOHNSON 


At  this  time  the  annual  commencement  was 
.set  for  the  third  Wednesday  in  July.  On 
October  7,  1839,  that  schedule  of  .studies  was 
adopted  which  provided  for  t/inc  "sessions," 
later  called  terms,  for  the  academic  years  which 
remained  in  force  to  June  1894,  after  which,  at 
University  Heights,  a  new  order  (jf  things  was 
inaugurated.  Caleb  Sprague  Henry  was  made 
Secretary  of  the  Faculty  in  the  fall  of  1839.  It 
.seems  that  for  1837-1838  and  for  1838-1839 
no  catalogue  was  ]:)rinted.  There  was  a  .special 
meeting  on  Saturdays  in  the  morning,  when  it 
seems  forensic  exerci.ses 
and  orations  were  held  in 
the  small  chapel.  From 
the  minutes  of  December 
13)  1^39)  ^^'^  learn  of  a 
proposal  among  the 
.students  to  constitute  a 
.society  to  be  called  the 
Z  4>,  "  for  general  impnne- 
ment  in  literature,  espe- 
cially by  the  means  of 
compositions  and  literary 
debates  and  discussions." 
But  there  does  not  seem 
to  have  been  room  for  a 
t/iini  literary  society.  On 
January  30,  1840,  the 
Chancellor  moved  a  reso- 
lution of  .sympathy  on  the 
death  of  Professor  Da 
Ponte.  F"ebruary27,  1840, 
was  set  aside  as  a  day 
of  prayer  for  Colleges,  the  large  chapel  being 
used  on  that  occasion.  On  March  23,  1840, 
a  more  punctual  payment  of  quarterly  salaries 
was  discussed,  and  we  hear  of  "  the  delay, 
inconvenience  and  unpleasantness  of  the  present 
mode."  The  final  examinations  of  the  Seniors 
were  to  begin  on  June  9,  that  they  might 
prepare  for  the  functions  of  Commencement  ; 
the  examination  of  the  other  classes  to  begin 
on  the  Tuesday  after  July  4.  On  July  8,  1840, 
it  is  recorded  that  eighteen  graduates  of  Bristol 
College,  Pennsylvania  (defunct  at  that  time),  of 
1836  and    1837,  requested   to  be  admitted  to 


94 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


A.M.  in  New  York  University,  stating  that 
they  had  "  been  prosecuting  Hberal  and  profes- 
sional studies"  since  receiving  their  degree  of 
A.B.  It  was  resolved  that  they  be  recommended 
to  the  Council  on  account  of  the  suspension  of 
Bristol  College. 

Frtnn  September  i8,  1840,  to  July  13,  1841, 
the  minutes  were  kept  by  J.  \V.  Draper.  An 
item  of  October  23,  1840,  brings  home  to 
us  the  fact  that  the  College  neither  directly 
nor  indirectly  possessed  or  had  the  use  of 
a  gymnasium.  "  The  Chancellor  presented  a 
note  from  General  Tallmadge,  respecting  the 
gymnasium  of  William  Fuller.  The  Faculty 
declined  taking  any  action  on  the  foregoing 
matter." 

On  March  26,  1841,  one  hundred  was  estab- 
lished as  standard  for  "maximum  of  merit  in 
a  single  term."  For  the  Commencement  of 
1 84 1  Fugene  Lawrence,  afterwards  noted  as 
a  literary  man,  was  appointed  Valedictorian, 
and  A.  Cleveland  Coxe  designated  to  deliver 
the  Master's  oration.  On  September  15,  1841, 
Tayler  Lewis  assumed  the  duties  of  Secretary. 
From  this  time  on  a  first,  second  and  tJiird 
admonition  as  a  rule  to  be  bestowed  by  the 
Chancellor,  and  in  graver  cases  with  particular 
elements  of  College  publicity,  was  established 
as  the  chief  instrument  of  discipline.  On 
January  10,  1842,  it  was  "Resolved,  that  the 
best  interests  of  the  University  require  that 
measures  be  taken  in  the  course  of  the 
present  year  to  suppress  all  secret  societies 
existing  in,  or  connected  with,  this  institution." 

On  September  26,  1842,  there  was  recorded 
an  invitation  from  the  City  Council  to  share  in 
the  coming  celebration  of  introducing  Croton 
water  into  the  city,  the  festivities  being  set 
for  October  14-15.  On  September  30,  1842, 
we  find  an  invitation  from  the  Trustees  of 
Columbia  College  to  attend  their  annual  Com- 
mencement on  Tuesday,  October  4,  and  join 
in  the  procession.  Accepted.  On  October  28, 
the  Faculty  of  Science  and  Letters  was  invited 
by  Professor  Draper  "  to  attend  the  introduc- 
tory lectures  of  the  Medical  Faculty  "  (at  the 
beginning  of  the  second  year).     The  minutes  of 


December  2,  1842,  contain  the  first  entry  in 
the  history  of  the  College  concerning  Thanks- 
giving, the  Governor  having  in  that  year  named 
Thursday  the  8th  of  December  as  a  day  of 
Thanksgiving.  By  resolution  of  December  1 6, 
1842,  the  work  of  Professors  Joslin  and  Draper 
(the  reader  will  note  that  both  had  been  pri- 
marily trained  for  the  medical  profession)  was 
allotted  thus  :  "  Pure  and  Mixed  Mathematics, 
including  Mechanics  and  Astronomy,  to  be 
taught  by  the  Professor  of  Mathematics  and 
Natural  Philosophy"  (Joslin);  "Chemistry 
and  Natural  History  with  the  sciences  of 
Hydrostatics  and  Pneumatics  shall  be  taught 
by  the  Professor  of  Chemistry"  (Draper).  On 
the  same  day  "snowballing  about  the  building  " 
was  complained  of  as  "  a  gross  disorder  and 
was  expressly  prohibited,"  and  this  was  particu- 
larly to  be  communicated  to  Professor  Mason 
as  Rector  of  the  Grammar  School  and  Aedile. 

On  January  23,  1843,  it  was  recommended 
to  the  Council  to  hold  Commencement  on  the 
first  Wednesday  in  July  instead  of  the  third, 
and  to  reduce  the  Christmas  vacation  and 
the  Spring  vacation  by  one  week  each.  On 
May  19  Professors  Lewis  and  Johnson  were 
appointed  a  committee  "  on  the  formation 
of  a  supergraduate  course,"  a  matter  of  future 
importance,  which  however  at  that  time  does 
not  seem  to  have  proceeded  any  further.  In 
the  Class  of  1843  were  William  A.  Wheelock, 
President  of  the  Council,  William  Allen  Butler, 
Henry  Van  Schaick,  George  L.  Duyckinck  and 
others. 

During  these  four  years  upper-class  men 
came  to  New  York  University  from  Yale, 
Union,  Dickinson,  Rutgers,  St.  Paul,  Geneva, 
Waterville  and  other  Colleges  (St.  Paul  was 
at  College  Point,  Long  Island).  The  Class 
of  1844  was  the  most  numerous  in  the 
annals  of  the  College,  forty-six  A.  B.'s,  among 
them  Howard  Crosby,  who  had  completed 
his  eighteenth  year  in  February  1844 ; 
George  Adler,  who  stood  at  the  head  of  the 
class  ;  Oakey  Hall,  later  Mayor  of  New  York, 
and  Richard  Burchan  Ferris,  a  son  of  the 
third  Chancellor.     One  member  of   1844,  like 


IIISTORT  OF   NEW   YORK    UNIVERSITY 


95 


Napoleon,  died  at  St.  Helena,  ahhi)u<;h  in  tlie 
service  of  his  country  :  (i.  W.  Kimball  died 
there  as  United  States  Consul  in  i860.  This 
class  had  rej^istered  fifty-one  in  their  Freshman 
year. 

The  summer  and   fall  of    this    year,    1S44, 
hroULjht  our    Collej^e   into    a    certain    national 
prominence.       Chancellor    I""relin,i;"huysen    was 
nominated     for    X'ice-President    on    the   W'hii^ 
ticket   to  run  uitli    Ilcnry  Clay.      It  was  well 
understood    that 
the    superb    intc}.;- 
rity  and  lofty  per- 
sonal  character  of 
Frelin<;huysen  was 
desired  by  the  prac- 
tical   jioliticians   of 
that  Convention  to 
offset    Clay's    vul- 
nerable habits :  he 
was     strongly     at- 
tacked in  the  cam- 
pait^n   as   a  "  j^am- 
bler  "  by  the  voters 
of    the     "  Liberty 
party  "   under   Bir-  -^ 

ney,  whose  suf- 
fraj^es  actually 
turned  the  scales 
of  this  election. 
And  the  Faculty 
minutes  of  October 
28,  1844,  clearly 
refer  to  something 
connected  with  the 
closint^  days  of  that 
campaign.  On  motion  of  Professor  Mason  the 
following  preamble  and  resolutions  were  dis- 
cussed and  passed  :  "  Whereas  on  Friday  last 
it  was  for  the  first  time  brought  to  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  Chancellor  that  during  the  passage 
of  the  Young  Men's  Whig  procession  through 
Washington  Place  on  the  previous  Wednesday 
a  banner  of  an  offensive  party  character  had 
been  suspended  from  an  upjier  window  of  the 
University  Building,  and  Whereas  upon  inves- 
tigation  it   appears   that   the  said  banner  was 


ELIAS    LOOMIS 


hung  out  by  some  persons  who  did  not  belong 
to  any  class  in  the  University  and  without  the 
knowledge  of  any  member  of  the  h'aculty,  there- 
fore Resolved  unanimously  that  the  Faculty 
hereby  condemns  and  regrets  the  occurrence 
of  this  transaction  whereby  offence  has  been 
offered  to  one  of  the  two  great  parties  in 
that  whole  community  to  which  the  University 
pro])erly  belongs  and  by  which  it  has  been 
and  is  liberally  patronised.      Resolved,  that  the 

above  proceedings 
be  signed  by  the 
Chancellor  and 
Secretary  and  ])ub- 
lishcd  in  such 
pa])ers  as  are 
known  to  have 
noticed  the  matter 
therein  referred 
to." 

The  annals  of 
American  history 
tell  us  that  Polk 
and  Dallas  were 
elected,  and  not 
Clay  and  Freling- 
huyscn.  l^ut  it 
seems  the  equani- 
mity of  the  second 
Chancellor  re- 
mained unruffled 
by  the  decision  of 
the  ballots.  In 
that  entire  fall  he 
regularly  took  his 
.seat  at  Faculty 
meetings.  One  may  truthfully  say  that  at  this 
time  Frelinghuysen's  interest  in  the  growth  of 
the  American  Bible  Society  and  kindred  asso- 
ciations —  for  whose  May  anniversaries  the 
students  annually  received  a  three-days'  recess 
—  was  much  more  profound  than  in  political 
preferment  or  the  prosperity  of  national  parties. 
The  incessant  and  ever  increasing  reports 
for  admonition  in  its  various  .statutory  stages 
and  degrees,  of  unruly  undergraduates,  partic- 
ularlv  from  the  mathematical  class-room,  had 


96 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


for  some  time  foreshadowed  a  change  in  this 
sphere  of  College  instruction.  In  the  fall  of 
1844,  Elias  Loomis  came  from  the  Western 
Reserve  College  at  Hudson,  Ohio,  —  a  western 
dependency  of  Yale  we  may  call  it,  as  the 
Western  Reserve  was  to  Connecticut,  —  to 
Washington  Square.  A  graduate  of  Yale, 
whose  Faculty  after  i860  he  was  destined  to 
adorn,  Elias  Loomis  at  New  York  University 
not  only  taught  Mathematics  with  consummate 
ability,  but  during  his  tenure  of  didactic  office 
here  constructed  a  series  of  manuals  which 
made  his  name  familiar  throughout  the  land. 
And  he  was  one  of  the  pioneers  also  in  the 
domain  of  accurate  computation  of  meteoro- 
logical phenomena  and  of  forecasting  the 
weather.  Repeatedly  the  minutes  of  the 
Faculty  record  the  receipt  of  kindred  matter 
from   Washington   and  from   lioston. 

After  Joslin's  retirement  Tayler  Lewis's 
class  room  seems  to  have  appeared  particularly 
tempting  to  undergraduate  pranks.  On  Feb- 
ruary 20,  1846,  X.  of  the  Junior  class  was 
reported  for  improper  conduct  in  sending  a 
candy  peddler  into  the  Greek  room  during 
recitation.  The  culprit  was  designated  for  his 
third  admonition.  On  June  16  Z.  was  reported 
for  sending  "a  show-boy"  (bill  po.ster .-')  into 
the  same  place  on  a  similar  fool's  errand.  The 
final  examinations  were  held  in  the  last  week 
in  June.  In  1846,  for  the  first  time  it  seenvs, 
the  Friday  after  Thanksgiving  was  made  a 
part  of  the  recess.  On  December  4  of  the 
same  year  a  letter  was  road  from  Lieutenant 
Maury,  the  famous  h)dr()grapher,  presenting  a 
copy  of  the  Government  observations  for  1845 
to  the  University  ;   Loomis  was  to  answer  this. 

On  December  3,  1847,  a  letter  was  read 
from  the  Trustees  of  Rutgers  College  on 
the  subject  of  secret  societies.  During  the 
academic  year  1848- 1849,  Frofessor  Loomis 
was  in  Princeton,  and  Charles  Davies  took  his 
place  in  the  Faculty.  Davies,  like  Hackley, 
was  a  West  Pointer  (born  in  Connecticut  1798  ; 
graduated  at  West  Point  in  1815,  at  seven- 
teen ;  Assi-stant  in  Mathematics  at  the  Military 
Academy     and  full    Professor   1823- 18 37;   at 


Trinity  College,  Hartford,  1 837-1 841,  then 
for  some  years  Paymaster  in  the  United  States 
army). 

On  June  i,  1849,  it  was  recorded  that 
Young  and  Baird  (our  own  Dr.  Henry  Martyn 
Baird)  were  appointed  chapel  monitors  for  the 
ensuing  year.  Soon  after  this  time  Ta)ler 
Lewis  severed  his  relations  with  our  College 
and  migrated  to  his  own  alma  mater.  Union 
College.  On  September  18,  1849,  the  Faculty 
passed  resolutions  of  eulogy  and  appreciati\'e 
regret  concerning  his  departure.  I'here  was 
an  Instructor  in  Greek  1 849-1 850,  but  no 
Professor  was  appointed. 


The  eminence  of  Ta}'ler  Lewis,  J.  W. 
Draper  and  Elias  Loomis  would  have  sufficed 
in  itself  to  make  the  second  administration 
notable. 

l^ut  it  deserves  further  notice  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  New  York  University  Medical 
College.  Plans  for  such  a  school  had  been  part 
of  the  very  initial  design.  Ikit  it  was  not  until 
1 838-1 839  that  a  real  beginning  was  made.  In 
several  sessions  of  the  Council  in  July  1837 
a  number  of  names  for  the  chief  branches 
of  medical  instruction  were  actually  brought 
forward,  e.  g..  Dr.  Alfred  C.  Post  of  New 
\'ork.  Dr.  Jack-son  of  Philadelphia,  Dr.  P^berle 
of  Cincinnati,  Dr.  N.  R.  Smith  of  Baltimore, 
Dr.  Gunning  S.  Bedford  and  others.  Charles 
Butler  was  a  member  of  the  special  committee. 
Other  names  of  medical  candidates  proposed 
were :  Dr.  Warren  of  lioston,  for  Surgery  ; 
Dr.  Martyn  Paine,  for  Theory  and  Practice  of 
Medicine. 

In  December  1837  the  committee,  through 
Charles  Butler,  reported  to  the  Council.  This 
report  referred  to  the  Medical  Course  in  the 
French  school  of  Paris  as  comprising  four 
years,  with  two  series  of  lectures  of  five 
months  each.  The  report  also  cited  Berlin,  add- 
ing :  "  The  Committee  believe  that  the  cause 
of  Medical  Science  in  this  countr)-  requires 
tliat  the  period  of  study  .should  be  greatly 
enlarged,  and  that  to  qualify  young  men  for 
the    successful    pursuit     of    their     profession 


I/IsrOR}-   OF   NEW   YORK-  UNIFERSITT 


97 


t/icy  should  pursue  their  studies  for  a  much 
iouj^crpcriod  thou  is  now  required  by  the  luw 
of  this  or  ciuY  other  of  the  states  of  lohieh  the 
committee  have  any  knowledge  [Italics  our 
own]  ;  and  the  committee  are  only  restrained 
from  recomniendiiii;'  to  the  Council  the  adop- 
tion of  tile  provisions  of  the  l'"rench  school  in 
this  respect  at  this  time,  by  the  consiileration 
that  in  the  present  state  of  the  law  rei;ulatin<;- 
the  practice  of  l'h)sic  and  Surgery,  they  fear 
that  to  require  an  attendance  upon  the  instruc- 
tions of  the  Medical  Faculty  for  the  full  term 
of  four  years  before  conferring  the  degree  of 
Doctor  of  Medicine  li'oiilil  prove  fatal  to  the 
hopes  and  prospects  of  the  Faculty.  They  have 
therefore  ai;reed  to  recommentl  that  for  the 
present  the  term  be  limited  to  a  course  of  two 
years  and  two  series  of  lectures  each  year,  and 
at  some  future  and  proper  time  to  enlarge  tin- 
course  to  the  full  terjn  of  four  years."  And  it 
is  noteworthy  to  read  this  wise  and  far-sighted 
statement  of  Charles  Butler,  a  man  who  in 
many  ways  pointed  out  correct  aims  and  true 
ideals  at  a  time  when  their  fulfilment  seemed 
to  be.  and  often  actually  was,  beyond  the 
horizon  of  reasonable  realization  on  the  part 
of  this  wise  counsellor  in  the  Council. 

A  Faculty  was  elected  on  December  6,  1838, 
and  it  was  provided  "  that  the  Professors  of  said 
Faculty  shall  hold  their  lectures  at  the  Univer- 
sity Building,  and  at  such  a  rent  as  may  be 
agreed  upon  from  time  to  time  by  the  Council ; " 
a  compensation  of  $1500  to  be  paid  for  rent 
for  the  first  year,  $2000  for  the  second  year, 
provided  the  students  be  not  more  than  one 
hundred  and  fifty.  But  soon  after  the  organi- 
zation of  this  important  Faculty  was,  for  the 
present,  arrested,  mainly  for  lack  of  means.  * 

Efforts  were  soon  afterwards  made  by  the 
majority  of  the  proposed  medical  teachers  to 
seek  a  bond  of  union  with  Columbia  College. 
But  Columbia  declined ;  she  had,  so  it  was 
urged,  seen  how  in  the  University  of  Pennsyl- 
vania a  vigorous  professional  school  was  associ- 
ated with  a  struggling  undergraduate  College  ; 
it  was  claimed  that  no  benefit  was  to  be  ex- 

•  January  23,  1839,  in  the  Journal  of  Commerce. 


])ected  from  the  union.  Nor  were  the  projec- 
tors more  successful  in  their  efforts  to  obtain  a 
charter  from  Albany  ;  incessantly  as  Dr.  Martyn 
Paine  exploited  all  other  a\enues  towards  this 
goal  (as  through  the  County  Medical  Society,  or 
through  a  recommendation  of  the  'I'ru.stecs  of 
the  rival  school  of  the  College  of  Physicians 
and  Surgeons),  his  labors  were  all  futile. 

Thus  the  ])romoters  of  the  Medical  School 
retraced  their  steps  to  the  point  of  departure. 
New  York  University,  with  the  request  that 
under  the  powers  of  their  charter  the  Council 
of  the  University  establish  a  Medical  School. 
Moreover  John  W.  Draper,  whose  eminent 
scientific  reputation  had  from  the  fir.st  desig- 
nated him  as  the  coming  Professor  of  Chemistry, 
had  since  the  autumn  of  1839  fi'l^^l  'I  similar 
chair  in  the  P"aculty  of  Arts  and  Sciences,  and 
himself  constituted  a  bond  between  the  older 
and  the  new  department.  The  Faculty  was 
elected  by  the  Council  of  the  University ;  the 
baUoting,  begun  on  January  27,  1841,  was  com- 
jileted  on  February  3d.  The  most  noted  man 
in  the  Faculty  was  the  foremost  American 
surgeon,  \'alentine  Mott,  then  absent  in  Europe, 
and  we  believe  not  aware  of  his  election  at 
the  time.  Professor  Draper  was  chosen  for 
Chemistry  ;  Granville  Sharp  Pattison,  M.D., 
originally  from  London  and  lately  of  the  Jeffer- 
son Medical  College  of  Philadelphia,  was  given 
the  Chair  of  Anatomy  ;  Dr.  John  Revere,  of  the 
same  previous  sphere,  was  entrusted  with  the 
Theory  and  Practice  of  Medicine ;  Martyn 
Paine  was  made  Professor  of  the  Institutes  of 
Medicine  and  Materia  Medica;  and  Gunning 
S.  Bedford,  Professor  of  Midwifery  and  the 
Diseases  of  Women  and  Children. 

A  very  palpable  and  important  advantage  of 
the  Medical  College,  derived  from  the  charter 
of  New  York  University,  was  that  by  special 
enactment  its  alumni  were  free  from  the  follow- 
ing provision  of  the  Statutes  of  the  State  of 
New  York  regulating  the  practice  of  Physic 
and  Surgery  :  "  The  Degree  of  Doctor  of  Medi- 
cine conferred  by  any  College  in  this  State 
shall  not  be  a  License  to  practice  Physic  or 
Surgery,  nor  shall  any  college  have  or  institute 


98 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


a  Medical  Faculty,  to  teach  the  Science  of 
Medicine,  in  any  other  place  than  where  the 
charter  locates  the  College." 

It  was  a  time  when,  as  in  Law,  professional 
schools  were  but  slowly  gaining  general  recog- 
nition. The  apprenticeshij)  idea  here  too  had 
long  prevailed,  the  county  or  state  medical 
societies  like  mediaeval  guilds  admitting  the 
apprentice  to  their  craft,  they  being  the  chief 
bodies  of  judgment  as  to  maturity  and  fitness, 
and  yielding  up  to  tlie  newcomer  a  portion  of 
the  professional  preserves.  Little  towns,  nay 
villages,  in  Massachusetts  and  Vermont  had 
flourishing  medical  schools,  far  from  ho.spitals, 
far  from  the  opportunities  of  learning  by 
deducti\e  observation  to  comprehend  the 
principles  of  health  and  disease,  nor  were 
there  laboratories  which  afforded  the  individual 
student  adequate  training  in  Physics  and 
Chemistry.  There  w'as  still  the  idea  that 
medical  science  could  be  imjjarted  either  as  a 
faculty  or  craft,  or  general  truths,  axioms  and 
precepts  handed  down,  with  a  minimum  of 
attendant  illustration  of  hospital  opportunities. 

The  new  Faculty  was  to  be  self-supporting 
and  thus  autonomous  economically,  still  its 
ultimate  dependency  upon  the  Council  which 
had  endowed  it  with  academic  power  was 
uttered  in  no  uncertain  terms  ;  thus,  in  the 
final  i^aragraph  of  amendments  reported  through 
Charles  Butler  of  the  Medical  Committee  of 
the  Council  ;  "  And  the*  Council  alst)  hereby 
expressly  reserve  the  power  of  repealing  and 
amending  the  plan  of  organization  of  the  Med- 
ical Faculty."  So  eager  were  the  authorities 
of  the  new  school  to  accommodate  students  that 
the  earlier  catalogues  actually  incorporated 
lists  of  "  respectable  boarding-houses,"  none 
of  whom  in  the  earlier  years  charged  more 
tlian  S3. 50  per  week,  or  less  than  32.50; 
students  living  in  Elm  street,  Broome,  Canal, 
Prince,  Bowery,  Wooster,  Franklin,  Walker, 
Roosevelt,  Cherry,  Houston,  Bleecker.  And 
they,  the  students,  came  to  the  new  Medical 
College,  the  former  Stuyvesant  Institute,  at 
659  Broadway,  nearly  opposite  Bond,  where 
now  the  Broadway  Central  Hotel  stands  ;  came. 


we  say,  in  great  numbers,  so  as  to  encourage 
the  Medical  Faculty  and  stir  up  the  rivals. 

The  New  York  Lancet  indeed  records  in  the 
earlier  forties  many  things  of  interest  to  the 
students  of  the  history  of  medical  education  : 
but  we  are  struck  by  the  scurrilous,  nay  ven- 
omous, tone  of  many  of  those  chronicles,  filled 
as  they  are  with  a  bitterness  of  palpable  ill-will, 
l^articularly  towards  Bedford  and  Pattison. 
The  tone  often  found  in  the  professional  press 
of  those  years  clearly  exidences  the  crudity  of 
culture  and  lack  of  dignity  and  decorum  from 
which  the  medical  jjrofession  indeed  has  grown 
away  and  far  beyond.  In  one  resjiect  indeed 
the  sharp  rebuke  of  unfriendly  publications 
was  not  entirely  devoid  of  point.  Nothing  was 
done  to  widen  or  advance  the  terms  of  medical 
lectures.  From  the  end  of  October  to  the 
end  of  February,  two  terms  of  lectures  ;  four 
months  of  crowding  the  work  of  si.\  depart- 
ments into  daily  presentation  ;  clearly  the 
"preceptor"  was  still  a  very  real  necessity, 
and  the  apprenticeship  system  could  not  yet 
be  dispensed  with.  In  the  columns  of  the  New 
York  Lancet  the  New  York  University  Medical 
College  is  only  referred  to  as  the  "  Stuyvesant 
Institute  Medical  School  "  :  one  could  not 
gain  its  proper  name  from  that  contemporary 
professional  periodical. 

The  enrollment   of  the  first  year  showed  a 
total  of  239  medical  students  : 


I     Georgia S 

9    Alaliama lo 

Florida 2 


J 

C    Oliio  . 

■?    Indiana 


Connecticut 
Vermont      .... 

Maine 

Ma.ssachuselts 

New  Ilanipsliire  . 

Rhode  Island  ....  i     Illinoi-s    .     .     .     . 

New  York 95    Mississippi  .     .     . 

Pennsylvania   ....  5    Missouri      .     .     . 

Delaware 1     Canada  .     .     .     . 

Maryland 3    Lower  Canada 

New  Jersey      ....        28    Nova  Scotia     .     . 

Virginia 10    Demarara    . 

North  Carolina    ...        11     England .     .     .     . 
South  Carolina     ...  4 


Professor  J.  W.  Draper's  valedictory  lec- 
ture was  requested  for  publication  by  a  com- 
mittee which  tendered  the  thanks  of  the 
student    body    "for   the  able  and    interesting 


'    ■■r  r*:  ., 


FIRST    MEDICAL    FACULTY,     184I 


lOO 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


lectures  "  delivered  by  Professor  Draper  during 
the  session.  Able  and  interesting !  Indeed  at 
that  time,  to  hold  large  classes  of  men  with 
varying  degrees  of  culture,  coming  from  all 
parts  of  the  country,  it  was  necessary  to  give 
to  these  lectures  a  distinctly  popular  character. 
But  this  paper  has  a  further  significance.  Not 
a  little  is  revealed  in  it  of  Draper's  philosophy, 
though  he  then  was  but  thirty-one  years  of 
age,  many  of  the  fundamental  ideas  and  con- 
cepts which  constituted  his  view  of  man  and 
world  are  there  met  with,  his  philosophy  of 
history  and  of  human  civilization  wrought  out 
later  in  separate  and  notable  volumes.  Of 
these  characteristic  ideas  a  few  may  here  be 
concisely  set  down.  "  Human  civilization  is 
conceived  as  developing  on  lines  analogous  to 
mechanical  laws  ;  "  "  the  office  for  which  em- 
pires and  revolution  were  called  into  existence, 
once  discharged,  the  work  of  disintegration 
commences." 

The  habit  of  bringing  all  phenomena,  even 
in  human  history,  into  the  category  of  matter 
and  force  is  clearly  manifest.  Nor  does  he 
conceal  his  small  regard  for  classical  learning, 
of  which  in  his  own  earlier  career  he  had  prob- 
ably indeed  experienced  but  puny  and  shallow 
forms  of  application,  and  so  he  speaks  (p.  6) 
of  "musty  and  moth-eaten  pedants." 

I  lis  prediction  of  our  continental  expansion 
is  given  with  noble  force,  and  as  uttered  sixty 
years  ago  may  deserve  a  place  here  :  "  There 
are  men  now  in  this  room  who  will  live  to 
hear  the  wild  snort  of  the  locomotive  in  the 
desarts  [spelling  of  1842]  beyond  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  and  see  the  grand  republic  stretch- 
ing from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  Ocean." 
(The  reader  must  not  forget  that  Mexico  was 
then  sovereign  there.)  "  Lured  on  by  hopes 
of  gain"  (this  was  said  before  the  Mexican 
War  and  Sutter's  discoveries)  "  or  by  an 
instinct  implanted  in  his  breast,  pioneer  after 
pioneer  is  crossing  those  silent  height.s,  and 
there  lies  that  goodly  prospect  the  great 
Pacific  Ocean,  whose  beating  waves,  age  after 
age,  have  murmured  along  a  tenantless  shore. 
In    fifty    years    that    shore    will   be    thronged 


with  shipping,  and  works  of  massive  architect- 
ure will  rise  like  exhalations  out  of  the  ground." 
"  In  thus  progressing  towards  the  final  sub- 
jugation of  this  continent  as  an  abode  of 
civilized  man,  we  see  how,  as  an  incidental 
event,  less  civilized  nations  disappear." 

In  a  lighter  \ein  is  this  passage  (p.  g) : 
"  I  have  been  frequently  amused  during  the 
winter  to  hear  the  explanations  given  by  some 
of  you,  how  the  people  in  this  city  live,  when 
every  one  of  them  has  got  something  to  sell. 
How  the  doctors  live  is  marvellous.  Perhaps 
Dr.  Johnson's  solution  of  a  similar  problem 
may  cast  light  upon  the  subject.  'They  are 
like  a  dog  walking  on  his  hind  legs  ;  they  get 
along  badly  at  best,  but  the  puzzle  is  how  they 
get  along  at  all.'"  Of  the  new  Medical  School 
he  speaks  in  sanguine  words  :  "  A  class  that 
rivals  in  size  those  of  the  oldest  and  largest 
institutions  has  sprung  into  existence,  and  been 
carried  with  success  through  all  its  evolutions." 
"  I  know  that  we  have  been  favoured  greatly 
in  this  matter ;  that  we  have  seen  a  kind 
Pro\idence  unfolding  our  work  ;  we  have  been 
favoured  in  counsel,  favoured  in  action."  A 
sober  tone  is  intermingled:  "This  University 
has  passed,  and  in  future  ages  will  pass, 
through  hours  of  trial  ;  but  then, 

'As  some  tall  cliff  erects  its  awful  form, 
Swells  through  the  vales  and  midway  leaves  the  storm  ; 
Though  round  its  breast  the  rolling  clouds  be  spread, 
Eternal  sunshine  settles  on  its  head.'  " 

The  second  }'ear  showed  an  enrollment  of 
medical  students  of  268,  the  third  year  of  323, 
the  fourth  year  of  378,  the  fifth  year  of  407, 
the  .sixth  year  of  410,  the  seventh  year  of  421, 
the  eighth  year  of  411,  the  ninth  year  400. 
In  the  year  1850  Senator  Frelinghuysen 
retired  from  Washington  Square  and  assumed 
the  Presidency  of  Rutgers  College,  in  which 
post  he  spent  the  remaining  years  of  his  life, 
from  1850  to  1862. 

Mr.  P>elinghuy.sen  had  not  lightly  in  1839 
abandoned  the  Bar  and  political  life.  His 
interest  in  churchwork  and  in  the  furtherance 
of  religious  interests  was  so  strong,  that  he  at 
one  time  seriously  contemplated  ordination  in 


HISTORT   OF   NEW    YORK    VNIVERSITT 


lOl 


his  own  church,  a  step  from  wliicli  he  was 
dissuaded  by  friends  who  urj;ed  tliat  as  layman, 
with  his  rare  faculty  of  stimulation  and  appeal, 
he  could  i)r()l)al)Iy  satisfy  these  aspirations 
even  more  effectively. 

Above  all  other  thinj,%  however,  it  seems 
his  soul  was  dominated  by  a  love  of  peace. 
To  struj^ji^le  and  stri\e  with  ilhvill,  or  e\en  to 
enter  vi<;;orously  into  a  contest  with  unlriendly 
forces,  to  return  attain  and  a^ain  to  i;i"ai)])]e 
with  economic  problems,  all  these  things  were 
not  those  that  fitted  full)'  his  bent  and  the 
len<4thenin<^  shadows  oi  age. 

Mven  in  1846  the  Hon.  James  Tallmadge 
had  resigned  his  office  as  President  of  the 
Council  and  his  seat  in  the  same,  lie  was 
not  content  to  differ  from  a  majority  of  liis 
former  colleagues,  as  it  was  his  right  to  tlo, 
but  he  was  moved  to  publish  his  cjuarrel  and 
his  censure  in  a  special  pamphlet,  in  which,  as 
it  is  apt  to  be  the  case,  he  revealed  him.self  not 
less  than  he  indicated  the  matters  with  which 
he  had  been  finding  fault.  Particularly  the 
author  of  the  pamphlet  was  clearly  dominated 
by  animosity  against  Chancellor  Frelinghuysen, 
whose  services,  especially  in  the  financial 
management,  were  censured  as  inadequate, 
while  the  details  of  his  academic  compensation 
were  examined  and  analyzed  in  an  unfriendly 
spirit.  Tallmadge's  imputation  that  the  grade  of 
classical  instruction  had  been  lowered  became 
ill  a  man  who  was  one  of  the  ultra  de\'otees 
of  utilitarianism  in  education  and  who  had 
proclaimed,  nine  years  before,  the  destiny 
of  the  structure  on  Washington  Square  as  a 
"temple  of  science."  The  debt  indeed  had 
been  reduced  from  $172,000  to  some  $75,000. 
We  may  indeed  safely  adopt  the  \iew  of 
"one  of  the  F" acuity,"  whose  letter  was  pub- 
lished by  the  New  York  Tribune  of  the  Spring 
of  1847  :  "Your  assumption  to  be  something 
more  than  the  President  t)f  the  Council  was 
the  real  root  of  your  early  hostility  to  Mr. 
Frelinghuysen." 

In  the  successful  movement  for  a  PVee 
Academy  in  the  City  of  New  York  which 
came   to    an    issue    in    1847,    the    press    was 


filled  with  slurs  of  both  the  older  and  the 
younger  academic  institutions  of  New  York, 
the  drift  of  which  criticism  may  well  deserve 
some  brief  record  in  this  recital.  We  are  told 
by  the  censors  (Tribune  Supi)lement,  l\\)\\\ 
20,  1847),  that  "the  ari.stocracy  of  wealth  fills 
our  colleges";  the  changes  are  rung  on  "the* 
pride  of  wealth  "  ;  Columbia  and  tlie  University 
had  in  1846  educated  245  students  for  $41,- 
376:  "the  l'"ree  Academy  would  ha\e  educated 
at  least  five  times  the  numl)er  for  this  amount.  ' 
Why  were  tliere  no  more  at  tiiese  two  good 
institutions  .''  "  Because  Equality  has  no  place 
there."  A  little  earlier  in  the  year,  in  his 
controversy,  it  was  urged  against  the  clamor 
of  "aristocracy,"  that  some  seventy  students 
annually  received  free  tuition.  It  was  claimed, 
triumjihantly,  that  "a  poor  mechanic  cannot 
get  in."  The  answer  was  that  .some  students 
got  up  at  three  to  four  A.  m.  to  distribute 
newspapers  ;  that  one  student  worked  as  a 
tailor,  another  as  a  carpenter. 

As  a  matter  of  fact  it  was  not  so  much 
Columbia  College,  nor  the  University  College, 
which  was  bound  to  feel  the  competition  of  the 
proposed  F"ree  Academy.  Perhaps  it  was 
rather  m  the  domain  of  the  pre])aratory  schools 
connected  with  each.  Let  us  see.  In  1841- 
1842  the  enrollment  of  the  University  Gram- 
mar School  was  276;  in  1842-1843,  260;  in 
1843-1844,  212;  in  1844-1845,  217;  in  1845- 
1846,  195;  in  1846-1847,  182;  in  1847-1848, 
182;  in  1 848-1 849,  169;  in  1 849-1 850,  132  — 
a  reduction  in  the  decade  from  276  to  132. 
The  schoolrooms  were  in  the  north  wing  on 
Waverley  Place.  The  classical  course  was  one 
of  four  years,  all  of  which  were  used  in  the 
Latin  course  of  jireparation,  while  the  Greek 
covered  three.  It  would  be  impossible  today 
in  New  York  City  to  secure  so  excellent  a 
course  of  instruction  in  any  j^rivate  school  for 
so  moderate  a  tuition  fee;  this  was  $15  per 
quarter,  including  French. 

The  economic  status  of  the  three  foremost 
secondary  institutions  for  youth  of  both  se.xes 
is  thus  stated  for  1847  (Tribune  Su]i]>lement, 
1847):     Columbia    College    Grammar    School 


I02 


UNIVERSITIES   JND    THEIR    SONS 


received  from  New  York  State  Literature 
Fund  (Regents),  $1183;  from  tuition,  $8325; 
total,  $9508  ;  leaving  a  surplus  of  $3369.  The 
University  Grammar  School  received  from 
Literature  Fund,  $837  ;  from  tuition,  $10,138  ; 
total,  $10,975;  leaving  a  surplus  of  $215. 
'Rutgers  Female  Institute  received  from  the 
Regents,  $1562;  from  tuition  fees  and  other 
pecuniary  resources  $17,091  ;  total,  $18,603. 
Her  surplus  fund  after  pajang  salaries,  etc., 
and  making  a  dividend  among  her  stockholders, 
was  $598. 

The  annual  appropriation  of  $6000  by  the 
State  to  the  University  College  of  Arts  had 
been  reduced  one -half,  and  it  was  then  and  in 
1848  that  particular  efforts  were  made  to  raise 
a  fund  of  $80,000,  to  relieve  the  University 
from  its  present  embarrassment,  —  "  and  to 
take  such  action  as  may  be  deemed  most 
advisable  to  raise  such  amount." — "To 
accomplish  an  end  so  important  it  is  believed 
that  old  and  new  friends  will  make  great 
and  untiring  exertions.  Hitherto  the  aim  of 
contributors  has  been  to  begin  and  build  up, 
now  the  aim  is  to  finish  a/td  secure ;  and  all, 
wlio  take  any  interest  in  the  matter,  cannot 
hut  feci  that  better  is  the  end  of  the  work 
than    the   beginning." 

These  efforts,  wliich  extended  from  June 
1847  to  October  1848  and  beyond,  were  not 
attended  by  very  great  success.  On  the  com- 
mittee specially  ajij^ointed  for  this  end  were 
Luther  Bradisli,  James  Brown,  George  Gris- 
wold,  \Vm.  Curtis  Noyes,  Rol)ert  Kelly.  W'm. 
S.  Wetmore,  John  Taylor  Johnston.  In  that 
fall,  the  autumn  of  1S48,  Profes.sor  Loomis 
went  to  Princeton  (he  returned  in  1849),  after 
an  effort  had  been  made  to  raise  $20,000  for 
a  Mathematical  Professorship  and  had  failed. 
The  criticisms  in  the  public  j^ress  grew  more 
urgent  in  the  late  winter  and  in  the  .spring  of 
1849.  The  first  Chancellor  was  praised  byway 
of  contrast  (Herald,  February  8,  1849).  ^^■ 
Mathews  had  retired  from  the  Council  in  1847. 
Censure  friendly  to  him,  at  least  indirectly, 
recurs  in  the  communications  of  that  time  : 
as  by  "Observer"  (February  1849)  :  The  Uni- 


versity had  widely  departed  from  the  principles 
on  which  it  was  founded.  —  "  It  should  teach 
Civil  Engineering,  Drawing,  Architecture, 
Agi'icultural  and  Horticultural  Chemistry, 
and  other  courses  immediately  connected  with 
what  are  usually  termed  t/ie  practical  purposes 
of  life."  (Italics  our  own.)  No  President 
of  the  Council  had  been  elected  in  two 
years.  —  And  the  past  nineteen  years  were 
thus  reviewed :  "  While  the  University  was 
yet  all  in  the  future,  and  existed  only  in  the 
purpose  of  its  founders,  our  citizens  contributed 
more  for  its  establishment  than  they  have 
given  either  before  or  since  for  any  other 
kindred  institution  in  the  same  circumstances." 
In  faintly  thus  calling  up  the  echo  of  the 
discordant  voices  of  that  day  directed  at  and 
concerning  the  struggling  College  of  Washing- 
ton Square,  we  have  a  twofold  object.  In  the 
first  place  it  becomes  palpable  that  an  execu- 
tive sensitive  of  strife,  and  weary  of  it  even 
before  he  came  to  New  York  University, 
would  gladly  then  have  welcomed  an  open  door 
to  dejiart.  Such  a  man  was  the  ex-Senator  ; 
the  call  to  Rutgers  was  that  open  door ; 
the  Chancellor  withdrew  from  the  institution 
whose  Board  of  Trustees  had  been  indeed 
headless  for  some  time,  and  whose  Faculty 
had  received  a  severe  blow  through  the  with- 
drawal of  Tayler  Lewis  to  Union  College. 
And  in  the  second  place,  friends  and  alumni 
of  the  present  and  coming  generation  who 
may  read  these  lines  will  pause  when  survey- 
ing the  achievements  of  the.se  days  and 
receive  a  point  of  view  from  which  they  may 
adequately  thank  the  friends  of  New  York 
University  who  have  aided  her  in  the  newer 
life.  In  youth  we  are  inclined  to  people  the 
past  with  heroes ;  and  the  distant  landscape, 
with  its  shades  of  blue  and  its  violet  tints 
bestowing  an  exquisite  charm  on  the  vani.shing 
detail  of  the  faraway  horizon,  impresses  us 
as  an  abode  of  rapture  ;  the  clear  and  hard 
outline  of  our  immediate  environment  and 
of  things  palpably  near  we  are  in  danger  of 
api^reciating  less,  and  of  rating  these  below 
their  true  value.  e.  g.  s. 


UlSTOR)'   OF   NEI^V   YORK    UNI^'ERSITT 


lO' 


APPENDIX    TO    CHAl'l'KR    IV 


No  tlate  of  a  year,  possilily  1S50. 

"  A  course  of  four  Lectures  will  lie  ilelivereil  by  C'ol. 
Forbes  in  the  New  \'ork  University,  on  the  evenings  of 
Monday,  31st  March;  Wednesday,  2  April;  Kriday,  .(th ; 
and  following  Tuesday,  S,  at  half  past  7  o'clock,  illustrative 
of  the  origin,  progress,  results  and  prospects  of  the  move- 
ment in  Italy. 

The  lirst  Lecture  is  tlevoted  to  explain  the  effects  of 
I'opery  and  despotism  on  society,  and  to  demonstrate  the 
state  of  Italy  previous  to  tlie  elevation  oi  I'io  to  the 
I'ontiticate. 

The  second  and  third  Lectures  to  the  march  of  events 
and  to  many  interesting  details  during  the  years  '46,  7,  8 
and  9,  up  to  the  invasion  of  Rome  by  the  Coalition. 

The  fourth  Lecture  treats  of  the  affairs  of  Rome,  the 
French  Invasion,  its  consecjuences,  and  the  ])resent  con- 
dition and  prospects  of  Italy. 

C'ol.  F.  having  resided  for  many  years  in  Italy,  and  hav- 
ing taken  an  active  i)arl   in  the  struggle  oi  '47-S-y,  can  fur- 


nish the  American  |>ublic  with  authentic  information  upon 
a  subject  wliich  is  of  the  highest  importance  to  all  friends 
of  Civil  and  Religious  Liberty." 


Nkw  \iJKK,  Feby.  20th,  1850. 
Rec'  of  Dr.  Martyn  I'aine  one  thou.sand  eight  hundred 
dollars  on  account  of  the  Medical  Department  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  the  City  of  New  N'ork,  being  the  amount  of  grad- 
uation fees  for  ninety  candidates  for  the  degree  of  Doctor 
in  Medicine,  in  anticipation  of  tliat  nnniber  ol  Diplomas 
at  the  Medical  Commencement  in  March  ne.\t. 

K.  A.  Jdiin.son. 

j-hst   'J'leas. 

Nicw   VuKK,   March  26,  1850  Rec'  from  E.  A.  Johnson 
Esq.  Treas   Thirteen  Hundred  &  Ninety  nine  01/100  Dollars 
for  the  reduction  of  principal  due  on  a  Hond  of  Mortgage  made 
by  the  University  of  the  City  of  New  York  &  held  by  me. 
j^i jyy.iVi.  llKNKY  \'uuN(;. 


CIIAITKR    V 
TiiK  Intkkim  of    1850-1852.  —  Chancellor  Ferris.  —  The  Law  School 


JAMKS  TALLMADGE  had  left  the 
Council  and  the  Presidency  of  it  in 
1846.  Not  until  February  28,  1849, 
was  a  President  chosen,  Mr.  Charles  Butler, 
seventeen  out  of  nineteen  ballots  being  cast 
for  him.  In  the  preceding  December,  at  the 
election  of  members  of  the  Council  by  the 
"shareholders,"  607  votes  had  been  cast.  The 
debt  had  stood  precisely  as  it  had  been  a  year 
before.  Tlie  relation  of  College  and  Grammar 
School  was  still  close.  The  lower  story  of  the 
University  Building,  namely  on  the  northern 
side,  harbored  the  Grammar  School  of  which 
Professor  E.  A.  Johnson  was  Rector,  just  as 
at  Columbia  Professor  Charles  Anthon  held 
the  post  of  Rector  of  the  Columbia  Gram- 
mar School,  and,  as  we  are  told  by  those  who 
suffered,  did  not  spare  the  rod  in  that  function. 
The  Mathematical  teacher  was  paid  at  the  rate 
of  $2. 00  per  hour  of  the  whole  school  year, 
the  assistant  in  elementary  branches  received 
but  one-half  of  that  stipend,  and  the  other 
assistants  received  $1.50  for  one  hour  of  daily 
work.  At  the  same  time  all  but  one  devoted 
their  lives  to  teaching  as  a  profession.  George 
M.    Parker,  A.  M.,  the  head  master,  had  come 


by  way  of  Boston,  and  with  strong  testimonials, 
from  one  of  the  great  English  universities. 
To  name  some  of  the  standard  textbooks 
of  that  day,  half  a  century  ago,  is  to  name 
the  guides  or  painful  taskmasters  of  young 
heads  now  mostly  gray  :  Ollendorff,  Bullion, 
Andrews's  and  Stoddard's  Latin  Grammar, 
Loomis,  Day  and  Davies,  SophtKles's  Greek 
Grammar,  Anthon's  Iliad,  P'elton's  (ireek 
Reader,  Lovell's  United  States  Speaker,  Hume 
and  Keightley  for  English  History. 

Early  in  that  year  Professor  Cyrus  Mason 
arranged  for  a  dissolution  of  his  relations  t(; 
the  College.  He  had  been  one  of  the  sub- 
scribers to  the  special  endowment  of  $15,000 
of  the  Chair  of  the  P^vidences  of  Revealed 
Religion.  There  was  paid  to  Mr.  Mason  by 
the  Treasurer  the  sum  of  S3766,  to  give  to 
the  University  a  release  on  the  score  of  his 
subscription  towards  that  i)articular  chair. 
Still  the  Council  very  courteously  said  of 
him  :  "  Resolved,  that  the  Council  in  accepting 
the  resignation  of  Professor  Mason,  for  four- 
teen years  a  Professor  in  the  University, 
cannot  suffer  the  occasion  to  pass  without 
expressing  their  high  appreciation  of  his  ardent 


I04 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR   SONS 


devotion  to  the  interests  of  the  University 
and  tlie  valuable  services  rendered  by  him." 
His  personal  tribulations  in  the  struggle  of 
1838  had  been  indeed  particularly  trying.  The 
printed  estimate  of  Cyrus  Mason  by  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Francis  Zabriskie,  published  in  the  Chris- 
tian Intelligencer,  May  1884,  may  here  find  a 
place  : 

"  Some  of  my  readers  may  smile  when  I 
proceed  to  number  Dr.  Cyrus  Mason  with  this 
'  group  of  remarkable 
men.'  Rut  I  assert 
with  the  utmost  con- 
fidence that  for  varied 
information  and  men- 
tal activity  and  stimu- 
lation he  was  worthy 
of  a  place  among 
them.  He  knew 
something  of  every- 
thing, but  was  proba- 
bly not  an  e.xpert  in 
anything.  His  nomi- 
nal department  of  in- 
struction was  Political 
Economy  and  Evi- 
dences of  Revealed 
Religion.  It  might 
have  been  called  al- 
most anything  else 
and  I  verily  believe 
we  should  have  mean- 
dered through  much 
the  same  flowery 
paths  of  knowledge. 
He  bade  us  get  the  ponderous  volumes  of 
Stuart  Mill  and  Paley,  but  he  observed  the 
Newtonian  method  of  '  picking  up  pebbles  on 
the  shore '  of  those  worthies  without  ventur- 
ing far  out  into  the  surf.  I  do  not  think  we 
ever  got  beyond  Paley's  thesis,  '  There  is  satis- 
factory evidence,'  etc.,  and  rarely  through  the 
whole  of  that.  He  would  call  on  one  of  the 
class  to  repeat  it,  but  usually  before  it  was 
completed,  up  would  go  his  pencil  and,  'Stop 
there '  !  he  would  say.  Some  word  had 
reminded  him  of  something,  perhaps  as  remote 


CH.ARLES    BUTI.ER 


from  the  Archdeacon's  mind  as  sin  is  from  an 
angel's.  And  thenceforward  the  '  lecture'  was 
an  intellectual  picnic  under  the  lead  of  our 
Professor,  ambling  on  some  gentle  hobby.  It 
was  very  delightful.  He  was  the  most  fasci- 
nating of  conversationists.  We  sat  in  his  elegant 
parlor  on  a  circle  of  chairs,  and  it  was  the  do/ce 
far  tiicntc  of  academic  experience.  A  cloud 
however  came  over  our  dream.  Dr.  Mason, 
who  as  a  minister,  a  scholar,   a  social  power, 

a  projector  of  great 
schemes  .  .  .  had 
started  forth  in  early 
life  with  an  auroral 
prestige,  had  reached 
nearly  the  bottom  of 
the  ladder  of  failure. 
People  had  lost  all 
confidence  in  his 
judgment.  ...  His 
speculations  had  re- 
duced him  to  hopeless 
bankruptcy.  He  was 
dogged  by  duns  who 
did  not  hesitate  to 
force  their  way  to 
his  lecture-room  and 
demand  their  money 
in  the  most  insulting 
manner  before  h  is 
classes.  So  that  dur- 
ing the  latter  part  of 
our  time  we  had  to 
forego  the  parlor  and 
meet  him  in  the  dark 
old  Chapel  or  other  obscure  retreats  behind 
locked  doors.  He  was  an  excessively  nervous 
man,  and  it  was  painful  even  to  unsympathetic 
and  mischievous  College  boys  ;  and  doubtless 
what  we  got  from  him  was  but  the  threadbare 
and  haggard  remnant  of  what  he  had  been  in 
his  glory  and  his  mellow  and  prosperous  prime. 
He  too  retired  from  his  Professorship  in  the 
year  of  our  graduation,  and  his  career  was 
downward.  He  figured  awhile  as  a  'Hunker' 
politician  and  as  an  employe  of  the  Hudson 
Ri\er  Railroad,  and  died  somewhere  about  the 


lllSTOKr   OF    NEir    YORK    UNlll'.Rsn'T 


105 


wartime,  a  conspicuDUS  example  of  the  failure 
of  the  hif^hesl  talents  and  aeeomplishmeiits 
through  lack  of  mental  and  moral  balance. 
Perhaps  this  was  the  lesson  and  it  was  a 
most  im[)ortant  one  —  which  he  was  set  to 
teueh  the  dozen  or  fifteen  classes  of  youn^  men 
who  sat  under  the  spell  of  his  delightful  power 
as  a  raconteur  and  a  cycl()[)aedic  scatterbrain." 
This  is  the  retrospect  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Francis 
N.  Zabriskie,  of  the  Class  of  1850.  The 
settlement  with  Mason  was  pre.sentetl  by  Presi- 
dent Charles  Butler.  The  particular  helper 
of  that  day  was  James  Brown  (who  on  that 
very  occasion  paid  his  sub.scription  toward  the 
reduction  of  the  bondetl  debt,  we  may  suppose), 
in  the  sum  of  $5000,  and  some  aid  came  from 
other  soiwces  so  that  some  ^9000  in  all  was 
stricken  from  the  obligations  of  the  corpora- 
tion. On  May  6,  1850,  "Mr.  Bradish  nomi- 
nated Rev.  Richard  S.  Storrs,  of  Brooklyn" 
(destined  to  call  this  eminent  pastor  and 
theologian  for  still  fifty  years  further  her 
fellow-citizen)  "as  a  member  of  the  council, 
to  fill  a  vacancy  therein."  But  it  does  not 
appear  that  the  office  was  accepted. 

How  gloomy  was  the  financial  basis  of  the 
College's  affairs  is  made  evident  to  the  reader 
of  the  University's  Archives  with  a  force  which 
has  a  startling  effect  even  now,  half  a  century 
after  the  events.  On  June  14,  1850,  with  an 
attendance  of  seventeen,  the  Council  held  a 
most  important  session.  President  Butler  was 
ab.sent  ;  the  following  Councillors  were  present : 
Messrs.  Bradish,  Wetmore,  Howland,  Chester, 
McMurray,  Suffern,  Post,  Maclay,  Noyes,  Van 
Schaick,  Phelps,  Johnston,  Gardiner  Spring, 
Robert  Kelly,  Potts,  and  Aldermen  Cook  and 
Hawes.  Waldron  B.  Post  (who  served  on  the 
Council  for  thirty-one  years)  was  called  to  the 
chair.  The  meeting  was  opened  with  prayer 
by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Gardiner  Spring  of  the 
Brick  Presbyterian  Church.  The  business 
to  which  we  would  particularly  beg  to  direct 
the  reader's  attention  was  this  :  "  On  motion 
of  Dr.  Potts,  Resolved  that  the  time  has  arrived 
when  a  united  effort  of  all  the  members  of  the 
Council  is  required  to  prevent  a  suspension  of 


the  Institution."  yXnd  he  furtiu-r  proposed  a 
scheme  to  divide  the  bonded  debt  of  $60,000 
eciually  among  all  the  members  of  the  C!oimcil. 
Hut  many  were  absent  and  would  tliey  hel])  .'' 
Mr.  Myndert  Van  Schaick  i)roposed  a  new  loan 
to  extinguish  the  present  one,  with  interest 
either  at  si.\  or  seven  per  cent  ;  a  coiumittee  of 
three  to  be  appointed,  and  this  conmiittee  to 
have  power  to  borrow  $5000  in  addition  to  the 
present  engagements  of  the  University.  On 
this  committee  were  appointed  Messrs.  Van 
Schaick,  Bradish  and  Chester. 

Plve  days  later  the  Council  sat  again,  on 
June  19,  1850,  with  an  attendance  of  thirteen 
members.  The  Chancellor's  salary  was  fi.xed 
at  J83000.  There  were  nominated  for  Chan- 
cellor, the  Rev.  Dr.  Bethune  of  Brooklyn,  by 
Rev.  Dr.  Gardiner  Spring;  "Dr.  Potts  nom- 
inated President  Hopkins  of  Williamstown 
College,  Massachusetts"  —  so  the  minutes 
have  it  —  and  Mr.  Wetmore  nominated  Pro- 
fessor John  W.  Draper.  On  June  21  the 
Council  met  again.  An  election  was  had  of 
Chancellor  and  Professor  of  Greek.  Nineteen 
members  were  present,  among  them  Pelatiah 
Perit,  one  of  the  rich  men  of  New  York  City  of 
that  day,  who  did  not  very  frequently  attend. 
His  Honor  the  Mayor  and  Alderman  Hawes  also 
took  their  seats  in  the  Council  on  this  occasion. 
Seventeen  votes  were  given  for  Dr.  Bethune  of 
Brooklyn,  one  for  Mark  Hopkins,  one  for  J.  W. 
Draper.  Was  it  that  the  opinion  of  the  Council 
considered  it  a  hopeless  task  to  acquire  for  their 
College  a  leader  as  eminent  as  Hopkins,  or  was 
it  the  conviction  that  a  man  of  wide  influence 
and  actual  prestige  in  the  metropolitan  district 
was  the  man  for  the  particular  emergency.'' 
We  do  not  know.  Did  Dr.  Bethune  consider 
the  post  a  forlorn  hope  .''  —  at  all  e\-ents  he 
declined  it.  George  C.  Anthon,  A.M.,  of 
Columbia  College,  was  elected  Professor  of 
Greek  —  a  Wnnderkind,  who,  bom  in  1825, 
at  fourteen  years  is  said  to  have  received  the 
degree  of  A.B.  at  Columbia,  if  the  accessible 
records  state  the  matter  correctly.  When  the 
Council  learned  on  July  6  that  Dr.  Bethune 
had  declined,  they  unanimously  resolved  that 


io6 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


the  Rev.  Dr.  Gardiner  Spring  be  requested  to 
perform  the  duties  of  the  Chancellor  until  the 
appointment  to  the  office  should  be  made  by 
the  Council. 

It  was  at  this  point, — for  the  Council  learned 
its  own  lessons  by  its  own  experience  —  it  was 
at  this  point  that  an  important  step  was  taken 
to    permanently    improve    the     administrative 
machinery.      An    amendment    was     prepared 
by  Charles    Butler  to  the    by-laws    and    ordi- 
nances   of    the    Uni- 
versity,   creating    an 
Executive  Co ;;/  in  it  tee 
as  follows,  presented 
on     July     6,     1850: 
"  There  shall  also  be 
appointed  annually 
an    E.xecutive    Com- 
mittee to  consist    of 
seven    member.s,    in- 
cluding the  President 
of    the    Council    and 
the     Treasurer,     for 
the  time  being  (who 
shall    always   be    ex- 
officio     members     of 
said    Committee),    a 
majority    of    which 
Committee   shall    be 
a    quorum     for    the 
transaction    of    busi- 
ness.      The     Ivxecu- 
tive  Committee  shall 
have    the 
charge  and 


general 


MVNDKRT 


^^  C.WV.  supervis- 
ion of  the  affairs,  business,  instruction  and 
interests  of  the  University,  with  full  power  to 
act  in  the  premises  in  their  discretion  as  the 
Council  might  or  could  do,  subject  always  to 
the  terms  and  provisions  of  the  existing  char- 
ter ordinances  and  by-laws  of  the  University. 
They  shall  devise  and  put  in  execution  such 
plans  and  measures  from  time  to  time  as  will 
in  their  judgment  best  effect  the  objects  and 
promote  the  interests  of  the  Institution  in  re- 
spect either  to  its  instruction  or  its  finances. 
They    shall    hold   regular   meetings    of   which 


proper  notice  shall  be  given  and  shall  keep 
a  perfect  record  of  their  proceedings  which 
shall  be  submitted  to  the  Council  at  the  first 
regular  meeting  thereof  after  any  action  or 
proceedings  of  the  Committee,  unless  a  called 
or  adjourned  meeting  be  sooner  held,  in  which 
case  it  shall  be  submitted  at  such  meeting." 

How  urgently  the  situation  in  the  summer 
of  1850  called  for  a  remed}-,  or  some  substan- 
tial proxision  for  the  immediate  future,  we  may 

conclude  from  the 
fact  that  on  five  dis- 
tinct times  during 
this  summer  the 
Council  met,  but  in 
each  case  there  was 
no  quorum  :  on  July 
12,  on  July  16,  on 
July  24,  on  August 
29,  on  September  3, 
1850.  Charles  But- 
ler came  four  times, 
Mr.  Maclay  four 
times,  William  Cur- 
tis Noyes  and  the 
Rev.  Dr.  DeWitt 
three  times,  W'aldron 
H.  Tost  twice.  Rev. 
Drs.  Peck,  Phillips 
and  Potts  and  Messrs. 
John  Ta)lor  John- 
ston and  Luther 
Bradish  once  each. 
One  member  of  the 
VAN  scHAicK  Council  came  five 

times  ;  it  was  the  ever  faithful  Myndert  Van 
Schaick.  Let  this  item  have  its  permanent 
place  in  the  first  history  of  New  York 
University.  For  this  devotion  too,  in  its  way, 
was  a  devotion  to  "things  not  seen."  On 
September  10  at  last  there  was  a  quorum, 
Messrs.  Wetmore,  Rowland,  Suffern,  Su}dam 
and  Chester  joining  with  the  members  men- 
tioned before,  excepting  President  Butler.  It 
was  learned  that  Dr.  Gardiner  Spring  —  he 
was  sixty-five  years  of  age,  —  had  declined  the 
temporary  Chancellorship. 


lIlSTORr   OF   NKW    YORK    UNIVERSITY 


107 


On  September  20  Mr.  Van  Schaick  proposed 
his  plan,  severe  indeed,  but  necessary  in  that 
emerji^ency  perhaps,  to  adjust  the  actual  re- 
sources to  the  actual  situation.  This  ]ilan  was 
definitely  adopted  by  the  ("ouncil  on  January 
7,  1S51,  and  it  constituted  the  Interim;  and 
its  main  features  must  here  be  stated,  because 
it  lari^ely  placed  the  Colletj^e  in  the  hands  of  I  lie 
Professors  directly.  The  rents  of  the  Univer- 
sity buildint^s  and  dwellinL^-Iiou.ses  were  to  be 
appropriated  in  the  first  i)lace  to  the  most 
necessary  expenditures,  viz.  interest  on  the 
debt,  insurance  and  repairs.  The  Professors 
were  no  Ioniser  to  receive  any  salaries,  but 
were  to  depend  for  their  income  on  the 
fees  derivx'd  from  tuition  and  on  the  surplus 
revenues  of  the  Univer.sity.  The  1^'aculty 
were  permitted  to  apply  to  individuals  holdin;,^ 
free  scholarships  in  perpetuity  "for  the  jnu-- 
pose  of  procuring  the  relinquishment  of  as 
many  of  them  as  may  be  practicable."  This 
point  emphasized  the  inherent  weakness  of 
this  portion  of  the  original  measures  of  1S30- 
1832.  As  these  funds  had  substantial!)',  we 
believe,  been  built  into  the  Wa.shington  Square 
building,  which  was  heavily  mortgaged,  they 
were  non-productixe  there,  but  inert  as  they 
seemed  to  be  as  an  investment,  they  were 
actively  injurious  in  cancelling  tuition  and  thus 
cutting  into  the  slender  resources  remaining 
to  the  College  teachers  of  that  era. 

The  next  paragraph  even  more  clearly  em- 
phasized the  unsought  and  novel  autonomy  of 
the  College  Faculty.  No  charge  was  to  be 
made  to  the  various  Professors  for  the  use  of 
classrooms,  of  library  and  of  apparatus.  Today 
such  a  mode  of  academic  economy  would  not  be 
practicable,  we  fear.  Professor  Draper  indeed 
taught  Chemistry  and  Botany  in  the  Senior 
Class  only,  and  his  resources  through  his  Chair 
in  the  Medical  P'aculty  must  have  been  consid- 
erable. But  the  others  substantially  had  to 
depend  upon  the  tuition  fees,  and  the  analog)- 
with  the  medical  teachers  which  was  quoted 
was  not  very  substantial,  because  the  didactic 
privilege  of  almost  all  medical  teachers  in  a 
populous  community,  either  directly  or  through 


their  professional  ])upils,  was  sure  to  react 
bountifully  on  their  own  professional  practice 
and  preeminence,  a  corollary  of  a  practical  and 
lucrative  nature  utterly  wanting  in  the  case  of 
the  College  Professor,  who  nnist  ever  renew  the 
lifeblood  of  his  ])rofessional  being  by  deeper 
and  wider  research  in  his  chosen  field  of  human 
knowledge,  without  hope  or  expectation  of 
material  reward. 

A  further  im]:)ortant  provision  of  the  settle- 
ment of  1851  was  this,  that  in  the  absence  of  a 
Chancellor  tlie  I'^aculty  were  to  be  the  agents 
of  the  Council  in  this  respect.  P'or  with  their 
economic  autonomy  the  Faculty  were  given  a 
certain  academic  autonomy  as  well,  including 
"the  nomination  for  I'rofessorshijis,  the  estab- 
lishing of  new  chairs,  or  the  modifications  of 
old  ones  are  reposed  in  the  Faculty."  The 
Professors  further  were  to  furnish  to  each 
member  of  the  ("ouncil  a  printed  annual  report, 
which  they  were  to  mail  to  tlie  residences  of 
the  members. 

"Nominations  to  new  Professorships"  at 
that  .stage  of  the  College's  hi.story,  indeed 
seemed  like  a  wild  break  of  fancy  ;  we  marvel 
that  the  actual  holders  remained.  But  they 
did  remain  :  the  most  eminent  one  of  those 
wholly  occupied  with  college  duties,  lOlias 
I^oomi.s,  remained  almost  a  complete  decade 
longer.  In  that  age  when  College  teaching  had 
not  yet,  —  not  even  faintly,  —  been  advanced, 
as  now  it  is  coming  to  be,  into  the  .sphere 
of  a  definite  profession,  the  inner  vocation 
and  the  devotion  to  a  n<in-material  ideal  on 
the  part  of  the  little  band  who  were  College 
professors  from  choice  and  from  the  beginning 
of  their  career,  —  these  non-economic  motives, 
I  say,  endowed  these  men  with  a  rare  per- 
sistency and  endurance.  And  so  (a  Loomis 
today  would  probably  be  able  to  select  one  of 
.several  calls  to  flourishing  academic  founda- 
tions) they  all  remained  on  these  terms. 
Messrs.  Van  Schaick,  Johnston  and  Chester 
were  appointed  a  committee  of  the  Council  to 
communicate  with  the  Profe.s.sors.  The  Pro- 
fessors did  not  indeed  reply  immediately. 
They  jMjinted  to   circumstances  of   which   the 


io8 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR   SONS 


committee  were  aware,  "  which  occasioned 
delay  and  embarrassment  in  coming  to  a 
conclusion."  They  went  on  to  say  :  "  Relying 
however  on  the  countenance  and  cooperation 
of  the  Council  in  our  attempts  to  carry  on  the 
instruction  and  advance  the  prosperity  of  the 
Institution,  we  have  concluded  to  go  forward 
with  the  new  plan  and  to  devote  our  best 
energies  to  the  promotion  of  the  great  inter- 
ests which  the  recent  resolutions  of  the  Coun- 
cil confide  to  the  Faculty."  C.  S.  Henry,  E. 
A.  Johnson,  Jno.  W.  Draper,  Elias  Loomis. 

The  letter  is  entered  upon  the  minutes  of 
the  Council  by  the  vote  of  the  same,  as  it 
deserved  to  be.  The  reader  will  notice  that 
it  was  not  signed  by  Professor  G.  C.  Anthon 
the  young  occupant  of  the  Greek  chair,  who 
indeed  seemed  almost  from  the  beginning  to 
have  in  some  respects  insisted  upon  his  own 
way,  e.g.  in  demanding  a  salary  for  the  quarter 
ending  October  i,  1850,  to  which  the  authori- 
ties demurred,  holding  that  the  salary  should 
commence  when  the  duties  did.  Further  and 
more  serious  troubles  were  those  connected 
with  disciplinary  troubles  in  Anthon's  class- 
room. His  colleagues  e.xpressed  the  matter 
thus :  "  Unhappily  a  dissatisfaction  towards 
him  ajjpears  to  have  s])rung  up,  early  last 
term,  among  the  students  in  attendance  at  his 
lecture-room,  resulting  in  a  .series  of  acts  of 
disorder,  turbulence  and  insolence.  The  Faculty 
have  endeavored  to  the  utmost  to  sustain  his 
authority,  not  only  as  a  body  by  repeated 
inflictions  of  formal  discipline,  but  also  indi- 
vidually by  the  exertion  of  all  our  personal 
influence  over  the  students.  From  delicacy 
towards  him  in  his  new  relations  towards  us 
we  have  felt  the  more  dispo.sed  to  do  every- 
thing we  could  consi.stently  do  for  his  support, 
and  have  endeavored  to  meet  his  views  in  the 
infliction  of  discipline  with  a  more  unquestion- 
ing readiness  than  we  .should  ha\e  felt  in 
regard  to  any  other  member  of  our  body.  But 
we  have  now  come  unanimously  to  the  convic- 
tion that  Professor  Anthon's  continuance  in 
his  chair  will  be  the  greatest  possible  embar- 
rassment,  if   not    an   insuperable   difficulty  in 


the  way  of  successfully  carrying  on  the  Insti- 
tution." To  the  intimation  of  the  Council 
that  he  had  better  resign,  Anthon  replied  that 
he  declined  to  resign,  but  demanded  "  a  formal 
and  public  investigation  of  the  various  causes 
and  circumstances  which  have  led  to  the 
alleged  want  of  harmony  between  myself  and 
the  other  members  of  the  Faculty." 

The  removal  of  the  Professor  of  Greek  was 
subsequently  resolved  upon  by  the  Council  by 
a  vote  of  thirteen  out  of  eighteen,  on  April  2, 
185  I,  under  the  Presidency  of  John  C.  Green, 
who  had  been  chosen  as  successor  of  Charles 
Butler  on  January  30  of  that  year,  185 1, 
and  held  this  office  for  almost  a  quarter  of 
a  century,  to  1874.  The  resolution  provided 
that  "  in  view  of  the  communications  of  the 
professors  heretofore  made,  the  report  of  the 
committee  to  confer  with  Professor  Anthon, 
and  the  communications  of  the  Professors  and 
of  Professor  Anthon  made  this  evening  and 
without  intending  to  question  the  scholarship 
or  character  of  Professor  Anthon,  that  the 
relations  of  Professor  Anthon  to  this  Institu- 
tion be  and  the  same  are  hereby  dissolved.'' 
In  the  smaller  community  of  1850  the  local 
Colleges,  though  smaller  by  far  and  in  every 
way  less  significant  than  they  are  today,  still 
maintained  .some  particular  attention  on  the 
part  of  the  municipal  public.  Otherwise  Mr. 
Anthon  would  not  have  gone  to  the  expense  of 
publishing  a  pamphlet,  "  Narrative  and  Docu- 
ments connected  with  the  displacement  of  the 
Professor  of  the  Greek  Language  and  Litera- 
ture in  the  University  of  the  City  of  New 
York,  April  2,  185 1,  by  George  C.  Anthon, 
A.M."  Half  a  century  removes  the  .strife 
from  all  partisan  feeling,  and  the  document 
will  if  we  examine  it  candidly  give  up  some- 
thing pertinent  for  this  recital. 

It  seems  this  appointment  by  the  Council 
had  among  some  of  the  alumni  evoked  feel- 
ings which  we  today  may  fairly  designate  as 
clannish.  Within  a  day  or  two  of  the  appoint- 
ment the  latter  had  been  violently  deplored 
and  censured  by  a  meeting  of  the  alumni,  on 
the  ground   that  Mr.  Anthon  was  a  graduate. 


IIISTORr   OF   NFJV    TORK    UNIFERSI'IT 


109 


not  of  the  University,  hut  of  anothci-  Institu- 
tion (Columbia  C^olle^e),  and  a  resolution  to 
that  effect  was  publishetl  in  the  newspapers  of 
the  city.  This  narrow  spirit  of  choosin-^^ 
academic  teachers  if  possible  only  from  the 
Alumni  of  the  institution  itself  was,  it  is  true, 
fairly  jijeneral  at  that  time;  histories  ot  Yale, 
of  Columbia,  recitiui;-  with  jjrofound  satisfaction, 
in  the  first  half  of  the  century,  that  this  partic- 
ular de*;ree  of  academic  felicity  was  reached 
or  in  sight  when  the  whole  teaching  body 
was  composed  of  Alumni  exclusively.  Tliis 
clannishness,  which  would  exclude  .strength  and 
original  force,  improvement  and  jirogress  for 
the  sake  of  a  mere  fad  of  corporate  conscious- 
ness, is  rapidly  departing  at  the  present  time, 
and  no  in.stitution  desiring  to  .stand  in  the 
front  rank  would  dare  to  avow  it  today. 

That  Mr.  Anthon  was  charged  with  endeav- 
oring to  introduce  "Columbia  College  disci- 
pline "  .sounds  peculiar.  The  intimation  that 
men  like  Draper  and  Loomis  chronically 
suffered  and  submitted  to  di.sorder  in  their 
rooms  is  palpably  absurd.  It  is  clear  that  some 
of  Mr.  Anthon's  methods  of  procedure  clearly 
provoked  the  resentment  of  the  youth  of  his 
day,  and  that  he  probably  had  not  yet  reached 
that  relati\"e  maturity  of  character  and  psy- 
chological insight  to  dispose  of  the  incipient 
rebellion  in  a  wise  and  practical  manner.  Mr. 
Anthon  was  a  son  of  the  Rev.  Henry  Anthon, 
and  b\-  him  was  supplied  with  determination 
in  his  .struggle.  But  our  utterances  as  to  the 
merits  of  this  controversy  might  end  here. 
Nor  should  anyone  make  the  sweeping  infer- 
ence that  the  narrow  feeling  as  over  again.st 
Columbia  College  was  absolutely  dominant  and 
radical  in  the  younger  College,  since,  as  we 
shall  presently  see,  the  third  Chancellor,  who 
directed  the  affairs  of  the  College  much  longer 
than  his  predecessors,  was  not  only  an  Alum- 
nus of  Columbia  but  was  fond  of  referring  to 
his  old  College  in  terms  of  affectionate  regard. 
We  may  properly  for  the  sake  of  the  present 
generation  of  College  .students  and  incipient 
men  relate  some  of  the  proceedings  resorted 
to  by  the  undergraduates  of  1850-185  i  in  their 


animosity  against  )-oung  Mr.  AiUhon,  wiio  in 
his  pam])hlet  introduced  letters  not  only  of 
his  father  i)ut  also  of  one  of  his  uncles. 

"The    student    (p.    34),    a  member    of    the 
Sophomore    class,    was    among    other    things 
charged    by   me,    in    writing,    with    having    in 
mv  ])re.sence  and  during  his   attendance    with 
his   class   in   my  lecture-room,  deliberately    and 
most   insultingly  proceeded,  in   the  ])re.sence  of 
the   IVofes.sor  and  his  class,  by  the   help  of  a 
screwdriver,    to    unscrew    the    lock    from    the 
lecture-room  door;    with  interrupting   the  busi- 
ness   of    the    lecture-room    after    he    had    left 
it   by  m\'   direction  ;  with   forcibly    preventing 
the  door  of  the  lecture-room  troni  being  clo.sed, 
when  I  requested  another  student  to  close  it  so 
as   to   put   a    stoj")   to   this    interruption  ;    with 
finally  returning  to  the  room   and  peremptorily 
refusing  to  lea\e  it  on  being  directed  by  me  to 
do  so,  and  with  dis])laying  the  utmo.st  in.solence 
and    contumacy    of    manner  towards    myself." 
The    Anthons,   both    uncle  and    nephew,    inti- 
mated that    at    the  projier  time    the   Regents 
would  look  into  the  matter.      In   fact  we  may 
fairly  utter  a  belief  bordering  closely  upon  con- 
viction that  a  prime  motive  of  the  publication 
was  to  present  the  College  as  a  fit  subject  for 
a    Regents'    inspection,   or   so  to  arraign   the 
College  before  the  bar  of  public  opinion  as  to 
deal  it  a  blow  commensurate  with  the  unplea.sant 
feelings  experienced  by  the  younger  Anthon, 
and  proportionate  to  the  dignity  associated  with 
the  name  at  the  time.      On  the  whole  we  may 
leave  this  pamphlet  w^ith  the  familiar  phrase  of 
Goethe  :  "  Man  merkt   die   Absicht    und   man 
wird    verstimmt."       Whatever    merits,    if  any, 
the  young  man  may  have  had  in   the  premi.ses, 
the  abusive  and   insolent   tone  adopted  by  him 
in  the  last  twelve  to  thirteen  pages,  in   imput- 
ing to  men  like   Henry,  Draper.  Johnson  and 
Loomis  the  lowest  motives,  really  puts  him  out 
of  court. 

Meanwhile  in  the  Medical  School,  things 
had  proceeded  prosperously  enough.  When, 
in  May  1850,  the  Metlical  Faculty  communi- 
cated to  the  Council  a  nomination  of  Detmold, 
Derkson  of  Charleston  having  resigned,  they 


I  lO 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


also  stated  that  they  had  widely  advertised  the 
vacancy  both  in  the  daily  newspapers  and  in 
medical  periodicals,  and  had  thus  complied 
with  the  requirement  of  the  Council.  The 
same  statement  was  made  in  September  1850, 
when  Valentine  Mott,  the  great  surgeon,  re- 
tired, and  Samuel  Gross  was  nominated  to  take 
his  place,  and  Elihu  Bartlett  was  named  for 
the  chair  of  Detmold.  The  annual  grant 
from  the  Legislature  had   expired  in  1848   and 


Professor  of  Hygiene  and  Toxicology ;  Dr. 
T.  M.  Markoe,  Professor  of  Pathological  and 
Micro-scopical  Anatomy  ;  Dr.  W.  H.  Van  Buren, 
Professor  of  the  Genito-Urinary  Organs  ;  Dr. 
T.  J.  Met  calf,  Professor  of  Physical  Diagnosis 
(Auscultation  and  Percussion)  and  Diseases 
of  the  Chest  ;  all  appointments  being  made  for 
one  year. 

Meanwhile    the    Medical    Faculty   had   sold 
the  Stuyvesant  Institute  propert}'  on  Broadwa)' 


"  fA^  *|  tf  j.if'i  snnaww 


•••II 

iiiir 

mil 

Milt 


trmmtt 

I  lllll' 
■  ■■■■I 

Ihllll 


1  ji  wm 

HBIi 

■■■■H  pm 

^Hl 

■liiii  ImPh 

■Ml 

iiiiil   VWWi 

HPIl 

tlltii       ':-'ll« 

' 

rn^g?-^^^ 


STUYVESANT    INSTITUTE 


KlKSr    MEDICAL    BUILDING. 


had  not  been   renewed.      The  debt  still   stood 
at  $47,000. 

For  the  Medical  Commencement  in  the 
spring  of  185 1,  Profes.sor  J.  W.  Draper  was 
appointed  Chancellor  pro  icinporc  to  sign  the 
diplomas  of  the  medical  graduates.  On  Sep- 
tember 30,  185  I,  by  action  of  the  Council,  the 
teaching  force  of  the  Medical  School  was 
greatly  increased,  without  however  enlarging 
the  number  of  "governing"  professorships. 
Dr.  Charles  A.  Lee  was  appointed  Professor  of 
Medical  Jurisprudence  ;  Dr.  B.  W.  Macreadv, 


and  })urchased  a  lot  on  Fourteenth  Street,  i  16 
feet  front  by  I22i  feet,  on  which  they  erected 
an  edifice.  The  cost  of  the  ground  and  l^uild- 
ing  had  been  about  $70,000.  The  .structure 
was  begun  in  Ajiril  1851,  and  by  great  exer- 
tion was  gotten  ready  for  the  winter  term  of 
1851-1852.  The  building  contained  two  mu- 
seums, and  three  lecture-rooms  each  capable  of 
seating  nearly  si.x  hundred  persons.  In  the 
opinion  of  competent  judges  it  was  then  con- 
sidered "the  most  com])lete  Medical  College 
buildinjr     in    the     country."       The    debt    was 


IllSTOR}'   01'    NEW   YORK    UNlt^ERSlTT 


1  i  I 


540,000,  which  shows  that  the  shiltiiij^  from 
Broailway  was  in  all  ways  a  profitable  stcj). 

'Ihe  ciiccrrul  devotion  of  tlie  lillle  band  of 
the  I'rofessors  of  the  College  of  Arts  is  worthy 
of  more  than  a  passinj;  word.  Not  only  did 
ihey,  on  January  1,  1S52,  make  their  quarterly 
report  in  a  spirit  of  contentment  -  tiiounh 
how  they  subsisted  we  cannot  very  well  learn, 
nor,  if  we  wei<;h  the  data  attainable,  com- 
prehend ;  it  is  en()Ut;h  to  say  they  —  lived,  as 
Abbe  Sieyes  did  in  France  during;  the  rei^n 
of  Terror  .  .  .  ;  not  only,  we  say,  did  they 
make  their  re[)ort  in  a  si)irit  of  cheerful  con- 
tentment, but  they  also  expressed  their  j^rati- 
tude  in  these  terms  :  "  Since  the  date  of  the 
printed  report  the  tlebt  of  the  University  has 
been  reduced  by  the  sum  of  J-'our  Thousand 
Dollars.  For  this  enc()urai;ement  the  I'aculty 
offer  their  con<;Tatulations  to  the  Council,  and 
would  express  their  thanks  to  the  tried  friends 
of  the  University,  who  have  shown  that  tiieir 
liberality  is  not  yet  exhau.sted.  They  would  in 
particular  recognize  the  zeal  and  devotion  of 
the  Chairman  of  the  Finance  Committee, 
whose  energy  principalh',  they  believe,  con- 
tributed to  secure  this  gratifying  result.  Elias 
Loomis,  Chairman  of  the  I-'acultv." 

For  the  Commencement  of  March  1852, 
Professor  J.  W.  Draper  was  again  appointed 
Chancellor />/'(>  tempore  to  confer  the  degrees, 
and  the  Medical  Faculty  were  authorized  to 
affix  the  name  of  the  l'rofes.sor  of  Anatomy 
pro  tern,  to  the  diplomas  in  the  place  of  Pro- 
fessor Patter.son,  lately  deceased,  for  which 
place  Dr.  William  H.  \'an  Buren  of  New  York 
was  named  by  the  Medical  Faculty  and  elected 
by  the  Council.  Many  if  not  most  of  the 
subscribers  of  that  period  of  stress  to  pay 
the  debt,  i.e.  for  the  University  Building,  — 
the  interest  on  which  in  the  eighteen  years 
or  so  from  the  beginning  had  now  amounted 
to  a  sum  not  much  less  than  one-half  of 
the  original  cost  of  the  building  ...  —  many 
of  these  subscribers,  we  say,  made  their 
subscription  conditional  upon  the  sum  of 
S8o,ooo  being  reached  ;  this  e.g.  was  dt)ne  in 
the   case  of  John  Johnston,  whose  executors. 


John  Taylor  Johnston,  James  B.  Johnston  and 
Margaret  John.ston,  received  from  the  Univer- 
sity a  bond  that  the  $5000  subscription  of 
their  father  be  returned  to  his  heirs  if  the 
entire  jMoject  of  cancelling  the  debt  be  a  failure 
by  April  i,  i<S54  —  two  years  later.  Every 
motive  of  wi.sdom  and  economy  was  thus 
enlisted  in  the  interest  of  debt  reduction  and 
debt  cancellation. 

On  March  31,  1.S52,  Dr.  X'alentine  Mott, 
being  then  sixty-seven  years  of  age,  was  made 
P^meritus  Professor  of  Surgery  and  Surgical 
Anatomy,  and  Prof es.sor  William  H.  Van  Buren 
was  cho.sen  for  the  Chair  of  General,  Descrip- 
ti\e  and  Surgical  Anatomy.  In  June  of  this 
year  I'rofes.sor  Calel)  Sprague  Henry  resigned 
from  the  P'aculty,  and  lor  a  number  of  years 
made  his  chief  abode  in  the  Highlands  of  the 
Hudson,  where  he  placed  in  his  "  Dr.  Oldham 
at  Greystones  "  the  scene  of  his  dialogues  as 
an  American  Plat(j  of  the  nineteenth  century. 
His  friends  later  intimated  that  he  subsequently 
regretted  having  abandoned  his  academic  career, 
an  avocation  admirably  fitted  to  the  best  powers 
of  his  nature.  In  productivity,  force  and  aggres- 
siveness of  character,  he  will  always  hold  a  most 
eminent  place  in  the  annals  of  New  York 
University.  His  biographical  sketch  in  the 
second  part  of  this  work  will  present  additional 
matter  concerning  this  forceful  man.  The 
letter  of  June  28,  1852,  recommending  to  the 
Council  candidates  for  degrees,  is  signed,  in 
behalf  of  the  Facult}-,  by  Howard  Crosby, 
Secretary. 

The  catalogue  bearing  date  July  1852  is  the 
first  printed  matter  presenting  the  name  of 
this  extraordinary  man  in  connection  with  in- 
struction or  administration,  in  New  York  Uni- 
versity. He  was  twenty-six  years  old  on 
February  27,  1852.  The  College  was  twenty- 
two  years  old  as  a  corporation,  and  twenty 
as  an  abode  of  actual  teaching  and  learning. 
And  Howard  Crosby  was  the  first  Professor 
appointed  to  a  full  chair  who  was  an  alumnus  of 
New  York  University.  For  some  years  after 
his  graduation  in  1844  he  had  been  placed, 
with  an  older  brother,  on  a  farm  belonging  to 


I  I  2 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR   SONS 


his  father,  William  Bedlovv  Crosby,  one  of  the 
wealthy  men  of  New  York.  His  delicate  health 
had  caused  grave  apprehension  on  the  part  of 
his  parents,  and  the  vigorous  outdoor  life  of 
that  sojourn  in  the  Hudson  River  country  from 
his  eighteenth  to  his  twenty-first  year  was  of 
vast  benefit  to  him.  Thus  his  health  was 
strengthened  and  perhaps  that  passionate  fond- 
ness for  outdoor  life  established  which  was  so 
marked  a  trait  of  Dr.  Crosby.  Gifted  far 
beyond  the  average 
of  man,  learning  to 
read  at  three  years  of 
age,  entering  as  a  boy 
and  lad  into  all  the 
games  and  pastimes 
of  boyhood  with  a 
keen  zest,  he  himself 
often  led  regularly 
organized  bands  of 
comrades  of  his  par- 
ticular section  and 
neighborhood  to  bat- 
tle with  other  bands, 
as  I  have  heard  him 
relate  in  the  delight- 
ful supper-talk  of  the 
Greek  Club.  Versa- 
tile to  a  degree,  he 
was  at  the  same  time 
the  very  embodiment 
of  zeal  and  whole- 
souled  sincerity.  Sev- 
eral years  before  1852 
he  had  spent  in  for- 
eign travel  with  his  bride  ;  of  which  travel  his 
"Lands  of  the  Moslem"  (New  York,  1851) 
was  a  refle.x  and  a  review.  In  Egypt,  the 
Levant  and  classic  Greece  he  thus  gained 
priceless  suggestions  and  impressions ;  these 
years  of  superb  opportunity  afterwards  bore 
fruit  not  only  in  his  earliest  classic  production, 
the  edition  of  Sophocles's  (Edipus  of  Kolonos, 
but  in  biblical,  particularly  in  New  Testament, 
exegesis. 

Crosby    with    his    extraordinary    power    of 
swaying  younger  men,  and  with  his  impulsive 


HOW.\RD    CROSBY 


hatred  of  whatever  was  viciou.s,  ignoble  and 
bad,  readily  followed  where\"er  the  battle  of  a 
rich  and  \aried  life  called,  so  that  he  perhaps 
never  quite  reached  that  technical  perfection 
of  scholarship  which  in  our  own  generation, 
with  the  vastly  increased  opportunity  of  life- 
long pursuit  of  one  chosen  field,  is  more  and 
more  coming  to  be  frequent,  although  not 
quite  so  common  as  yet,  perhaps,  as  to  be 
commonplace.     Clearly  the  Facult)-  with  their 

power  of  initiative 
seem  to  have  taken 
steps  to  secure  him 
upon  his  return,  not 
long  after  which  he 
published  the  play  of 
Sophocles  named 
above.  There  must 
ha\'e  been  in  him  as 
a  teacher  of  Greek  a 
certain  off-hand  en- 
thusiasm, if  not  a  cer- 
tain impetuosity,  so 
that  he  often  exer- 
cised his  students  in 
having  them  put  on 
the  blackboard  in  a 
Greek  dress  the  sub- 
stance of  editorials  or 
current  topics  derived 
from  the  press  of  the 
day  :  whether  the 
a  \'  e  rage  power  o  f 
the  average  under- 
graduate could  really 
keep  pace  with  the  enthusiastic  advance  of 
the  gifted  leader  we  are  not  enabled  fully  to 
estimate  or  decide  now. 

Our  surmise  that  the  Faculty,  and  not  the 
Council,  took  the  initiative  in  the  matter  of 
Dr.  Crosby's  entrance  into  the  Faculty,  is  con- 
firmed by  the  following  minute  of  the  Council, 
of  date  June  28,  1S52  :  "The  following  com- 
munication from  Professor  E.  Loomis,  Chair- 
man of  the  Faculty,  was  read  :  '  At  a  meeting 
of  the  Faculty  of  the  University  held  June  28, 
1852,  it  was  unanimously  Resolved,  that  Rev. 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK    UNIVERSITY 


1  I 


3 


Henry  D.  Tappan,  D.D.,  be  nominated  to  the 
Professorship  ol  Mental  and  Moral  I'hilosophy, 
History  and  IV-llcs-Lettres,  made  vacant  by 
the  resi^niation  of  Professor  Henry.  Also, 
Resolved  unanimously  that  Howard  Crosby, 
A.M.,  be  nominated  to  fill  the  Professorship  of 
the  dreek  Language  and  Literature.'" 

Hut  Henry  Tai^i^an  soon  afterwards  entered 
upon  the  mo.st  important  part  of  his  career  in 
assuming  the  Presidency  of  the  University  of 
Michigan,  at  Ann  Arbor,  and  thus  this  inter- 
esting rea]")pointment  of  Dr.  Tapi)an  to  his  old 
post  which  he  had  lo.st  as  one  of  the  Seven  of 
1838,  was  indeed  mainly  a  symbol  of  the  fact 
that  time  had  healed  the  wounds  made  by  the 
convulsion  of  that  year. 

And  this  fresh  and  rapidly  recurring  vacancy 
was  the  particular  and  specific  circumstance 
which  led  to  the  appointment  of  the  third 
Chancellor,  the  Rev.  Ur.  Isaac  P'erris.  This 
gentleman,  then  fifty-four  years  of  age,  a 
graduate  of  Columbia  18 16,  had  mainly 
served  as  minister  in  the  Reformed  Dutch 
denomination,  at  New  Brun.swick,  Albany,  and 
in  the  City  of  New  York  ;  he  being  at  the  time 
Pastor  of  the  Market  Street  Reformed  Dutch 
Church.  His  admirable  faculty  for  educational 
labor  he  had  proven  in  his  organization  of 
Rutgers  Female  Institute  in  1839,  —  of  which 
he  also  was  the  fir.st  President,  —  which  was 
then  the  foremost  school  in  New  York  City  for 
the  education  of  y(,)ung  women,  to  the  flourishing 
condition  of  which  we  have  briefly  adverted  on 
a  preceding  page.  And  the  present  chronicler 
notes  that  the  suggestion  to  secure  Dr.  Ferris 
emanated,  not  from  the  Council,  but  from  the 
College  Faculty,  into  whose  daily  lives  the  debt 
of  the  College  and  the  question  and  problem  of 
debt-reduction  entered  with  telling  force. 

And  so  Elias  Loomis  and  his  colleagues 
named  Dr.  Ferris  j^rimarily  to  be  Professor  in 
succession  to  Dr.  Tappan.  But  we  will  best 
serve  the  cause  of  this  history  by  appending  the 
document  itself  (the  communication  had  been 
sent  to  the  Council  at  its  meeting  of  November 
19,  1852,  and  was  spread  on  the  minutes  of 
the  session  of  November  24):     "The  Faculty 


of  Science  and  Letters  being  deeply  impressed 
with  the  necessity  of  a  vigorous  effort  to  relie\e 
the  in.stitution  from  the  burden  of  its  debt,  and 
believing  that  this  end  may  be  attained  and 
the  welfare  of  the  University  be  permanently 
promoted  by  securing  the  services  of  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Ferris  of  this  City,  hereby  present  the  name 
of  Dr.  I'erris  for  the  Profes.sor.ship  of  Moral 
Philo.sophy  and  L\idences  of  Christianity,  and 
propose  there  be  added  thereto  the  title  of 
Chancellor.  It  is  distinctly  understood  that 
the  present  resources  of  the  University  are  not 
sufficient  to  provide  for  any  such  appointment, 
and  the  nomination  is  only  made  in  the  expec- 
tation that  the  appointment  will  be  followed  by 
the  payment  of  the  University  debt,  in  which 
ca.se  the  income  will  be  relieved  from  the 
burden  of  interest  and  would  allow  an  adequate 
salary  of  the  new  incumbent.  Elias  Loomis, 
New  York  University,  November  17,  1852, 
Chairman  of  the  P'aculty."  And  so  by  separate 
and  .successive  acts  of  the  Council,  Dr.  Ferris 
was  elected  Professor  of  Moral  Philosophy  and 
Evidences  of  Christianity,  and  al.so  there  was 
conferred  upon  him  the  title  of  Chancellor, 
with  authority  to  perform  the  duties  of  that 
office,  but  without  salary  in  either  capacity. 
And  in  the  January  following,  1853,  Dr.  Ferris 
was  elected  to  the  Council,  and  he  accepted  all 
the.se  posts  with  the  under.standing  that  a 
pro])er  compensation  should  be  fixed,  to  be 
paid  after  the  extinction  of  the  debt  was  .secured 
and  provided  for. 

And  so  for  once  the  corporation  chose  a 
man  who  was  to  do  "  this  one  thing,"  —  and  did 
it.  In  the  Report  to  the  Regents  made  about 
this  time,  Howard  Cro.sby,  A.M.,  was  returned 
as  "  Assistant  Professor  of  Greek  and  Belles- 
Lettres,"  i.e.  he  instructed  also  in  composition 
and  declamation,  as  did  Mr.  Redfield,  who  was 
Assistant  Professor  of  Mathematics.  The  debt 
in  January  1853  stood  at  $68,796.30,  having 
been  reduced  from  $77,796.30  since  October  i, 
1851.  Rents  stood  at  the  very  considerable 
figure  of  $7720.35. 

The  Medical  Professors  nearly  a  year  before 
had  proposed  discontinuing  the  payment  of  the 


114 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR   SONS 


graduation  fee  to  the  University,  and  now  at 
last  a  compromise  was  made  on  the  payment 
of  a  part  of  the  former  fee  into  the  Treasury 
of  the  University,  the  arrears  then  due  to  the 
University  being  paid  or  arranged.  Dr.  John 
A.  Swett  of  New  York  City  was  named  to 
succeed  Dr.  Clymer,  resigned,  in  the  Chair 
of  the  Institute  and  Practice  of  Medicine.  In 
the  spring  e.xamina- 
tions  of  i<S53  the 
work  of  the  classes 
was  witnessed  by 
three  gentlemen  of 
the  Council,  and  by 
Drs.  Webster  and 
Owen  of  the  Free 
Academy  and  by  Pro- 
fessor Avery  of  Ham- 
ilton College. 

The  matter  of  the 
graduation  fee  from 
the  Medical  School 
was  almost  immedi- 
ately reopened  ;  the 
financial  necessities  of 
that  professional 
school  being  particu- 
larly embarrassing  at 
this  time,  and  may 
have  contributed  one 
of  the  motives  which 
induced  Professor  J. 
W.  Draper  to  propo.se 
his  retiring  from  the 
College  Faculty  ;  the 
figures  of  attendance 
in  that  school  since 
the  high  water  mark  of  421  in  1847-1848 
having  been  as  follows:  In  1848- 1849,  411  ; 
in  1849-1850,404;  in  1852-1853,290.  Was 
it  the  withdrawal  of  Valentine  Mott  from  active 
teaching  that  caused  the  decline  ? 


ISAAC     FKRRIS 


The  meeting  of  the  Council  of  June  15, 
1853,  deserves  particular  attention  on  the  part 
of   the  friends   and  alumni  of   the  University 


College,  for  on  this  date,  when  the  College  had 
neared  the  completion  of  twenty-one  years  of 
teaching  and  learning,  the  Chancellor  reported 
that  in  his  judgment  the  amount  required  to 
liquidate  the  debt  of  the  University  had  been 
pledged.  And  as  a  practical  consequence  the 
Council  abrogated  the  commission  which  it  had 
made  to  the  Faculty.     They  also  determined  to 

appoint  an  Assistant 
Treasurer,  with  a 
salary  of  $300,  who 
should  give  bonds  for 
$5,000.  They  also 
made  the  Chancellor 
a  member  ex-officio  of 
the  F'inance  Commit- 
tee. Furthermore 
they  "  Resolved,  that 
the  tlianks  of  this 
Council  and  of  all  the 
friends  of  the  Univer- 
sity are  eminently  due 
and  arc  hereby  ten- 
dered to  the  Faculty 
oi  Science  and  Let- 
ters, with  whom  the 
arrangement  of  1851 
was  made,  for  their 
magnanimity  and  ])er- 
.sonal  sacrifices  in  the 
dark  days  of  the  In- 
stitution." Dr.  Ben- 
jamin Martin  was 
appointed  Professor 
of  Intellectual  Philos- 
ophy, History  and 
Belles-Lettres.  The 
Commencement  took  place  on  June  29,  at 
Niblo's  theatre,  and  in  the  attendance  of  nota- 
bles of  church  and  state  was  probably  the 
most  noted  academic  celebration  in  the  history 
of  the  College. 

It  was  on  this  occasion,  enlivened  by  the 
strains  of  Dodworth's  orchestra,  that  the 
public  inauguration  of  Chancellor  Ferris  took 
place.  Our  space  forbids  us  doing  more  than 
selecting   a    few    points    from    his     inaugural 


lllS'r(Jl<]'   (jF   NEJV    YORK    LMl  I'.RSl'lT 


I'S 


address:  "Permit  mo  to  say,  in  siuli  position 
I  have  no  personal  ends  to  answer,  no  small 
ambition  to  ^ratily,  no  loudness  lor  applause 
to  induli;e  ;  my  aim  will  be  to  secure  the 
hi:;hest  welfare  ot  our  common  chari;e."'  — 
"ThrouLiha  kind  l'ro\  itlence,  our  debt  is  pro- 
vided lor;  but  we  need  more.  There  should 
bo  eiulowment,  to  secure  us  ai;ainst  the  lluctu- 
ations  of  patronage,  to  <;ive  permanence  to  our, 
position."  The  debt  Dr.  I'"erris  called  "that 
clog,  I  am  disposed  to  believe,  the  last  remnant 
of  the  fearful  business  prostration  of  the  spring 
of  1837."  —  "Of  this  interest  and  feeling  the 
University  is  worthy.  Citizens  of  New  York 
it  is  your  own.  No  state  or  ecclesiastic  has 
endowed  it  ;  your  own  contributions  have  made 
it  what  it  is.''  —  "We  have  no  new  project  to 
offer  you.  We  need  none.  We  ha\e  only  to 
carry  out  the  original  [)lan  of  this  institution." 

At  this  Commencement  L\iiian  Abbott  and 
Ogden  Butler  graduated,  antl  certificates  for 
partial  course  were  given  amongst  others  to 
Joseph  Nimmo,  who  afterwards  attained  emi- 
nence as  a  statistician  in  the  service  of  the 
United  States  government,  and  to  T.  De  Witt 
Talmage  of  Bound  Brook,  New  Jersey ;  the 
latter  delivered  an  oration  on  "The  Moral 
Effects  of  Sculpture  and  Architecture."  The 
New  York  Tribune  of  the  ne.xt  day  said  of  him : 
"  Mr.  Talmage  is  said  to  be  the  orator  of  his 
class,  and  the  roars  of  laughter  and  applause 
which  greeted  his  humor,  and  the  s\m[xithy 
which  responded  to  his  pathos,  showed  plainly 
that  his  reputation  did  not  suffer  in  this  ca.se." 
—  "He  retired  amid  a  furor  of  applause  and  a 
load  of  flowers,  wreaths,"  etc.  Lyman  Abbott 
delivered  the  Philosophical  Oration — -"Super- 
stition the  Parent  of  Science."  He  "  retired  amid 
cheers  and  bouc[uets  innumerable."  In  the 
evening  the  alumni  had  a  dinner  at  the  Astor 
House,  when  addresses  were  made  by  Corne- 
lius Matthews,  Hon.  Charles  Butler,  Professor 
Martin,  Oakey  Hall  and  others :  the  most 
important  of  these  speeches  being  that  of 
S.  F.  B.  Morse,  when  he  spoke  of  his  invention 
and  its  connection  with  the  University  and  the 
structure  in  Washington  Square,  a   statement 


which  we  ha\e  presented  above,  and  which  ])r. 
Irenaeus  Prime  has  used  in  his  biography  of 
Professor  Mor.se. 

The  local  press  of  i<S5  3  .seems  to  have  taken 
some  particular  note  of  the  fact  that  the  College 
at  last  was  free  from  debt,  although  this  note 
was  not  al  all  always  cast  in  a  friendly  spirit. 
Professor  iJiaper  h;id,  as  no  small  i)art  of  this 
celebration  of  the  emanci|)ation  from  this 
incubus  of  the  debt,  delivered  an  Address  to 
the  ^Alumni  of  the  University,  on  the  afternoon 
of  June  2S,  1853,  on  "The  Indebtedness  of 
the  City  of  New  York  to  its  University."  He 
eidarged  mainly  on  tiie  electric  telegraph,  and 
on  the  daguerrotype,  to  defend  the  Institution's 
right  to  be:  "In  the  United  States,  the 
measure  too  often  a[)i)lieil  is  the  number  of 
students  —  a  standard  wholly  fallacious.  All 
the  world  assigns  the  glory  of  the  immortal 
discoveries  of  Newton  to  the  University  of 
Cambridge  ;  but  does  any  one  tnjuble  himself 
to  inquire  how  many  students  were  there  in 
those  times.'*  —  What  obligation  is  Professor 
Morse  under  to  the  City  .-'  Who  is  the  debtor  .'' 
Have  the  mercantile  interests  given  to  the  Uni- 
versity one  thousandth  part  of  the  benefit  it  has 
conferred  on  them  .■•  Have  not  millions  u[)(m 
millions  been  made  on  the  news  of  the  steam- 
ships in  Halifa.x  and  Boston  .-'  Do  they  not  send 
to  New  Orleans  and  back  in  a  single  morning  ? 
Nay,  more  !  let  us  leave  these  poor  and  perish- 
able interests  and  look  to  grander  results. 
Has  anything  been  done  to  bind  together 
this  great  confederacy  of  republics  [clearly 
written  before  i860]  more  effectual  than  those 
iron  wires.'*  Have  they  not  given  that  con- 
solidation which  our  greatest  statesmen  saw  the 
value  of — and  despaired  .-*  Have  they  not 
made  it  possible  for  the  Government  at  Wash- 
ington to  rule  over  the  entire  Continent  .•*  " 

Noble  words  and  memorable,  true  in  every 
respect.  And  of  his  own  researches  and 
extended  investigation  of  the  chemical  action  of 
the  sunlight.  Draper  could  say  with  pardonable 
pride  :  (p.  i  3)  "  In  the  Annual  Reports  on  the 
Progress  of  Chemistry  made  to  the  Royal 
Society  of  Sweden,  Baron  Berzelius,  the  highest 


ii6 


UNIVERSITIES  JND    THEIR    SONS 


authority  among  modern  chemists,  spoke  of 
them  uniformly  with  applause,  never  once  with 
critical  condemnation.  It  is  an  interesting 
recollection  that  this  great  chemist,  a  few  days 
before  his  death,  sent  his  portrait  with  a  kind 
message  conveying  his  appreciation  of  what 
had  been  done  here  for  Science.  A  commission 
of  the  French  Academy  repeated  one  of  our 
series  of  experiments,  and  verified  its  correct- 
ness ;  a  committee  of  the  British  Association 
for  the  Advancement  of  Science,  another.  In 
England,  one  of  the  most  eminent  living 
astronomers.  Sir  John  Herschel,  ctmiposed  a 
memoir  on  an  experimental  illustration  which 
had  been  sent  from  this  place  ;  and  the  German 
chemists  repeated  a  great  many  of  our  experi- 
ments and  discussed  the  explanations  we  had 
given." — "Extensive  researches,  such  as  are 
here  .spoken  of,  can  only  be  carried  on  at  a 
heavy  cost.  It  will  excite  a  smile  among  you 
to  learn  that  the  amount  devoted  to  the  support 
of  the  laboratory,  and  intended  also  to  meet  the 
expenses  of  the  course  of  lectures  delivered  to 
the  Senior  Clas.s,  was  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  dollars  a  year  ;  and,  of  late,  even  that  has 
ceased.  Yet,  during  the  last  fourteen  years, 
the  actual  expenses  incurred  have  been  many 
thousand  dollars;  and  it  may,  with  perfect 
truth,  be  said  that  the  entire  .sum  has  come, 
not  from  the  City,  not  from  the  University 
Treasury,  but  from  the  private  resources  of  a 
single  individual.  Now  that  our  accommoda- 
tions are  so  much  improved,  we  can  afford  to 
talk  about  those  times.  Our  laboratory  was 
then  in  a  little,  dark  back  room,  without  ventila- 
tion. The  morning  sun  struggled  almost  in 
vain  to  see  what  we  were  doing  —  for  the 
window  panes  were  covered  with  an  incongru- 
ous arrangement  of  Venetian  blinds  and  Gothic 
mullions.  A  hole  in  the  ceiling  led  up  into  the 
chapel  above,  to  the  pulpit  of  which  the  material 
for  the  daily  lecture  was  carried  in  a  tea-tray." 
The  critical  and  censorious  part  of  this  pa- 
per, which  throughout  is  written  with  admirable 
clearness,  is  full  of  matter  indicating  the  type 
and  character  of  current  College  work,  as  it  was 
fifty  years  ago.     The  classics  as  then  pursued  he 


finds  fault  with:  "the  time  is  not  devoted  to 
the  philosophy,  literature,  history,  of  those 
ancient  people  —  it  is  wasted  in  practicing  the 
mechanical  art  of  translating  ; "  these  he  calls 
the  ornamental  branches  which  ought  to  follow, 
while  "  the  practical  branches  must  take  the 
lead  and  bear  the  weight."  We  have  the  plea 
for  the  "  practical  sciences."  Draper  calls  upon 
the  wealthy  to  foster  these ;  he  desires  to  turn 
the  University  into  a  School  of  Applied  Science, 
in  the  main,  without  however  cutting  away  the 
features  of  the  actual  cc|uipmcnt  which  was  so 
admirable  in  preparing  for  the  study  of  divinity. 
Academic  honors,  academic  bounties,  should  be 
made  more  even  on  the  literary  and  scientific 
side.  There  .should  also  be  some  form  of  free 
instruction  for  artisans  of  an  evening  :  the 
University  must  become  really  something  filling 
the  needs  of  the  common  people.  Dr.  Draper 
pleaded  for  —  trade-schools,  for  a  Pratt  Insti- 
tute, for  Lectures  for  the  people.  We  have 
these,  to-day,  and  they  fill  a  valuable  place  in 
our  educational  system,  but  neither  Columbia 
University  nor  New  York  University  strove  at 
any  time  to  metamorphose  themselves  into  such 
forms  of  exclusive  technical  training  or  popular 
entertainment,  and  truly  they  were  right  in 
refusing  to  do  so. 

Time  has  disposed  of  these  plaints  and  pleas. 
A  confident  and  dogmatic  article  in  the  current 
daily  press  of  those  days,  "The  University  at 
the  Bar,"  forms  a  valuable  complement  to 
Draper's  points,  and  .some  of  the.sc  discussions 
fully  deserve  some  i)lace  in  this  work,  which 
desires  in  itself  to  be  a  contribution  to  the  hi.s- 
tory  of  American  Education.  We  are  told  that 
it  is  ab.surd  to  require  Greek  and  Latin  as  pre- 
requisites for  entering;  the  Medical  Department 
has  been  successful  ;  but  where  would  it  have 
been  had  it  exacted  rigid  requirements  for 
entrance ! 

Draper  had  demanded  ihat  at  the  cud  of  the 
College  training  the  student  should  have  a  liv- 
ing ready  for  him  (p.  19).  "It  is  this  combina- 
tion which  crowds  our  Medical  Colleges.  They 
give  a  thorough  education  (?)  [italics  our  own] ; 
and  that  completed,  the  lucrative  practice  of 


HISTORY   OF   NEIV   YORK    UNIVERSITY 


117 


medicine  is  the  result."  Set  over  against  this 
the  voice  in  the  article  named  above  :  "  I'Or 
ignorance,  incapacity  and  ciuacker)',  the  world 
may  safely  he  challenj^ed  to  match  the  youn<; 
doctors  and  medical  students  so  plentiful  among 
us.  But  these  deficiencies  form  no  fair  pretext 
tor  exckidinj;  any  from  the  lecture-rooms  and 
laboratories  where  true  Medical  Science  is 
inculcated  ;  on  the  contrary,  they  are  reasons 
for  cheapening  the  instruction  and  opening 
wider  the  doors." 

The  democratic  doctrine  that  one  man  is  as 
good  as  another,  with  the  ready  corollary  that 
one  youth  is  as  good  as  another,  that,  because 
their  political  rights  are  absolutely  ec|ual,  there- 
fore their  intellectual  ambition  and  their  aspira- 
tions and  ideals  —  the  strongest  factors  of 
intellectual  advancement  —  must  needs  be 
equal,  this  proposition  was  a  symptom  of  the 
crude  current  sneer  at  learning,  p.sychology 
and  —  common  .sense.  The  belief  that  in 
higher  education,  not  less  than  in  common 
.schools,  we  could  blaze  our  own  way  and  brush 
away  all  obstacles  with  sweeping  phrase,  that 
we  had  nothing  to  learn  from  the  experience  of 
our  race  in  its  older  civilization,  has  pretty  well 
gone  to  seed  at  the  present  time.  We  are  not 
proud  of  that  crudeness,  but  we  must  not  close 
our  eyes  to  it  in  a  survey  like  the  present  one. 

These  are  ideals  which  have  been  honestly 
realized,  e.g.  in  Girard  College,  Philadelphia; 
the  number  enrolled  there  in  1899  was  1538. 
From  the  list  of  occupations  given  in  the 
Superintendent's  report,  it  appears  (New  York 
Sun)  "  that  only  one  of  the  graduates  is  study- 
ing in  a  College,  only  one  in  a  Divinity  School, 
one  in  a  Law  School  and  one  in  a  Medical 
School.  With  these  four  exceptions  all  are 
engaged  in  industry  or  trade."  And  .still  the 
subjects  of  instruction  in  the  famous  Philadel- 
phia charity  are  the  very  ones  which  the  censors 
of  1853  demanded  from  New  York  University  : 
"Geography,  Navigation,  Surveying,  Practical 
Mathematics,  Astronomy,  Natural,  Experi- 
mental and  Chemical  Philosophy,  the  French 
and  Spanish  languages."  .  .  .  Education  even 
in  its  humblest  forms  is  an  elevating  process, 


and  an  unlolding  of  the  inner  man  outwardly  ; 
at  no  stage  or  grade  is  education  a  leveling 
process. 

We  have  thus  fully  dwelt  u|)on  these  ideas 
which  clearly  were  very  powerful  in  1853,  as 
they  had  been  in  1830;  they  still  formed  the 
staple  of  the  clamor  of  current  critici.sm,  and 
they  began  to  seriously  imjjress  Chancellor 
h'erris.  In  fact  it  will  presmitly  become  mani- 
fest that  the  'I'iiird  .Achninistration,  feeling 
around  lur  support  on  tliese  lines,  more  and 
more  aimed  at  a  policy  which  finally  was  en- 
acted in  the  Fourth  Administration,  and  which 
at  first  blush  .seemed  enimenlly  "  popular  "  : 
free  tuition. 

On  September  30,  1853,  a  lengthy  commu- 
nication, largely  revolving  around  giving  young 
men  who  were  not  in  the  general  course, 
mstruction  in  general  science,  was  jircsented 
in  the  Council.  Dr.  Draper  had  an  idea  of 
|)ro|)osing  a  course  of  Practical  Chemistry.  It 
was  suggested  to  institute  courses  of  evening 
instruction  for  young  men  desirous  of  securing 
higher  literary  and  scientific  training  :  and  Pro- 
fessors Giraud,  Bull  (who  had  recently  entered 
the  I-'aculty  after  a  long  experience  of  practice 
in  teaching  in  the  University  Grammar  School), 
and  C.  Murray  Nairne  be  invited  to  form 
evening  classes  in  French,  Civil  Engineering, 
Moral  and  Intellectual  Philosophy,  etc.,  respect- 
ively. Both  expense  and  emoluments  were  to 
belong  to  the  lecturers.  Professor  Cummings 
in  his  studio  was  to  give  University  Courses  in 
the  Arts  of  Design.  The  Council  —  what  would 
be  their  share  in  this  expansion  and  populari- 
zation of  Education.''  They  were  to  reserve  to 
them.selves  a  function  eminently  dignified  and 
free  from  annoyance  or  trouble  ;  they  were  to 
grant  Certificates  of  Proficiency,  and  publish 
the  name  of  these  proficients  in  the  Catalogue. 
Even  the  small  chapel  might  occasionally  be 
used,  and  the  janitor's  services  were  put  at  the 
disposal  of  the  lecturers  —  provided  that  the 
latter  pay  all  incidental  or  additional  expense. 
It  was  a  scheme  of  free  instruction,  and  still 
some  one  must  ah^'oys  pay  for  it,  —  whether 
private  bounty  or  public  taxation. 


ii8 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


In  October  1853  the  rents  of  the  Uni- 
versity amounted  to  S8744.  Among  the 
tenants  recorded  was  the  headmaster  of  the 
Grammar  School,  who  now  paid  $1000  rent; 
Dr.  Gallaudet's  Deaf-Mute  Church,  which 
paid  S300 ;  the  New  York  Academy  of  Music 
held  monthly  meetings  in  the  small  chapel  at 
$84  per  annum  ;  Professor  Draper  paid  $300 
for  his  private  laboratory ;  The  New  York 
Historical  Society  had  three  rooms  at  $500 
per  annum  ;  The  Christ  Protestant-Episcopal 
Church  paid  $1050  for  use  of  the  large  chapel. 
The  hou.se  on  Washington  Place  brought  3900, 
and  that  on  VVaverly  Place  $1200.  It  is  some- 
where in  the  middle  part  of  this  decade  that 
the  novel  of  Cecil  Dreeme,  by  Theodore 
Winthrop,  is  supposed  to  transpire,  largely  in 
the  studios  of  the  University  Building.  It  is 
a  morbid  production  in  every  way.  The  writer 
clearly  is  under  the  spell  of  Charles  Dickens, 
without  a  trace  of  the  deep  spring  of  genius 
with  which  the  great  novelist  swayed  the 
emotions  of  his  readers.  The  characters 
are  overdrawn  and  the  chronic  efforts  of  the 
author  to  be  witty  or  profound  are  very  pain- 
ful to  a  matured  reader  :  yet  the  designation 
of  "Chrysalis  College"  is  not  without  point. 

In  his  final  report  written  June  21,  1854, 
of  the  actual  and  definite  extinction  of  the 
debt,  Chancellor  Ferris,  who  had  spent  a  most 
anxious  and  laborious  year  in  accomplishing 
this  work,  mentioned  with  particular  warmth 
the  name  of  Myndert  Van  Schaick,  who 
stepped  forward,  when  Dr.  Ferris  was  on  the 
point  of  abandoning  the  work  in  despair,  and 
made  a  donation  of  {5 1000  instead  of  l^ioo, 
and  this  was  in  addition  to  a  subscription  of 
1^5000  toward  the  debt. 

The  Chancellor  expressed  a  hope  that  posi- 
tive endowment  of  \arious  Professorships  might 
now  be  secured,  and  that  fellowships  (the  first 
occurrence  of  the  term  in  the  annals  of  the 
College)  might  be  provided  for  the  prosecution 
of  scientific  studies  after  a  College  course  was 
completed.  A  little  further  below  there  is 
engrossed  the  final  report  of  the  Finance  Com- 
mittee,   consisting   of    Messrs.    Myndert    Van 


Schaick,  William  Curtis  Noyes  and  Shepard 
Knapp,  —  a  report  written  out  with  the 
elegance  of  a  finished  lithograph  —  which 
bespeaks  the  profound  concern  for  the  Univer- 
sity's welfare  and  shows  that  particularly  to  Mr. 
Van  Schaick  it  had  from  the  beginning  been 
an  object  bound  up  with  his  very  being.  Alone 
of  the  founders  he  still  sat  in  the  Council.  He 
raised  a  warning  voice  in  these  terms  :  "  Mem- 
bers of  this  body  should  reflect  maturely  before 
they  undertake  to  disturb  the  vital  principle  of 
our  present  siifety  by  suggestions  for  a  re- 
turn to  the  former  ill-contrived  and  uncertain 
method  of  financial  direction  and  arrangement, 
according  to  the  partial  and  limited  views  of 
an  occasional  meeting  of  the  Council,  which,  if 
it  is  again  pursued,  without  a  very  large  addi- 
Uon  to  the  income  of  the  Corporation  having 
been  fir.st  obtained,  will  inevitably  terminate 
in  the  ignominious  disaster  of  a  literary  institu- 
tion being  a  sect)nd  time  degraded  in  its  char- 
acter and  obstructed  in  its  progress  by  the 
servile  incumbrance  of  monied  obligations." 

"  A  closing  word  as  to  the  past,  present, 
and  future  :  Contrast  the  condition  of  a  great 
literary  institution,  struggling  for  existence, 
agonized  with  fear,  begging  for  grace  and 
refused,  seeking  for  repose  and  finding  none, 
the  Council  breaking  up  in  uncertainty  of 
their  safety,  and  afterwards  eight  times  called 
together  under  the  most  pressing  circum- 
stances without  forming  a  quorum  ;  and  that 
of  the  University  of  the  City  of  New  York 
free  of  debt  and  without  anxiety  maintaining 
its  superiority,  by  its  calm  virtue  and  noble 
acquirements  dispensing  the  light  of  knowl- 
edge to  the  eager  ambition  of  youthful  hopes 
and  winning  the  affections  of  gratified  crowds 
of  friends.  See  the  Council  now  moving  to 
the  commencement  celebration,  not  with  only 
two  members  to  authorize  the  signing  of 
diplomas,  but  a  full  representation  smiling 
and  happy  in  the  enjoyment  of  a  station  and  an 
intercourse  among  men  inferior,  for  pure  and 
cultivated  minds,  to  none  in  the  land.  If  we 
are  unselfish  and  Christian  freemen,  we  shall 
at   least    endeavor    to  promote  the   arrival   of 


HISTORT   OF  NEW  YORK    UNIVERSITY 


119 


that  clay,  thouijh  \vc  may  not  live  to  enjoy  its 
glory  ••  —  ! 

At  the  coinnicnrenient  of  1S55  the  (le<,ace 
of  Doetor  of  Musie  was  bestowed  upon  Lowell 
Mason,  then  of  New  York  C'ity.  On  October 
25,  1855,  tlie  Chancellor  proposed  a  motion, 
that  "from  wwd  after  this  date  this  Council 
will  confer  the  decree  of  Hachelor  in  Science 
on  such  students  as  have  successfully  ])ursued 
the  various  branches  of  Science  for  three  years 
and  whose  examination  in  the  same  shall  be 
sustained  by  the  Faculty  of  Arts,"  which  was 
adopted.  The  first  graduate  however  who 
received  this  degree  was  James  J.  Cillette  of 
the  Class  of  1.S5  i. 

■  Meanwhile  the  I'^aculty  of  the  Medical  Col- 
lege of  New  York  University  had  accom- 
plished a  great  and  laborious  work  ;  i.e.  the 
legalization  of  dissection  of  the  human  body  in 
the  State  of  New  York.  The  ver.satile  Ur. 
Draper  had,  in  1S53,  fortified  the  "Petition  of 
the  Medical  I^^aculty  of  the  University  of  the 
City  of  New  \'ork  to  the  Honorable  the  Senate 
and  Assembly  of  the  State  of  New  York,  for 
the  State  of  New  York,  for  the  Legalization 
of  Anatomy"  by  an  admirable  Introductory 
Lecture.  In  vain  he  called  attention  to  the 
glaring  inconsistency  of  a  commonwealth  which 
imposed  on  Medical  teachers  the  obligation 
to  teach  Anatomy,  and  yet  by  another  law 
declared  that  whosoever  should  be  convicted  of 
dissecting  the  dead  .should  be  .sent  to  tlie  State 
Pri.son.  In  vain  did  the  accomplished  .scientist 
show  how  in  Italy,  with  freedom  of  anatomy, 
eminent  discoveries  had  been  made  for  the 
benefit  of  mankind,  .services  a.ssociated  with 
the  names  of  Eu.stachiu,s,  of  Fallopius,  of  Val- 
salva, Varolius,  Vidius  and  Salvatclla.  In  vain 
did  Professor  Draper  in  his  argument  marshal 
facts  of  charities  accompli.shed  and  regularly 
offered  by  the  medical  profession ;  not  less 
than  two  thousand  persons  were  relieved  each 
year  in  surgical  clini(|ues  under  Professors 
Mott,  Po.st  and  \'an  Buren.  In  the  obstetric 
clinique  under  Professor  Bedford,  there  had 
been  presented  since  its  commencement,  in 
October  1850,  more  than  five  thousand  cases. 


But  too  .strong  and  deep  as  yet  was  the  popu- 
lar prejudice,  for  to  hear  named  the  very  word 
"dis.section,"  was  to  imagine  human  hyenas 
despoiling  the  graves  of  their  dead. 

The  sub.stantial  distinction  ol  accompli.shing 
the  legal  abrogation  of  that  law  mu.st  always 
be  as.sociated  with  the  name  of  Dr.  Martyn 
Paine,  Professor  of  Materia  Medica  and  Thera- 
peutics at  this  time.  Larly  in  1854  Dr.  Paine 
went  to  Albany,  for  it  was  a  statutory  necessity 
that  two-thirds  of  all  tho.se  elected  to  the  Legi.s- 
lature  be  recorded  in  favor  of  the  bill  to  have 
it  become  law.  It  was  necessary  for  Dr.  Paine 
to  ])r().secutc  the  work  at  Albany  for  sul)stan- 
tially  the  entire  fir.st  three  months  of  the  year. 
"A  bright  pro.spect "  (this  narrative  is  that  of 
Dr.  Samuel  Franci.s,  Biographical  Sketches  of 
Distinguished  Living  New  York  Physicians, 
1866)  ".seemed  to  shed  its  rays,  but  at  the  time 
of  final  voting  a  fierce  opposition  arose,  and 
continuous  argument  was  kept  U]i.  with  a  view 
to  consume  the  time  allotted  to  this  matter. 
This  however  was  brought  to  a  clo.se,  and  the 
'bone  bill,'  as  it  was  maliciously  designated, 
was  put  to  the  vote.  At  the  first  roll-call 
there  were  wanting  iowx  affirmative  votes,  but 
when  the  ab.sentees  were  called,  two  of  them 
responded.  A  third  call  brought  to  light  a 
third  affirmative  man.  And  now  suspense  was 
painful,  for  by  the  temporary  ab.sence  of  this 
last  affirmative  the  bill  might  be  lo.st,  and  the 
winter's  labor  become  as  naught.  The  '  faithful 
Clerk  '  pronounced  the  names  of  the  ab.sentees 
once  more,  when  three  affirmati\'es  came  forward 
according  to  promise,  and  this  all-important  bill 
for  the  benefit  of  medical  science  became  a  law 
by  the  assistance  of  two  additional  and  extra 
votes  —  sixty-seven  yeas  and  forty-three  nays. 
In  the  Senate  the  final  vote  was  twenty-three 
yeas  to  three  nays.  The  principal  causes  of 
this  formidable  opposition  were  local  prejudices 
and  a  lobby  influence  which  rejects  any  advance- 
ment for  the  melioration  of  mankind,  until  a 
very  Midas  lends  his  golden  touch.  Even  at 
this  time  the  Board  of  Councilmen  of  the  City 
of  New  York  presented  a  printed  protest  in 
which  they  urged  '  TJtc  Representatives  i)i  tlie 


I  20 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR    SONS 


Legislature  to  oppose  by  every  means  the  passage 
of  any  bill  legalizing  dissection  of  dead  bodies. ' 
Irish  and  German  emigrant  societies  forwarded 
strenuous  remonstrances,  and  printed  denunci- 
ations of  the  bill  were  circulated  throughout 
the  City  of  Albany,  signed  by  individuals  of 
certain  power.  Yet  when  the  bill  became  a  law 
it  met  with  entire  acquiescence." 

In  the  College  of  Arts  things  went  on  quietly 
enough,  without  much  incident  or  matter 
recordable  in  this  ac- 
count. A  vacancy 
had  occurred  in  the 
Italian  department, 
Feli.x  Foresti  no 
longer  filling  that 
post,  which  he  by  the 
way  had  held  in  Co- 
lumbia College  as 
well,  as  is  .shown  b\' 
the  title  page  of  his 
"  Crestomazia  Itali- 
ana "  (New  York, 
Appletons,  1846). 
For  this  honorary 
post  there  ncnv  was 
chosen  an  Italian 
gentleman  of  more 
than  common  di.stinc- 
tion,  Vincenzo  Botta, 
lately  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  Turin.  He 
married  Miss  Ann 
Lynch,  and  subse- 
quently Professor  and 
Mrs.  Botta  made  their 

house  the  abode  of  eminent  literary  men  both 
from  the  United  States  and  from  abroad.  Of 
both  Professor  and  Mrs.  Botta  the  reader  will 
find  further  matter  in  the  biographical  part 
of  this  volume.  Vincenzo  Botta 's  association 
with  New  York  University  began  on  June  25, 
1856.  At  this  time  the  rents  in  the  University 
Building  had  reached  the  total  of  $10,249.17. 

In  July  1856  the  Hon.  B.  F.  Butler  sent  to 
the  Council  a  letter  formally  dissolving  the 
association  of  his  name  with  a  Professorship  of 


VINCENZO    BOTTA 


Law  to  which  he  had  originally  been  appointed 
in  1835.  In  this  letter  Mr.  Butler  reviews  the 
effort  of  1838  to  actually  begin  the  work  of 
legal  instruction  in  the  University,  when  "the 
number  of  students  did  not  exceed  thirty,  and 
of  these  several  were  unable  to  make  payment 
of  tuition."  And  then  the  distinguished  jurist 
went  on  to  recite  the  facts  we  have  recorded  in 
a  previous  chapter. 

He  goes  on  to  say  :  "  My  opinions  as  to  the 
necessity  and  impor- 
tance of  a  school  in 
this  city  for  a  syste- 
matic and  thorough 
course  of  instruction 
in  legal  science,  as  set 
forth  in  the  plan  above 
referred  to  and  in  my 
inaugural  address,  are 
unchanged ;  but  the 
state  of  my  health  and 
other  circumstances 
will  not  permit  me,  at 
this  time,  to  indulge 
the  hope  that  I  can 
take  any  part  in  the 
reorganization  of  a 
Law  School  in  the 
Institution  under  your 
care.  I  hereby  resign 
the  office  of  Professor 
of  General  Law,  of 
Real  Property,  and 
Principal  of  the  Law 
Faculty,  to  which  I 
was  appointed.  I  am, 
Gentlemen,  very  respectfully  your  obedient 
servant,  B.  F.  Butler." 

September  16,  1857,  Professor  Elias  Loomis, 
after  an  absence  of  a  year  in  Europe,  had 
returned  to  his  work  in  Mathematics  with  invigo- 
rated health,  bringing  with  him  "a  variety  of 
choice  apparatus  for  his  department  as  well  as 
selected  scientific  works  for  University  use." 
This  was  the  year  of  the  financial  crisis  and 
depression,  and  eleven  names  less  than  those  of 
the  preceding  year  were  entered  upon  the  rolls 


11 1  STOUT  OF   NF.ir   YORK    UNIFERSITT 


I  2  I 


of  the  Undcrf^radiiatc  Collcf^c.  Dr.  David 
licndaii,  who  brought  Hattcrin<j  testimonials 
orif^inally  written  by  no  less  illustrious  a  per- 
sonaj;e  than  Alexander  von  Humboldt  himself, 
had  suceeeded  to  Mr.  Parker  as  chief  elassical 
master  in  the  Grammar  School  and  Professor 
of  German  in  the  College.  In  the  latter  capacity 
he  had  become  the  successor  of  George  Adler, 
of  the  Class  of  1S44.  This  industrious  and 
splendidly-e(|uipped  scholar  had  been  compelled 
from  temi)orary  men- 
tal aberration  (due, 
wo  fear,  in  part,  to 
overwork)  to  with- 
draw from  the  I""ac- 
ulty,  and  we  beg  to 
refer  the  reader  to  the 
biographical  part  of 
this  work. 

Fully  twenty  years 
after  Attorney-Gen- 
eral Butler,  assisted 
by  a  son  of  the  famous 
Chancellor  Kent,  had 
vainly  endeavored  to 
bring  into  life  a  care- 
fully-con  s  id  er  ed 
course  of  legal  study 
in  New  York  Univer- 
sity, the  Council  re- 
newed their  active 
interest  in  the  matter, 
and  on  May  27,  1858, 
the  plan  of  a  Law- 
School  was  unani- 
mously adopted.    The 

Council  mainly  designated  the  men  who  were  to 
give  instruction  in  Law^  in  the  proposed  School, 
leaving  to  them  the  task  of  determining  the 
kind  and  the  amount  of  work  to  be  done  by 
Faculty  or  to  be  exacted  from  the  students. 
The  University  entered  into  no  financial  lia- 
bility, and  on  the  other  hand  demanded  but  a 
graduation  fee  of  gio  for  every  diploma  of 
Bachelor  of  Laws.  The  Faculty  designated 
were  the  following :  The  Hon.  Thomas  \\'. 
Gierke,   Judge  of   the   Supreme  Court ;    Hon. 


ANN    LYNCH    BOTTA 


Levi  S.  Chatfield,  late  Attorney-General  of  the 
State  of  New  York  ;  Hon.  Theodore  Sedgwick, 
United  States  District  Attorney,  and  Peter  \ . 
Cutler  and  William  B.  W'edgewood. 

'Ihese  gentlemen  expressed  their  apprecia- 
tion of  their  own  selection  in  flattering  terms, 
but  prudently  called  attention  to  several  im- 
portant matters  the  settlement  of  which  .should 
precede  the  actual  work  of  beginning  lectures 
on  law.      And  as  first  point  they  mentioned  the 

establishment  of  a 
Law  Library  of  some 
considerable  extent. 
Tills  was  one  of  the 
great  attractions  of 
the  Law  School  at 
Harvard  University. 
Some  thousands  of 
volumes  were  un- 
doubtedly requisite. 
Such  a  collection 
must  be  reserved  for 
the  exclusive  use  of 
the  students;  this 
library  would  be  their 
place  of  resort  and 
centre  of  union.  Sec- 
ondly, suitable  steps 
should  be  taken  to 
give  i:)roper  publicity 
to  the  new  Law 
School,  and  have  it 
widely  advertised 
throughout  the  land, 
at  least  during  the 
fi rst  }  ear  or  t  wo.  The 
two  matters  mentioned  would  i)robably  involve 
an  outlay  of  $10,000.  These  points  were 
formulated  in  a  communication  to  Chancellor 
Ferris,  dated  June  5,  1858. 

John  Taylor  Johnston  came  to  the  aid  of  the 
nascent  Law  School,  by  laying  the  foundation 
of  the  Law  Library  with  generous  helpfulness. 
As  to  the  degree  of  publicity  thrown  upon  the 
new  enterprise,  dates  fail  us.  We  cannot  omit 
saying  a  word  on  one  striking  feature  of  the 
new  department.      Chancellor  Kent,  when  he 


I  22 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


early  in  the  century  conducted  a  short-lived  Law 
School  in  connection  with  Columbia  College, 
had  worn  the  ermine  of  the  highest  judicial 
office  of  the  State  of  New  York.  B.  F.  Butler, 
who  made  the  second  effort  towards  estab- 
lishing a  Law  School  in  New  York,  had  been 
Attorney -General  in  Jackson's  second  adminis- 
tration. And  now  again  three  out  of  the  five 
proposed  law-teachers  were  men  invested  with 


language  :  "  They  (young  men)  enter  a  lawyer's 
office  and  commence  the  study  of  the  I^w. 
Books  are  put  into  their  hands  to  be  read. 
They  generally  pursue  their  studies  unaided  by 
any  oral  instruction,  or  examination,  or  e.xplana- 
tion.  They  imbibe  error  and  truth  ;  principles 
which  arc  still  in  force  with  principles  which 
have  become  obsolete  ;  and  when  admitted  to 
practice  they   find,   often   at   the  cost  of    their 


honors  of    official  distinction.      Clearly  it   was      unfortunate  clients,  that  their  course  of  study 


considered  desirable 
that  in  a  tentative 
movement  —  for  such 
it  was  even  then  — 
like  this,  the  legal 
eminence  of  some  of 
the  teachers  was  con- 
sidered an  element  of 
strength  before  the 
public. 

In  the  opening  cir- 
cular, attention  is 
called  to  the  extensive 
opportunities  for 
studying  actual  litiga- 
tion :  in  the  Supreme 
Court,  with  its  five- 
judges,  in  the  Supe- 
rior Court  with  six,  in 
the  Court  of  Common 
Pleas  with  three,  be 
sides  the  Di.strict  and 
Circuit  courts  of  the 
Federal  Government. 
The  Law  School  was 
commended    to  the 


JOHN      lAVI.OK    JOHNSTON 


has  not  made  them 
sound  law)'ers  or  cor- 
rect practitioners. 
The  liberty  and  the 
property  of  the  client 
are  often  sacrificed  by 
the  ignorance  of  the 
lawyer.  A  more  ac- 
curate knowledge  of 
the  Law  as  a  .science, 
and  of  its  practice  as 
a  profession,  can  be 
inii)arted  to  the  stu- 
dent in  a  well  regu- 
lated Law  School  in 
four  montlis,  than  is 
usually  acquired  in  a 
lawyer's  office  in 
years." 

The  tone  and  spirit 
of  this  note  differ 
greatly  from  the 
milder  manner  of  Mr. 
Butler  in  his  design  of 
1835,  when  the  ap- 
prenticeship    method 


future  legislator,  to  men  who  looked  forward  to  was    treated    with    deference,  whereas    in    the 

the  administration  of  inherited  wealth,  to  future  circular  of  1858  the  gauntlet  was  thrown  down 

merchants.     The  real  competition  of  the   I^w  to  the  exclusive  claims  of  that  .system.     At  the 

School  was  in  that  day  not  so  much  with  other  same  time  the  course  given  was  of  moderate 

law  .schools,  but  with  the  apprenticeship  idea  of  length  :  from  the  third  Wednesday  of  October 

accomjilishing  the  entire  preparation  for  admis-  to  March  4.      The  work  was  allotted  thus  :  Jus- 

sion  to  the  Bar  as  clerks  in  the  offices  of  lawyer.s.  tice  Gierke  taught  General  Theory  and  Practice 

And  thus  the  first  circular  of  the  Law  School  of    American    Law,    including   Municipal    Law 

which    marks   the  beginning  of  uninterrupted  and    Fquity   Jurisprudence ;    District-Attorney 

work   in   legal   instruction   in    New  York    Uni-  Theodore  Sedgwick   lectured  on  International, 

versity  presents   the   matter   in    the   following  Constitutional  and  Statutory  Law,  and  Law  of 


IllsrOK)     (J I'    NbW    YORK    UMJl^ERSI'll' 


123 


Damages;  Mr.  Chatfickl  presented  Criminal 
I^w  and  Medical  Jurisprudence;  Mr.  Cutler 
figures  as  I'role.s.sor  oi  Civil  Law,  the  Law  of 
Eviilence,  I'leading  and  I'ractice,  and  the  Law 
ot  Real  l'r()|)erty  ;  William  B.  Wedgewootl  had 
as  his  departments  Commercial,  Maritime  antl 
Parliamentary  Law,  and  Law  ot  Tersonal  Prop- 
erty. One  i)articular  i)aragraph  carries  with 
it  the  elements  ot  antibilliiui  problems  now 
looming  on  the  political  horizon  : 

It  is  intended  to  make  the  Law  Depart- 
ment of  the  University  truly  national.  By 
briu'rin'r  together  from  all  sections  of  the 
Union  those  young  men  into  whose  hands  tiie 
destinies  of  this  Republic  are  hereafter  to  be 
confided,  sectional  prejudices  xvill  be  removed, 
and  the  bonds  of  union  and  national  brotherhood 
greatly  strengthened. 

For  the  present  this  branch  of  professional 
instruction  was  launched  with  very  much  less 
^clat  than  the  Medical  School  seventeen  years 
before.  It  was  proposed  not  only  to  hold 
moot  courts,  but  also  to  organize  legislative 
bodies.  Whether  the  numbers  however  of 
students  in  the  new  department  were  adequate 
for  effectively  setting  agoing  the  latter  form  of 
preparation  for  political  life,  we  do  not  know. 
The  numbers  of  "attendants  on  Law  Course" 
were  56,  whereas  Medicine  had  351  matric- 
ulated students.  The  first  graduates  of  the 
University  Law  School,  March  4,  1859,  ^^^-'re 
these  :  Marcena  M.  Dickerson  ;  Gilead  B.  Nash  ; 
Asa  S.  Lathrop,  A.B.  ;  I.  Solis  Ritterband ; 
Chauncey  Pield,  Jr.  ;  John  Steven.son  ;  Nelson 
Taylor;  Joseph  H  Jackson,  A.B.  ;  while  the 
Medical  School  in  the  same  month  of  1859 
recorded  128,  and  as  far  as  the  homes  of  the 
students  and  the  names  of  some  of  the  medical 
teachers  were  concerned,  the  Medical  School 
could  be  called  truly  national. 

In  this  same  month  of  March,  exactly  two 
years  before  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War,  there 
were  bestowed  the  three  medals,  established  in 
perpetuity  by  Dr.  Valentine  Mott  :  The  Gold 
Medal,  to  the  candidate  who  should  prepare 
the  best  dried  anatomical  or  anatomico-surgical 
preparation,  was  given  to   George  K.  Smith, 


New  York  ;  the  Silver  Medal,  for  the  second- 
best  i)reparation  of  the  .same  description,  went 
to  Lewis  Fernandez,  New  York  ;  the  Jironze 
Medal,  to  be  awarded  to  the  candidate  who 
should  furnish  the  best  book  of  recorded  ca.ses 
and  remarks  of  the  Professor  of  either  of  the 
surgical  clinics,  was  |)resentcd  to  Benjamin  W. 
Sparks,  of  (ieorgia. 

Meanwhile  the  scientific  equipment  of  appa- 
ratus used  to  illustrate  Physics  and  Mechan- 
ics, or  as  it  was  then  called,  Natural  Philosophy, 
had  suffered  a  severe  impairment  through 
theft.  While  Profes.sor  Loomis  was  in  Europe 
to  recover  his  health,  there  was  stolen  from 
the  "  Philosophical  Room  "  a  large  number  of 
articles,  amounting  in  value  to  about  $600. 
These  articles  included  nearly  every  instru- 
ment which  was  portable  among  the  recent 
purchases  (since  1854  additions  had  been  made 
to  the  apparatus  to  the  amount  of  SC50).  'Ihe 
thief  or  thieves  had  proceetlcd  with  great  deliber- 
ation, and  made  .several  visits.  All  efforts  of 
detectives  and  all  labors  of  police  in  places  like 
Boston  and  Philadelphia,  as  well  as  the  publica- 
tion of  a  promised  reward  of  $100  were  in  vain. 
Professor  Loonu.s,  thus  crippled,  declared  him- 
self unable  to  i)resent  more  than  one-half  of 
the  ordinary  number  of  his  experiments  before 
his  classes.  The  practical  point  of  Loomis's 
communication  was  to  call  attention  to  the 
full  and  complete  equipment  of  institutions 
near  and  competing  with  New  York  L^niver- 
sity,  and  the  urgent  need  of  appropriating 
$1000  to  repair  and  replenish  the  resources  of 
this  department.  A  similar  request  was  made 
by  Professor  J.  W.  Draper,  who  .said  that  the 
original  stock  of  apparatus  possessed  by  the 
University  was  small,  and  in  the  course  of 
twenty-fi\e  years  the  wear  and  tear  and  cor- 
rosion had  nearly  rendered  it  u.seless.  It  was 
a  constant  source  of  mortification  to  himself 
that  his  lectures  in  the  University  were  not 
illustrated  in  a  manner  suitable  to  the  expecta- 
tion of  the  public;  Si 000  was  required  to 
make  such  a  renovation  as  was  absolutely 
needful,  and  more  than  twice  that  sum  to 
place  things  in  a  proper  state.     These  impor- 


I  24 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


tant  communications  were  made  in  October 
1858. 

J.  W.  Draper,  in  whose  mind  tlic  faculty  of 
patient  and  exact  research  was  coupled  with  a 
very  vivid  practical  sense  of  causing  to  be  felt 
what  he  desired  to  say  through  pen  or  other- 
wise, and  taking  hold  of  his  generation,  had 
begun  in  the  fall  of  this  year  to  give  his  oldest 
son,  John  Christopher  Draper,  an  opportunity 
to  begin  to  teach  scientific  subjects  under  his 
own  guidance  and  support.  In  his  School  of 
Analytical  and  Practical  Chemistry,  in  his 
laboratory  in  the  Medical  College  on  I'ourteenth 
Street,  nineteen  students  were  enrolled, —  a 
fact  very  gratifying  to  the  father,  —  and  six 
had  already  bespoken  places  for  the  summer 
course.  Besides  this  encouragement  a  good 
deal  of  patronage  in  commercial  and  agricul- 
tural analysis  was  beginning  to  offer,  and 
Professor  Draper  had  no  doubt,  if  the  Council 
would  favorably  consider  the  plan,  that  there 
would  not  be  any  difficulty  in  shaping  matters 
so  as  eventually  to  establish  a  Sc/iool  of  Mines. 
This  was  Professor  Draper's  phrase.  His  earn- 
est recommendation  of  his  son  for  the  title  of 
Professor  of  Analytical  and  Practical  Chemistry 
was  promptly  acceded  to  by  action  of  the 
Council  on  December  2,  1858.  And  in  June 
following,  1859,  the  diploma  of  Analyticx\l  and 
Practical  Chemistry  was  bestowed  upon  the 
following  candidates  :  Valentine  Mott  Francis, 
New  York  ;  Henry  Coit  Day,  Georgia  ;  Samuel 
Fleet  Spier,  New  York  ;  Daniel  J5ennett  St. 
John  Roosa,  New  York. 

Professor  Howard  Crosby  resigned  during 
the  summer  and  accepted  a  call  as  Professor  of 
Greek  at  Rutgers  College.  This  brought  into 
the  F"aculty  the  honored  Senior  Professor  and 
Dean  of  the  College  Faculty  of  1900,  then 
named  to  the  Council  as  "  Mr.  Henry  M. 
Baird,  one  of  our  Alumni  —  who  had  been  for 
four  years  a  most  successful  tutor  in  Nassau 
Hall"  —  and  this  nomination  was  supported  by 
a  recommendation  sent  by  the  President  and 
members  of  the  Faculty  of  Princeton  College. 
But  a  particular  element  of  fitness  was  not 
mentioned  in  the  nomination  of  Dr.  Baird.  Not 


long  before  the  crisis  of  the  Eastern  question 
which  found  issue  in  the  Crimean  War,  Dr. 
Baird,  in  the  earlier  twenties  of  his  own  life, 
had  spent  a  whole  year  in  Greece.  Not  only 
had  he  seen  much  of  the  resources  of  Athens, 
such  as  they  were,  and  taken  an  active  part  in 
an  audience  of  the  Queen  of  King  Otho,  but  he 
had  sought  and  gained  association  with  the 
eminent  historian  Unlay  and  Sir  Richard 
Church,  and  the  local  and  national  antiqua- 
rians Pittakes  and  Rangabes.  Few  Americans 
of  the  generation  after  Navarino  had  more 
widely  traversed  Greece.  In  Attica  herself  he 
visited  Marathon,  Sunion,  Eleusis  and  the  quar- 
ries of  Pentelikos ;  he  crossed  Cithaeron  and 
visited  the  sites  of  Platsea,  Thespiae,  Thebes  and 
Orchomenos,  the  field  of  Chaeronea,  the  heights 
of  Parnassos  and  the  site  of  Delphi.  "Nor 
had  the  Peloponnesus  remained  a  stranger"  to 
his  travels.  P"ew  were  the  classic  spots  which 
he  did  not  e.xaminc ;  and  both  the  ancient 
Pausanias  and  the  modern  Leake  furnished  him 
material  for  comparison.  These  observations 
were  laid  down  in  Dr.  Baird's  first  work,  "Modern 
Greece,"  etc.  (Harpers,  1856),  a  work  which 
admirably  foreshadows  the  taste  and  faculty  of 
the  scholar  and  historian  of  the  Huguenots. 
Long  before  there  was  an  American  school 
at  Athens,  therefore.  New  York  University 
enjoyed  the  benefits  of  classic  observations 
and  the  suggestions  and  deeper  insight  which 
nexer  fail  to  reveal  themselves  to  the  direct 
contact  with  classic  topography  on  the  part 
of  the  sympathetic  student. 

In  March  i860,  the  Law  Faculty  had  been 
reduced  to  three  members  :  Judge  Gierke,  and 
Messrs.  Cutler  and  Wedgewood.  Among  the 
twenty-four  graduates  of  that  momentous  year 
were  two  for  whom  a  period  of  thirteen  years 
each  was  recorded  as  "  Time  of  Study  " ;  prob- 
ably this  means  they  had  been  practicing  law 
for  ten  years  after  their  original  trioiniitm  of 
office  apprenticeship.  One  member  of  this 
class  bore  the  historic  name  of  Ethan  Allen,  and 
there  were  represented  the  Colleges  of  Brown, 
Yale,  Georgetown,  Columbia,  Trinity,  Bowdoin 
and  the  F"ree  Academy  of  New  York  City. 


Henry  M.  Baikd 


Howard  Crosby 
R.  H.  Bull 


Elias  Loomis 
Isaac  Ferris 
John  W.  Draper 


Ebenezer  a.    Johnson  Benjamin   N'.  Martin 

John  C.  Draper 


COLLEGE    FACULTY,   1S59 


I  26 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


At  the  suggestion  of  the  Council  made  to 
the  Faculty  it  was  determined  to  limit  the 
spring  vacation  to  one  week,  and  to  fix  the 
Commencement  for  the  second  Wednesday 
preceding  the  Fourth  of  July.  The  number 
of  graduates  in  the  Medical  School,  destined 
to  be  cut  down  heavily  through  causes  inci- 
dental to  the  Civil  War,  was  one  hundred  and 
thirty-three :  of  these  there  were  representa- 
tives of  Virginia,  of  North  Carolina,  Georgia, 
Mississippi,  Alabama,  South  Carolina,  Florida, 
Texas,  Kentucky,  Missouri  and  Tennessee. 
Nor  was  the  actual  proportion  of  Southern 
students  in  the  total  of  graduates  inconsider- 
able, being  seventy-three,  or  fifty-four  per  cent 
of  the  whole  number  of  graduates. 

No  reader  of  this  history  will  question  the 
propriety  of  calling  the  year  i860  momentous, 
for  apart  from  the  fact  that  it  was  the  last 
year  of  national  peace,  it  fairly  may  be  called 
the  point  of  termination  of  the  older  order  of 
things  in  the  sphere  of  higher  education.  And 
much  of  this  is  evidenced  by  a  communication 
made  by  the  Faculty  of  Arts  and  Sciences  to 
the  Council  and  embiKlied  in  the  minutes  of  that 
corporation  ior  March  5,  i860.  That  commu- 
nication has  a  very  positi\e  historical  value  on 
account  of  the  wide  survey  which  is  involved 
therein,  and  on  account  of  the  emphasis  it 
lays  on  the  change  then  actively  going  on  in 
the  department  of  higher  education  in  the 
country  at  large.  We  are  told  particularly  of 
the  practice  of  gratuitons  instruction  moving 
upward  from  the  le\el  of  elementary  schools; 
tliat  the  High  School  of  Philadelphia,  e.g.  par- 
ticularly in  the  mathematical  and  jihysical 
branches,  would  compare  favorably  with  the 
best  Colleges  of  our  country.  At  the  Free 
Academy  of  the  Municipality  of  New  York, 
not  only  was  the  instruction  gratuitous,  but 
the  use  of  textbooks,  of  dictionaries  and  books 
of  reference,  as  well  as  stationery,  was  without 
cost  to  the  pupils. 

Until  recently  the  Colleges  of  the  United 
States  had  been  generally  dependent  upon  the 
receipts  from  tuition,  which  ranged  from  $30 
to  $90  per  annum.     At  Yale  $2500  was  annu- 


ally applied  for  the  relief  of  indigent  students  : 
a  sum  somewhat  greater  was  annually  bestowed 
on  scholarships  for  meritorious  students.  At 
Michigan  University  instruction  in  both  College 
and  Medical  departments  was  gratuitous.  At 
Hobart  College  instruction  was  free.  The 
same  system  was  in  contemplation  at  several 
of  the  Western  Universities.  In  New  York 
City,  Columbia  College  had  recently  reduced 
its  annual  charge  to  $50,  and  it  was  intended  to 
abolish  even  this  at  an  early  day.  Would  it  be 
possible  for  New  York  University  to  maintain 
her  tuition  fee  of  $90  .■• 

College  students  preferred  large  classes,  and 
they  would  often  desert  an  institution  against 
which  they  could  make  no  other  objection 
than  that  its  classes  were  small.  A  crisis  was 
before  the  College  of  New  York  University, 
unless  steps  were  taken  to  provide  a  permanent 
endowment,  to  furnish  a  permanent  income  of 
$20,000.  During  this  year  $1500  was  raised 
by  the  Council  and  paid  to  the  departments  of 
Professors  Loomis  and  Draper,  to  replenish  or 
supply  apparatus  needed  there. 

It  is  well  that  we  should  not  omit  to  make 
some  record  of  the  University  Glee  Book, 
published  in  i860,  and  bearing  the  imi)rint  of 
Wynkoop,  Hallenbeck  &  Thoma.s,  Printers, 
49  Anne  Street,  as  being  some  memorial  of 
what  was  done  in  diilci  jiivcnta  of  the  epoch 
immediately  preceding  the  Civil  War.  The 
editors  were  Kdward  Abbott,  Albert  C.  Hishop, 
Charles  Fitzsimmons,  Charles  W.  Woolsey  and 
James  Stokes,  and  their  preface  is  dated :  "  New 
York  University,  February  8,  i860.  The 
Graduates  of  the  University  would  testify  that 
song  was  never  known  (this  sounds  odd  to 
the  present  generation  enjoying  the  j)rivileges 
of  University  Heights)  within  its  walls,  and 
consequently  it  would  be  perceived  how  great 
had  been  the  labor  of  the  committee." 

The  want  of  this  bond  to  unite  the  students 
together  more  strongly  had  long  been  felt, 
and  credit  was  due  to  the  Eucleian  Society  for 
taking  hold  of  the  matter  with  so  much  earnest- 
ness and  zeal.  Among  the  authors  were 
Edward  Abbott  ('60),  Amasa  A.  Redfield  ('60), 


msroRV  OF  N?:fv  tork  university 


127 


James  K.  Dcmorcst  ('63),  Gcorfjc  I).  Hakcr 
('60),  J.  C'olnian  Shaw  ('60),  Albert  (".  Bishop 
(■60),  and  C.  W.  H.  of  '48  (Charles  Washing- 
ton HainI,  a  brother  of  I'rofessor  II.  M.  Haird). 
A  few  ([uotations  we  believe  will  be  heartily 
weleomed  by  New  York  University  men  of 
this  and  former  "generations. 

From  "  Medley,"  as  svuijj^  on  I-!.\aniinati(jn 
Nights,  tune  of  "  Auld  Lang  Syne"  : 

"Oh  !  Clreek  and  Latin,  get  you  gone, 

Vou  never'll  do  for  me, 
I'd  rather  be  of  knowledge  .shorn 

Than  live  in   nii.scry. 
With  roots  and  |iara(iignis  and  rules, 

Vou  make  a  felh>\v  mad, 
You  turn  wise  people  into  fools 

And  make  the  joyous  sad." 

Of  positive  historical  value  for  New  York 
University  men  is  "Junior  Ivxhibition,"  by 
Edward  Abbt)tt : 

(Air  — "  Ritiiiii;  ott  a  Kail.'') 

"  What  is  all  this  bother 

In  the  up|)er  hall  .' 
"Jostling  one  another. 

Students  one  and  all. 
Shining  patent-leather. 
Reavers  all  a-glisten, 
Bless  me  I    ain't  this  pleasant. 
Junior  K.xhibition. 

"  Faculty  together, 

Seated  on  the  stage. 
Freshmen  in  high  feather, 

Think  they're  all  the  rage. 
Bowing  to  the  ladies. 

Seeking  recognition, 
Ble.ss  me  !  ain't  this  pleasant. 

Junior  Exhibition. 

"  Sophomores  conceited. 

Dressed  up  to  kill, 
With  exertion  heated. 

Flirting  with  a  will. 
Sitting  by  the  ladies, 

W'hat  a  fine  position. 
Bless  me  I    ain't  this  pleasant. 

Junior  Exhibition. 

"  Presently  a  Junior 

Mounts  upon  the  stage. 
Looks  alxjut  the  audience. 

Wise  as  any  sage. 
Then  with  careful  utterance 

Says  his  composition. 
Stri\'ing  to  do  honor  to 

Junior  Exhibition. 


"  When  each  one  has  spoken, 

Ladies  hold  their  breath, 
Silence  is  unbroken. 

Juniors  slill  as  death. 
Then  the  reverend  judges. 

Each  a  rhetorician, 
Name  the  able.st  speakers  a 

Junior  Exhibition. 

"Then  tlie  pretty  ladies 

Ix)ok  to  .seethe  man. 
Wave  their  little  handkerchiefs. 

Almost  kiss  their  hand  ; 
And  the  disajipointed 

In  the  competition 
Curse  their  evil  fortune  at 

Junior  Exhibition." 

A  few  .Stanzas  from  A.  A.  Redficld's  Com- 
mencement Song  No.  I  : 

(AlR  —  "  Vhv  I' Amour") 

"This  is  the  final  day,  my  boys. 
The  last  that  we  shall  see, — 
This  is  the  final  day,  my  boys. 
In  th'  University. 

Chorus — Uni,  Uni,  Universe, 
Uni,  Uni,  Universe, 
Universe,  Universe,  University. 

"  Adieul  thou  stately  marble  pile. 
The  home  of  education  — 
Adieu  thou  stately  marble  pile, 
The  best  that's  in  the  nation. 

Chorus — Uni,  Uni,  Universe,  etc. 

"  Farewell  to  all  the  Theories, 
The  Facts  are  what  we  wish  — 
Farewell  to  all  the  Theories?, 
For  whales  we're  going  to  fish. 

Chorus — Uni.  Uni,  Universe,  etc." 

Two  of  the  songs  were  composed  to  fit 
the  air  of  the  famous  "  CocacJiclnnky  V\'e 
will  close  this  e.xcerpt  by  giving  the  two  last 
excerpts  from  "Retrospection"  by  "Quidam 
Treognitus : " 

(Air  —  "  Villikens  and  his  Dinah.") 

"But  now  I'm  a  Sen-i-or,  with  a  beav-i-er  so  tall. 
And  upon  the  Professors  New- Year's  day  I   call ; 
I  walk  with  the  ladies  up  and  down  on  Broadway, 
And.  01   to  be  a  Sen-i-or  is  gall-i-ant  and  gay." 

During  the  visit  of  the  Prince  of  Wales  to 
the   United  States,  a  visit  which  was  really  a 


128 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


detour  from  Canada,  though  not  without  inter- 
national significance,  he  assumed  the  official 
title  of  Lord  Renfrew.  Having  visited  Chicago, 
St.  Louis,  Cincinnati,  Washington,  Baltimore 
and  Philadelphia,  he  arrived  in  New  York  City 
on  Thursday  the  iith  of  October,  i860.  "On 
Friday,  12th  "  (we  quote  Harpers  Weekly  of 
October  20,  i860),  "the  Prince  of  Wales  and 
suite  visited  the  New  York  University,  the 
Woman's  Library,  the  Astor  Library,  the 
Cooper  Institute  and  the  Free  Academy  ;  and 
then  rode  to  the  Central  Park,  where  he  assisted 
at  the  transplanting  of  an  English  oak  and  an 
American  elm.  At  most  of  these  places 
addresses  were  presented  to  the  Prince."  At 
the  University  in  particular  addresses  were 
made  by  Chancellor  Ferri.s,  by  Mr.  Henry  \'an 
Schaick  in  behalf  of  the  Council,  and  by  Pro- 
fessor S.  F.  B.  Morse.  The  Prince  drove  down 
F'ifth  Avenue  from  the  Fifth  Av^enue  Hotel, 
were  he  resided  during  his  visit.  "  A  large 
party  of  ladies  were  specially  invited  to  meet 
the  Prince  "  (New  York  Herald  of  October  13, 
1860),  "  and  all  gentleman  applicants  for 
admission  not  ofiFicers  of  the  institution  were 
strictly  e.Ncluded,  and  long  before  the  hour  set 
forth  on  the  notes  of  invitation  —  ten  o'clock, — 
the  chapel  of  the  institution  was  literally 
crammed  "...  "  Such  a  waving  of  feathers 
and  fluttering  of  ribbons  and  motion  of  flowers 
and  rustling  of  silks  and  agitation  of  fans,  was 
never  before  witnessed  within  the  sacred  walls 
of  the  University  Chapel  "  "Within  the 

main  door  the  students,  in  academic  costumes, 
were  lined  in  double  files  stretching  across  the 
narrow  hall  along  the  balustrades,  and  on 
through  the  corridor  to  the  chapel  door.  As 
the  Prince  advanced,  the  students  respectful!) 
saluted  him  by  uncovering  their  heads,  but  no 
other  demonstration  whatever  was  made." 
Professor  Wedgewood  of  the  Law  School  had 
made  these  arrangements. 

At  this  distance  of  time  the  mere  ceremonial 
notes  of  this  function  may  be  well  omitted,  but 
we  may  glean  from  the  addresses  several  para- 
graphs which  have  a  distinct  educational  or 
national   bearing  and  purport.     As  the  Prince 


entered  the  Chapel,  Dodworth's  Band  played 
the  English  anthem.  The  fair  readers  of  this 
volume,  if  ever  it  should  be  favored  by  such, 
may  be  interested  to  learn  that  the  Prince  of 
Wales  was  dressed  in  plain  clothes,  —  black 
frock,  light  vest  and  light -colored  trousers,  — 
"his  slender  youthful  figure,  and  fair,  bright, 
genial  face,  in  contrast  with  the  tall  and  aged 
man  beside  him."  From  the  Chancellor's 
address  we  quote  the  following  paragraph  : 
"  La.stly,  I  beg  to  convey  through  you  to  the 
British  scientists  our  special  thanks  for  the  verv 
kind  attentions  and  abundant  courtesies  shown 
to  our  Draper  on  his  visit  to  the  annual  meet- 
ing of  the  British  Association,  last  summer,  at 
O.xford,  and  at  the  several  institutions  of 
learning."  The  third  of  the  Resolutions  of  the 
Council,  read  by  Henry  Van  Schaick,  Esq.,  the 
Secretary  of  the  Corporation,  was  as  follows  : 
"  Resolved,  that,  as  we  are  bound  to  England 
by  the  threefold  chord  of  ancestry,  of  language, 
and  our  '  King  James's  Bible,'  we  feel  we 
are  brethren,  and  may  claim  it  as  a  right 
to  rejoice  in  every  testimony  of  respect  paid 
by  the  sovereign  people  of  this  land  to  the 
representative  and  heir  of  I^ngland's  mcxlel 
Queen.  "  Professor  Morse  in  graceful  words 
acknowledged  the  encouragement  which  in  a 
former  stage  of  his  efforts  for  the  electric- 
telegraph  he  had  received  from  the  most  eminent 
member  of  the  Prince's  suite,  the  venerable 
Duke  of  Newcastle,  when  the  latter  still  bore 
his  previous  title  of  Earl  of  Lmcoln 

Thereafter  the  Prince  visited  the  Woman's 
Library  (which  then  was  in  the  University 
Building),  where  he  shook  hands  with  Miss 
Powell,  who  was  in  charge,  and  who  addressed 
the  roynl  visitor  thus  :  "  Baron,  we  ore  happy 
to  welcome  to  a  wtmian's  library  the  noble  son 
of  a  royal  lady  whom  the  women  of  America 
regard  as  an  honor  and  a  friend  to  all  woman- 
hood" The  Prince  smilingly  bowed  his 
acknowledgments.  He  then  bowed  to  the 
engraving  upon  the  wall,  no  doubt  attracted  by 
a  very  fine  engraving  of  his  royal  mother,  which 
Miss  Powell  with  much  taste  and  good  feeling 
had    surrounded    with   a    beautiful    wreath     of 


HISTORT   OF   NEIV   TOKK    VNlVERSl'lT 


I  29 


flowers.  From  the  W'oman's  Library  the 
I'liiicc  passed  into  the  Law  Library,  aiul  with- 
out dehiy  thence  through  the  corridors  towards 
the  staircase.  At  the  same  spot  where  he- 
was  received,  he  bade  the  Chancellor  farewell, 
and  passinj^  through  the  line  of  students,  and 
attended  by  his  suite,  he  once  more  rej^ained  his 
carriage,  and  was  driven  off,  amid  tiie  lusty  and 
hearty  cheers  of  the  people.  It  may  interest  the 
present  generation  to  read  that  on  tlic  afternoon 
of  the  same  day,  having  visited  the  Deaf 
and  Dumb  Asylum,  Fanwood,  on  Washington 
Heights,  he  thence  drove  to  the  "Century 
Dock,"  foot  of  "  l':ast  205th  Street,"  and 
sailed  down  the  Harlem,  passing  under  High 
Bridge,  thus  visiting  in  a  single  clay  the  Uni- 
versity Building  of  that  clay  and  skirting  the 
Heights  destined  to  be  crowned  with  the 
Memorial  Library  of  a  later  day,  the  second 
anil  the  better  home  of  New  York  University 
College. 

During  the  summer  of  i860  Elias  Loomis 
had  accepted  a  call  to  Yale  College,  and  in 
his  place  was  chosen  Professor  G.  W.  Coakley 
of  St.  James  College,  Maryland.  In  summing 
up  the  total  enrollment  for  1859-1860, 
Chancellor  Ferris  presented  the  following : 
In  the  College,  iio;  in  the  Medical  School, 
411  ;  in  the  Law  School,  70  ;  in  the  School  of 
Analytical  Chemistry,  23  ;  in  the  School  of 
Art,  1 3  ;  in  the  School  of  Civil  Engineering,  1 2  ; 
total,  639  ;  in  the  Grammar  School  there  were 
130;  a  growth  in  every  way  giatifying  except 
in  the  College,  of  which  Chancellor  Ferris 
spoke  thus :  "  It  seems  that  we  must  be  older 
as  an  Institution  before  we  shall  ha\e  a  pres- 
tige to  attract  large  numbers."  We  make  a 
note  of  this  for  future  reference.  Among  the 
tenants  of  the  current  year  were  Eastman 
Johnston,  the  noted  painter,  and  the  Academy 
of  Medicine,  which  latter  held  meetings  on  the 
first  and  third  \\'ednesday  evenings  of  each 
month.  Among  the  candidates  recommended 
to  the  Council  for  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of 
Laws  we  find  the  following  entry  :  "  William 
M.  Tweed,  New  York,  thirty-five  years  of 
age,    two    terms    in     University,    e.\-Member 


of  Congress."  In  June  1 86 1  the  degree  of 
Doctor  of  Laws  was  conferred  on  Austin  Alli- 
bone  of   rhiladelphia. 

The  mighty  peals  of  the  great  struggle  for 
the  Union  now  began  to  reverberate  from  the 
gothic  hall  on  Washington  Sc|uare.  A  note 
of  tills  anxious  sumnu'r  of  1861  is  preserved 
in  the  address  tlelivered  by  the  Rev.  lulward 
Hopper,  of  Sag  IIarl)or,  one  of  the  earliest 
alumni  ('39),  an  address  delivered  before  the 
alumni  on  the  evening  preceding  the  Com- 
mencement, June  19,  1 86 1  ;  the  theme  being: 
"Republican  Homes."  It  was  spoken  some 
short  time  before  the  first  great  reverse  of 
Bull  Run.  'Ihe  tone  is  not  only  intensely 
patriotic  :  it  is  confident  and  defiant  as  well. 
"We  are  not  so  far  apart  from  'the  times 
that  tried  men's  souls'  but  that  we  yet  hear 
the  echoes  of  our  heroic  age.  Some  of  us 
have  listened,  with  tingling  ears  and  burning 
hearts,  to  venerable  men  and  women  relating 
the  story  of  their  hardships,  dangers  and 
battles."  —  "The  defence  of  our  Government 
is  therefore  a  personal  matter  with  every  one 
of  us.  Every  happy  home  in  tlie  land  has  its 
roots  around  the  graves  of  the  be.st  men  that 
ever  suffered  and  died  for  liberty  and  their 
children.  All  that  is  clear  to  us  on  earth 
—  hopes,  altars,  affections,  memories  and 
hopes — depend  upon  the  perpetuity  of  our 
country." — -"The  principles  which  I  have 
advanced  are  now  in  the  crucible.  The  fiery 
ordeal  through  which  the  Republic  is  now 
passing  will  test  the  virtue  of  its  homes." 

At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Alumni 
Association  in  that  historic  year,  John  Taylor 
Johnston  remained  I'resident,  Hanson  C.  Gib- 
son was  Secretary,  Smith  E.  Lane,  Treasurer, 
and  Richard  H.  Bull,  Registrar.  Sixty-six 
members  were  present,  and  it  was  stated  that 
"the  meeting  was  the  largest  in  point  of 
numbers  that  has  been  held  since  the  formation 
of  the  Association  " — not  very  large,  we  might 
say  (although  there  is  still  much  room  for 
improvement  in  this  respect  in  our  own  gen- 
eration), but  notable  in  many  names,  such  as 
John  T.  Johnston,  Edward   Hopjier,    Howard 


130 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


Crosby,  Hugh  L.  Bond,  Henry  M.  Baird, 
Austin  Abbott,  Joseph  Nimmo  and  Myer  S. 
Isaacs,  who  were  then  or  destined  to  become 
associated  with  records  of  the  nobler  forces 
and  of   wide   usefulness. 

In  that  year,  thirty-one  years  after  organi- 
zation, the  Chancellor  could  not  as  yet  report 
a  single  substantial  endowment,  but  had  to 
content  himself  with  felicitations  that  for  seven 
years  the  University  had  been  out  of  debt. 

In  the  spring  of  1862  the  effect  of  the 
Civil  War,  particularly  upon  the  Medical 
School,  became  manifest  in  the  numbers 
returned:  there  were  but  186  in  the  entire 
school,  and  but  65  graduates.  To  facilitate 
survey  of  this  particular  matter  we  will 
append  the  enrollment  of  the  Medical  Depart- 
ment in  the  subsequent  years  :  1862-63,  186; 
1863-64,    192;    1864-65,  221  ;   1865-66,  292. 

In  June  1862  the  degree  of  Civil  Engi- 
neer was  for  the  first  time  we  believe  awarded, 
at  the  recommendation  of  Professor  Bull,  the 
recipient  being  Francisco  Gonzalez  of  Me.xico. 
At  .several  of  the  examinations  of  that  year 
(1861-62)  there  was  present  Gulian  \'erplanck, 
of  the  Board  of  Regents. 

Early  in  1863  we  meet  with  an  entry  which 
is  unique,  and  which,  as  no  subsequent  refer- 
ence to  it  is  discoverable,  remains  .somewhat 
obscure:  February  12,  1863,  "Meeting 
called  to  consider  the  subject  of  the  passage 
of  a  Bill  now  pending  before  the  Senate  of 
this  State  for  taxing  the  University  (Italics 
our  own).  After  deliberation  the  subject 
was  referred  to  a  Committee  consisting  of 
Messrs.  Chancellor  Ferris,  Noyes  and  Van 
Schaick,  to  proceed  to  Albany  and  protect  the 
interests  of  the  Institution  as  far  as  they  are 
able."  The  Chancellor  went  to  Albany  and 
reported  satisfactory  progress  as  far  as  this 
"  Assessment  Bill  "  was  concerned.  In  this 
spring,  1863,  being  called  upon  by  Surgeon- 
General  William  Hammond  of  Washington,  the 
authorities  suggested  that  the  Chair  of  Surgery 
be  renamed  :  "  Professorship  of  the  Principles 
and  Operations  of  Surgery  with  Military  Sur- 
gery and  Hygiene." 


In  the  Financial  Report  of  December  9, 
1863,  we  read:  "It  will  be  observed  that  the 
large  Chapel  is  not  named  in  this  list.  This  in 
years  past,  when  the  churches  were  seeking 
what  were  then  called  up-town  situations,  was 
much  in  demand  and  yielded  as  high  as  $1500 
per  annum.  As  time  has  passed  on  it  has 
rented  at  Si 000  for  church  purposes,  but  for 
nearly  five  years  past  it  has  had  no  occupant." 
It  will  also  be  noted  that  in  this  statement  of 
rental  the  large  and  beautiful  room  occupied  by 
the  Law  School  yields  no  rent.  This  has  been 
the  case  since  the  school  was  opened.  The 
room  is  worth  to  the  University  S300  per  \ear. 

On  the  same  date  there  was  presented  to 
the  Council  a  ctmimunication  from  the  Profes- 
sors concerning  their  subsi.stence.  The  Civil 
War  and  its  financial  exigencies  had  introduced 
a  paper  currency  of  very  gieatly  depreciated 
value  and  thus  all  commodities  of  life  had 
greatly  ri.sen  in  price.  Four  years  before,  a 
committee  had  been  appointed  to  consider  this 
matter,  "  but  that  ct)mmittee,  it  is  believed, 
never  convened ; "  and  now  the  Professors, 
"  [iinched  by  the  circum.stances  of  the  times," 
brought  again  to  the  Council's  attention  the 
question  of  endowment.  And  the  l^'aculty  were 
exceedingly  modest ;  they  merely  requested 
from  the  Council  of  1863  authority  for  Pro- 
fessor Benjamin  R.  Martin  to  make  collections 
for  this  end,  and  that  he  from  time  to  time 
report  to  the  Finance  Committee  of  the  Coun- 
cil. Even  more  painful  is  it  to  read  the 
Chancellor's  appeals  for  the  library,  which 
was  faithfully  administered  without  any  corn- 
pen. sat  ion  whatever,  by  Howard  Crosby  from 
1852  to  1859,  ^"<^^  W  Henry  M.  Baird  from 
1859  to  1892,  when  a  new  order  of  things 
began.  On  that  particular  occasion  (December 
9,  1863)  the  Council  appointed  a  committee 
consisting  of  John  Taylor  Johnston,  George 
Griswold,  James  Brown,  William  E.  Dodge, 
William  M.  Vermilye  and  John  C.  Green  to 
take  measures  for  raising  an  endowment  fund 
of  at  least  $100,000. 

On  April  28,  1864,  Professors  J.  W.  and 
John  C.  Draper  made  a  request  of  the  Council 


HIsrORV  OF   NEW    YORK    VNIVERSITT 


»3» 


which   may   be   fairly   considered    as   the  first  was    indisposed,    opening    the    exercises    with 

definite     and    concrete     project    of     bej;innin«;  prayer. 

graduate     instruction     in    some     one     specific  "As    it    was    the    day  f)n   wiiicii    the    proc- 

branch  of  study.      It  relerred  to  their  School  lamation    of    tiie    President     had    invited     the 

of    Chemistry,   and  they   proposed   that    wiien  Nation  to  join  in  grateful  acknowledgments  to 

the  student  of  Chemistry  had  received  A.B.,  or  God  for  our  recent  victories   and  in  prayer  for 

B.S.,    or    M.l).,    with  a   certificate    of  literary  the   continued   success  of  our  armies,"  —  Pro- 


attainments  from 
the  Department 
of  Arts  in  any 
College,  and  had 
pursued  success- 
fully for  two  years 
the  course  in  An- 
alytical and  Prac- 
tical Chemistry, 
"  he  shall  receive 
the  degree  of 
Doctor  in  Philos- 
ophy." This  plan 
was  approved  by 
the  Council. 

At  the  graduat- 
ing exercises  of 
the  Law  depart- 
ment in  the  spring 
of  1864  occurred 
an  incident  which 
may  illustrate  for 
the  benefit  of  the 
rising  generation 
the  passion  and 
the  bitterness  in- 
volved in  political 
sympath)'  and  an- 
tipathy of  those 
years.  Clearly 
the  community 


^ttivcr^ity  of  the  (fDitij  ot  ^m  |aif1t. 

j^o^^JL^. 

/^d4. 

^^ 

eJS. 

ti/W«        a^^H»*«c»r           &0mnt^*rtf^ert>^*t/ 

/  //L 

<^>La/.,/.^.,  .»//  /»A.  y 

/aer    vn      iy/zCtU 

r/ctfj     «*. 

^/.  /?/.• 

^^■^^' . 

c/  /.'„^./.«^/  /«»v    a-^-  J-^- 

'^u    aim    /•»!* 

^    .^,^^ 

....■,Y.J 

/t>    »»*/■<-■/ 

//,    '^. 

imeiY      arte/    /i 

^^t/j        tx/        f/tt* 

'M.,.,.. 

UtYy,       a/ 

/"«//-/.<. 

,/r.,,.,,      ..^      . 

'/cP.,     rMr*</     rtrer> 

"•/-y 

//.„.    /o 

.91//.- 

,,    ,„/w^    /-/.    f' 

j^r4c*^r^     u'lff    ercft-l. 

f^,^. 

(^.J^. 

ISAAC    FERRIS. 

Chnnrfllor. 

COMMENCEMENT    INVITATION,    1864 


fessor  Martin 
him. self  so  reports 
—  Profe.s.sor  Mar- 
tin "endeavoured 
to  give  to  the 
prayer  that  char- 
acter of  patriotic 
t  h  a  n  k  f  u  ]  n  ess 
which  the  occa- 
sion demanded." 

It  was  the  third 
speech  of  the 
evening,  delivered 
by  one  of  the 
graduates,  Wil- 
liam M.  Tweed, 
Jr.,  which  marred 
the  occasion  and 
cau.sed  a  sensa- 
tion. His  theme 
was  "  The  F"irst 
and  Last  Presi- 
dcnt.s,"  and  of 
Abraham  Lincoln 
the  speaker  spoke 
in  terms  of  foulest 
abuse,  which 
reached  its  climax 
in  words  which 
Professor  Martin 
cites       t  h  u  s  : 


which    had   witnessed  the    draft    riots  of   the  "  When  an  ordinary  man  commits  perjury  we 

preceding  .summer,  and  had  .seen  how,  in   high  consign  him  to  state's  prison,  for  a  time  which 

places  even,   the  trimming  of  political  expedi-  may  be  that  of  his  whole  life  ;  but  when  the 

ency    had    shaken    the    political    manhood    of  President  of   the  United    States  commits  pcr- 

prominent    men,  was  still  full  of  combustible  jury" — .     These    outrageous  and  treasonable 

elements  of    political    nature.      On    May    lo,  words  were  permitted  to  go  without  censure 

1864,    the  graduation    exercises   of   the    Law  and  rebuke  on  the  part  of  the  Law  Professor 

School   took  place  ;    Professor   B.    N.    Martin,  who  had  charge  of  the  exercises  ;  but  Profes.sor 

in   the    absence    of    Chancellor    ferris,    who  Martin  promptly  left  his  seat  upon  the  stage 


32 


UNIVERSITTES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


and  withdrew  from  the  Chapel.  And  the 
Council  took  prompt  action.  Six  days  after 
the  occurrence  it  held  a  .special  meeting  to 
investigate  the  matter.  The  Professor  involved 
endeavored  to  shield  himself  b)'  hiding  behind 
the  principle  of  free  speech.  The  Council, 
however,  very  properly  took  a  different  view. 
The  speaker  of 
the  seditious  and 
treasonable  utter- 
ances was  not  to 
be  found  in  the 
city.  A  special 
committee  was 
appointed,  con- 
sisting of  Messrs. 
William  Curtis 
Noyes  and  Wil- 
liam Allen  Butler, 
to  investigate  the 
matter.  The  ef- 
forts of  that  com- 
mittee to  secure 
the  original 
speech,  or  a  cojiy 
of  it,  i:)r()vcd  futile. 
The  father  of  the 
student,  William 
M.  Tweed,  Sr., 
speaking  for  him- 
self and  for  his 
son  who  was  then 
a  minor,  declined 
to  turnish  either 
the  original  or  a 
copy.  The  upsliot 
of  the  whole  mat- 
ter   was  that   tlie 

University  Law  School   was   reorganized,  and 
Professor  Wedgewood  resigned. 

In  reviewing  the  work  in  Law  done  in  late 
years,  the  Council  found  "  that  the  time  devoted 
to  the  study  was  altogetlier  inadequate  and  the 
mode  objectionable,  and  that  the  attainments  of 
the  best  students  in  the  legal  knowledge  neces- 
sarily implied  in  the  topics  mu.st  at  best  be 
superficial."       In    surveying    this    act    of    the 


'01f  S^^/'^i  B  i  ITT 

or  TiiK 

^it»  0!  pew  f  otli. 

SlM'AT     EvK-ilNO.    .U'NB     m™. 

aimunl    3frmon   uf   tlu    Jlounji  ptn's   tfh»istiun  ^]S.«orintto« 

of  U.  N.  T. 

In  the  PTMbyteriim  Ckaroh.  corner  of  19Ui  St .  and  6th  Avenue. 
I;y  ^tv.  atifhen  S.  I'yng.  Jr. 


TuiSDAr,  ivtx  21»T.  AT  9i  A.  M. 
In  riiAxcKU-oit'ft  Koi»ii. 


TitHi.AT,  »T  s  r.  .M. 

AN.N'UAL  .MKKVINU  Ol"  B  OP  J'  B  K, 

\s  Coc.xt-ii.  Room. 


Witn<i£sDAr,  a2i>,  AT  lOJ   A.  M. 

i-ri'.i.ic  K.xiiiHrnoN  ok  I'liEi'.vuATORY  i>l-:i'.\i!T.\n;\r. 

Ix  Lkiiae  Chai-ru 

Wlfli.\«ltI)AT.    AT   8    I*.  M. 


ANNUAL     COMMENCEMENT 
At  SIBIX)'3,  at  10^    A.  M. 


Till  RSI'.M'      AT     \     P.    M. 

ANNUAL    MEETING    OF    THE    ALUMNI, 

ly   0>UN<  II,    Uoou — C"l.l.\TIos. 


COMMENCEMENT    ANNt)L  NCKMKNTS,    1864 


corporation  the  student  of  the  University's 
history  cannot  suppress  some  amazement  that 
matters  drifted  along  until  a  gi-ave  scandal 
forced  a  close  inquiry.  In  the  reorganization 
of  the  Law  Department  the  Council  through 
its  Committee  on  the  Law  School  reserved  for 
itself  much  closer  inspection  and  a  freer  hand 

in  the  question 
of  methods  and 
amount  of  in- 
struction than 
had  previously 
been  the  ca.se. 
They  named  a 
Dean  and  postu- 
lated that  there 
should  be  in  gen- 
eral two  active 
Professors  in  the 
Faculty  besides 
the  Dean,  the  al- 
lotment of  work 
as  between  all 
three  to  be  sub- 
ject to  the  ap- 
proval of  the 
C^ouncil's  Law 
Committee. 

Again  at  this 
point  did  John 
Taylor  Johnston 
prove  himself  a 
ready  friend  of 
the  work  in  Law, 
by  extinguishing 
"  by  purchase  the 
rights  claimed  by 
Professor  Wedge- 
wood  for  him.self  and  associates  (if  any)  in  the 
furniture  of  the  Law  Department  room  "  and 
presenting  the  same  to  the  University,  involving 
an  expenditure  of  $374.00,  to  which  were  added 
busts  of  Clay  and  Webster,  resjiectively. 

The  first  endowments  which  have  proved 
permanent  were  reported  to  the  Council  on 
October  19,  1864,  by  William  C.  Noyes,  who 
had  drawn  the  legal  papers  incidental  to  these 


UKATION  OK    IMK  Al,USIH,\SSU<  I.\noN, 


J^xj  JJe*.  jS.  CUi'dand  Ooze. 


msTOKr  or  M:ir  york  lmi  h.Ksrrr 


•33 


coini'vaiu-cs.     John  Taylor  jnhnstiiM  had  j;i\L'n  Diajjcr's    scientific    allaiiiniciits.      Particularly 

Sj5,ooo  Ik  endow  a  rrotessorsiiii)  ot  the  Latin  in  tlie  domain  of  celestial  i)hotoKrai)hy,  and  in 

Lanj,aiaj;e  and   Literature,  and  Jolm  ('.  (Ireen  the  closely  related  sjihere  of  spectrum  analysis, 

had    jjiven   tlie    same   sum    for   an   endowment  original    work   had    been   done   by   iJr.    Henry 

of    the   Chair  of  Mathematics.      It   was  a   full  Draper.      Not    lon<;er  before  than  in  the  pre- 

■  ■•eneration    after    tlie    initial    meetini;    of     the  cedin<;  year,    1864,   Henry   Draper  at  Iwenty- 


"  Literary  Con- 
vention "  of  1S30. 
Mr.  Johnston  was 
an  alumnus  ;  Mr. 
Green,  who  had 
learned  the  China 
trade  in  his  early 
manhood  at  Can- 
ton, China,  was 
not  an  alumnus. 
The  Rev.  Dr. 
Howard  Crosby, 
who  in  the  )e:ir 
before  (1863)  had 
returned  from 
New  Brunswick 
and  had  taken 
charge  of  the 
I'"ourth  Avenue 
P  r  e  s  b  )•  t  e  r  i  a  n 
Church  of  his 
native  city,  was 
elected  to  the 
Council  at  this 
same  important 
meeting,  in  the 
place  of  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Potts,  de- 
ceased. Howard 
Crosby  was  at 
this  time  thirty- 
eight  )ears  of  age. 
On  I'ebruary 
27,     1865,     Pro- 


^ 


^-^^e^'^^   ^^-^  ^O 


'■^. 


Or 


<5  Annual    Lonniunccnu'nl,  -^ 


LARGE  CHAPEL  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY,  ON  WASHINGTON  SQUARE, 


I 


I'^'iU-r  pf  tf.M'vcisi 

£. 

MUSIC. 
••Z»SM:Tr.t,"  O'rrUirt 

\VKtM 

F-lt.VVi:!! 

OBATION. 

l'r..l..><oi\  t  llallj-c?  ill  llic  l.i»   ..I  Kiiil  I'r.ii.eily 

Wii. 

l\M     ItMlNKY, 

ORATION. 

IiittiM-iioe  uf  riihlii'  (^)|iiiiioii  iipurt  tlic  l.:i»  . 

^,MII 

I.    (1.     AtiVMS. 

MUSIC. 

J^clcfli«ii  from  Mftntnnii 

^^■. 

V.    Wu.LUR. 

ClATION. 

Tlip  l-'iwlificalion  <if  .Tifttini.in.     . 

.s. 

Ml  r.i.  1) 

SniMrcKKit. 

On»TION. 

I"..lilical  Ecououiv. 

Gkoii. 

y.    WlMTK.    .I,-. 

OHATIOW 

The  I.u»-  n  SoWc  l'r.,re«.i..:i. 

(    IIUN., 

>     1;     Kirin 

MUSIC. 

.'iong^orilic  Timc« 

II         1 

.    Tl"IMV(.riTll. 

Cmferrins  qf  Q3ea-«e3  hj 

"tT 

■i.-. 

m 


Gahp,  "Qui  Vivo."  Iln , 

ADORESS 

lly  Trnf.  .luiix    Norton  I'omchoi.   Umii  itf  ilic  I.iiw  Fuciitiy,  .Sulijicl : 

Ti;in.'  Frlin;i|.lv^  of  !.eg:il  (.^l(l'>«iti«>iitioii. 

]>I'.N"|.;i>HTii)>f. 

MUSIS. 
Exit  Miircli.  liiU'WouTil 


"■' "TiriTiii  n      ••  i~r'    illilllUMiti m— MJMjmT      -   II    ■-—.'■'■^ ■----"»« 
COMMENCEMENT    PROGRAM,    LAW    SCHOOL.    1 865 


seven  years  of  age 
had  jniblished  in 
the  Smith.sonian 
Contributions  a 
paper  "on  the 
construction  of  a 
silvered-glass  tele- 
scope, I  5  -i  inches 
in  aperture  and 
its  use  in  celestial 
phot  ography." 
The  elder  Dra- 
per's request  was 
promjitl}-  granted. 
The  first  com- 
munication of  the 
e  m  i  n  e  nt  law- 
writer,  John  Nor- 
ton Pomeroy,  now 
Dean  of  the  Law 
P^aculty,  bears 
date  May  17, 
1865.  Of  this 
distinguished  au- 
thority on  Law 
the  reader  will 
find  a  more  ade- 
quate sketch  in 
the  biographical 
part  of  this  work. 
At  the  com- 
mencement of 
June  22,  1865, 
the     degree    of 


fessor    John    W.    Draper    presented    to    the  Bachelor  of   Philosophy  was  for  the  first  time 

Council  the  request  that  his  second  son,  Henry  conferred     on     candidates,    graduates    of    the 

Draper,  ^LD.,   be  made  Professor  Adjunct  of  Draper  Chemical   Laboratory  recommended  by 

Chemistry   and    Natural    History,    the    father  Professor  John  Christopher  Draper :   Thomas 

suggesting  this  arrangement   from   considera-  Stokes  and  F.  Le  Roy  Satterlee.     The  spring 

tions  of  his  own  health.     Nor  could  there  be  of  this  year,   1865,  was  noted  by  the  passing 

but    one    voice    in    the    estimate    of    Henry  away  of  Valentine  Mott  at  the  age  of  eighty. 


34 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


Early  in  December,  Myndert  Van  Schaick 
passed  away,  leaving  in  the  Council  as  his 
successor  his  son  Henry,  who  for  a  number  of 
years  before  this  time  had  served  as  Secretary 
to  the  Council.  Every  alumnus  of  New  York 
University  must  always  utter  this  name  as 
among  the  foremost  who  founded,  served  and 
supported  this  Institution,  and  stood  by  it  when 
friends  were  few  and  hopes  were  low. 

On  the  night  of  Monday  the  twenty-first 
of  May  1866,  a  fire  started,  or  as  some 
claimed  was  started,  in  the  Academy  of  Mu- 
sic on  Fourteenth  Street  and  Irving  Place. 
Whether  fiends  who  calculated  on  the  .spoils 
of  vast  plunder  in  the  panic  of  a  great  theat- 
rical audience  planned  it,  or  not,  will  probably 
never  be  known  here.  Fortunately  the  produc- 
tion of  Halevy's  La  JuTve  had  been  concluded 
and  the  audience  had  all  quitted  the  va.st 
barnlike  structure,  when  fire  broke  out  at 
about  11.45  P.M.  The  wind  being  from  the 
west  soon  set  on  fire  the  building  of  the 
University  Medical  College,  immediately  ea.st- 
ward  of  the  Academy,  on  the  site  now  occupied 
by  the  building  of  Tammany  Hall.  In  an 
incredibly  short  time  the  entire  Medical  College 
Ikiilding  was  destroyed.  None  of  the  ]5ub- 
li.shed  accounts  of  this  catastrophe  approaches 
in  value  this  official  one  presented  to  the 
Council  by  the  Medical  Faculty  and  preserved 
in  the  handwriting  of  no  other  per.sonage  than 
that  of  Howard  Crosby,  the  Secretary  of  the 
Council. 

Not  only  had  that  fire  destroyed  the  edifice 
merely,  but  it  had  also  destroyed  the  "  Ana- 
tomical, Surgical  and  Obstetrical  Museums ; 
the  Chemical  Apparatus,  and  the  recently 
established  Chemical  Laboratory;  the  collec- 
tions of  drugs  and  other  objects  of  Materia 
Medica,  with  numerous  and  very  valuable 
paintings  relating  to  Materia  Medica,  Surgery, 
the  Practice  of  Medicine,  etc."  Many  of 
these  were  of  such  a  nature  as  to  make  it 
impossible  to  replace  them.  None  of  the.se 
collections  were  insured.  The  loss  in  the 
Chemical  Museum  was  rated  at  $15,000. 
There    was    the    mortgage    of    $15,000    on 


the  College,  but  no  further  debt.  There 
was  an  insurance  of   $25,000. 

The  Medical  School  had  "  been  rapidly  recov- 
ering from  the  temporary  suspension  it  had  suf- 
fered due  to  the  loss  of  its  Southern  class.  At 
the  Commencement  last  March  nearly  one-fourth 
of  the  graduates  were  from  Southern  States. 
It  was  confidently  expected  that  there  would 
be  a  very  gi-eat  increase  in  the  number  of  its  stu- 
dents the  coming  year.  In  fact  its  prospects 
were  at  no  time  brighter."  The  Medical 
School,  it  was  claimed,  differed  from  the  other 
(two)  Medical  Colleges  of  the  city  in  this  re- 
spect, that  the  latter  depended  to  a  considerable 
extent  on  local  support,  while  the  New  York 
University  Medical  College  had  been  drawing 
its  students  indiscriminately  from  all  the  differ- 
ent states.  In  professional  position  it  ranked 
among  the  first  American  Colleges.  Until  the 
breaking  out  of  the  war,  the  Philadelphia  Col- 
leges were  its  only  rivals.  It  may  not  be  im- 
proper to  say  that  it  probably  stood  among  the 
first  of  American  Colleges  in  foreign  reputation. 
Many  of  its  Professors  (we  may  probably  in 
that  connection  think  of  Mott  and  Draper, 
primarily)  "  were  widely  known  in  Europe.  Its 
dijiloma  was  recognized  in  l-lngland,  and  many 
of  its  graduates  "  were  then  "practicing  in  that 
country."  "Books  written  by  its  Professors 
on  various  professional  topics"  were  "exten- 
sively u.sed  by  other  American  institutions 
of  learning;  .some  of  them  "  had  "gone  through 
as  many  as  forty  different  editions,"  and  were 
"regarded  as  authorities  by  foreign  countries. 
Very  many  monographs,  memoirs,  and  other 
scientific  productions  by  the.se  Professors  "  had 
"  been  republished  and  translated  into  different 
foreign  tongues,"  and  were  "  considered  as  hav- 
ing advanced  the  progress  of  human  knowledge 
in  many  particulars." 

Before  the  fire  had  died  out,  provision  had 
been  made  for  the  holding  of  Professor  Goulay's 
cliniques  in  wards  at  Bellevue  Ho.spita].  It 
was  resohed  not  to  rebuild  in  Fourteenth 
Street,  becau.se  the  College  Building  was  too 
far  from  Bellevue  Hospital ;  the  material  for 
illustrating  medical  precept  and  theory  at  the 


IIISTORT  OF  NEIV   YORK    UN  I  VERS  ITT 


^35 


hospital  beinfj  too  far  away  from  the  point 
where  lectures  were  held.  Besides,  the  es- 
tablishment of  a  Medical  School  in  connection 
with  Hellevue  was  among  the  considerations 
rendering  a  change  desirable.  And  besides 
all  this,  the  character  of  Fourteenth  Street  had 
undergone  a  change;  it  had  become  "more 
fashionable  "  (in  1866,  n.  b.),  and  .so  the  rates  of 
board  in  the  vicinity  in  some  cases  had  gone  as 
high  as  eleven  dollars  per  week.  The  Medical 
Faculty  had  deter- 
mined that  any  new 
College  building 
should  be  as  close 
as  possible  to  Belle- 
V  u  e  Hospital. 
Should  the  Council 
see  fit  to  make  an 
appeal  to  the  public, 
a  very  considerable 
amount  of  money,  as 
much  as  5150,000, 
coukl  be  obtained ; 
in  which  case  it  was 
proposed  to  dispo.se 
of  the  property  on 
Fourteenth  Street, 
pay  off  the  mort- 
gage, and  refund  to 
each  Professor  the 
purchase  money, 
§4500,  which  he  had 
paid  on  his  share, 
dividing     among 


them.selves   the  bal- 
ance, if  any,  that   might  remain,  and  cease  to 
be  the  owners  of  real  estate. 

Not  long  before  this  disaster  Alfred  L. 
Loomis,  M.D.,  had  been  named  for  the  Profes- 
sorship of  the  Institutes  and  Practice  of  Medi- 
cine, made  vacant  by  the  resignation  of  Prof. 
John  T.  Metcalfe,  M.D.  At  the  same  time 
William  Darling,  M.D.,  was  named  for  the 
Chair  of  Anatomy  abandoned  by  the  eminent 
Dr.  Van  Buren,  who  went  to  the  College  of 
Physicians  and  Surgeons,  while  Dr.  Metcalfe 
went  to  the  Bellevue  Hospital  Medical  College. 


ALFRED    L.    LOOMIS 


In  the  C^immencement  of  June  1866  the  de- 
gree of  Doctor  of  Philo.sophy  was  conferred 
upon  I.  Ghislani  Durant,  M.D.,  who  had  spent 
two  years  in  advanced  chemical  studies  in  the 
Draper  Chemical  laboratory  after  having  com- 
pleted the  ordinary  course  for  proficients  in  that 
branch.  Thus  Dr.  Durant  is  in  a  certain  .sense 
the  first  [)er.son  on  whom  the  highest  degree  for 
graduate  work  was  bestowed.  The  real  begin- 
ning,  however,    of    systematic    instruction    for 

graduates  of  Col- 
leges must  be 
accorded  to  Vice- 
Chancellor  Mac- 
Cracken's  series  of 
measures  by  which 
he  .strove  to  endow 
the  New  York  Uni- 
versity with  new 
forms  of  life.  Clearly 
Dr.  Draper  and  liis 
.son.s,  on  account  of 
tlic  di.saster  of  May 
21-22,  had  to  con- 
tent themselves  for 
the  present  with  the 
narrower  accommo- 
dations of  the  Col- 
lege Laboratory  on 
Washington  Square. 
But  the  year  1866 
was  not  only  marked 
b}-  a  di.saster,  but  by 
the  greatest  individ- 
ual act  of  beneficence 
as  yet  recorded  by  the  struggling  College. 
The  donor,  Loring  Andrews,  w^ho  from  humble 
beginnings  as  a  poor  orphan  boy  had  risen  to 
wealth,  made  this  gift  largely  to  honor  the 
memory  of  his  mother.  We  will  present  to 
the  reader  the  actual  form  of  this  donation : 

"  To  the  Honorable,  the  Council  of  the  University 
of  the  Cit}'  of  New  York : 

Gentlemen : — 

It  has  been  with  me  for  some  time  past  a  pur- 
pose in  some  form  to  contribute  to  the  interests  of 


n< 


UNIFERSITIES   AND    THEIR   SONS 


the  City  of  New  York  by  a  gift  to  one  of  its  insti- 
tutions. In  this  city  my  hfe  has  been  passed,  and 
a  kind  Providence  has  most  graciously  crowned  my 
labors,  and  1  have  felt  I  had  a  duty  to  perform  as 
a  steward.  After  careful  inquiry  and  conference 
with  your  Chancellor  I  have  resolved  to  make 
the  Unixersity  whose  historj-  I  have  followed,  the 
object  of  what  I  would  bestow ;  hoping  it  may  be 
a  lasting  blessing  to  the  young  men  of  this  City 
and  give  greater  efficiency  to  the  institution  which 
the  merchants  of  the  city  have  established  and 
sustained. 

I  place  to-day  in  the  hands  of  the  Chancellor 
(for  which  1  have  his  receipt),  Fifty  Thousand 
Dollars  in  Government  Bonds  and  Fifty  Thousand 
in  a  certified  Check  on  the  Fulton  Bank,  for  the 
endowments  I  propose  to  make.  [Here  follows 
the  designation  of  four  professorships  and  of  cer- 
tain prizes,  that  should  be  maintained,  under  easy 
conditions.  But  a  little  later  Mr.  Andrews  and 
the  Council  agreed  together  that  the  fund  should 
be  kept  as  a  unit,  the  income  to  be  used  for  the 
general  purposes  of  the  work  in  Arts  and  Science. 
The  endowment  continues  to-day  in  this  form  as 
"The  Loring  Andrews  Fund."  At  the  time  when 
this  fund  was  thus  converted  into  a  General 
Endowment  of  Arts  and  Science,  the  John  C. 
Green  and  John  Taylor  Johnston  endowments  of 
professorships  were  also  converted  in  like  manner 
to  the  great  benefit  of  the  work  of  the  University.] 

Mr.  Andrews  closed  his  letter  by  saying  : 

With  these  expressions  of  my  wishes,  I  am 
happy  to  place  the  whole  matter  in  your  hands, 
with  the  earnest  desire  that  the  I'niversity  may 
prove,  through  the  kind  providence  of  God,  a  foun- 
tain of  most  blessed  influence  to  this  community 
and  to  our  land. 

Witness  my  hand  and  seal, 

LoRixr,  Andrews. 
New  York,  this  15th  day  of  October,  1866. 

This  was  a  notable  benefaction,  and  the 
reader  will  readily  discriminate  as  to  design 
and  detail  between  the  general  purposes  [due 
to  the  filial  piety  and  to  the  niunici]:)al  spirit] 
of  Loring  Andrews,  and  the  specific  adjust- 
ments of  the  executive  of  that  day.  Chancellor 
Ferris.  Even  for  the  educational  history  of 
New  York  it  was  a  notable  gift,  for  that  day 
and  year,  a  year  rendered  further  memorable  by 


George  Peabody's  gift  of  $150,000  each  to 
Harvard  and  Yale.  For  in  New  York  City 
great  fortunes  were  then  more  and  more  being 
made,  but  much  of  that  wealth  naturally  found 
its  way  back,  in  the  form  of  some  beneficence, 
to  the  home  of  the  benefactor,  and  returned  to 
bless  or  strengthen  the  native  place  or  region 
from  which  came  to  New  York  the  men  of 
enterprise  and  fortune  to  whom  had  come 
prosperity  in  financial  or  professional  careers 
in  that  commercial  center.  At  that  time,  due 
in  no  small  measure  to  the  inflation  caused  by 
the  Civil  War,  the  return  for  money  was 
\ery  considerable,  the  revenue  from  the 
Messrs.  John  C.  Green's  and  John  Taylor 
Johnston's  $50,000  being,  in  October  1866, 
$3420,  or  nearly  seven  per  cent  of  income ; 
and  in  1867,  October,  the  total  income  from 
endowment  was  $10,500  for  $150,000  of 
principal,  at  which  figure  it  remained  for  some 
time.  The  annual  repairs  of  the  University 
Building  at  this  time  impress  one  as  not  incon- 
siderable, for  it  .seems  the  solidity  of  the  inner 
structure  was  never  quite  in  consonance  with 
the  outward  stateliness  of  the  Gothic  Norman 
pile,  which  is  a  point  of  contrast  with  the 
newer  structures  in  the  better  home  of 
the  University  College.  In  November  1867 
the  "  Committee,  on  the  Chancellor's  recom- 
mendations," of  which  Howard  Crosby  was 
Chairman,  made  their  report.  It  was  in  line 
with  Dr.  Ferris's  suggestions  and  with  the  mis- 
taken drift  of  many  educational  leaders  of  that 
time.  It  is  clear  that  Chancellor  Crosby's 
measure  a  few  years  later,  of  free  tuition  an 
accomplished  fact,  was  nothing  at  all  sudden 
nor  individual,  but  the  regular  con.seciuence  of 
the  currents  of  those  years.  If  only  (thus  the 
Committee  held)  $75,000  could  be  added  to 
the  endowment,  then  the  tuiticm  fee  could  be 
remitted  by  statute.  The  ultimate  horizon  as 
it  appeared  to  tho.se  deliberations  (mistaken,  as 
time  pro\-ed)  was  bright  with  special  promi.se 
if  this  were  enacted:  "Your  committee  feel 
confident  that  in  this  way  the  In.stitution  7vill 
take  an  advanced  position  before  the  community 
and  place    itself  on    a    stronger  and   broader 


IIISTORV   OF    XEJr    YORK    i'M/RRS/TT 


137 


foiimiatioti  of  ii'^cfiilucss  and  esteem  [italics 
our  own],  by  which  it  will  more  fairly  fill  its 
appropriate  place  as  the  University  of  the  City 
of  New  York."  As  a  matter  of  fact  the  state 
had  clone  a  little  for  the  University,  the  city 
nothin-^  in  i)articular ;  municipal  dependency 
in  the  era  soon  after  the  'Iweed-Sweeney 
regime  (a  condition  which  the  stupendous  for- 
getfulness  of  those  who  hold  the  metr()i)olitan 
suffrage  rendered  a  fair  contingency  of  fre- 
ijuent  recurrence)  —  municipal  dependency 
was  a  goal  not  at  all  devoutly  to  be  wished 
for.  Besides  this,  the  h'ree  Academy  had  (in 
1854)  been  endowed  by  the  Legislature  with 
collegiate  powers  and  privileges,  and  earlier  in 
this  very  year  of  1866  had  by  the  Legislature 
had  its  name  changed  to  that  of  "  The  College 
of  the  City  of  New  York,"  and  been  in  all 
respects  [while  fitting  on  directly  to  the  .system 
of  the  munici[xd  gi-ammar  schools  of  the 
common  school  system]  ranked  with  the 
Colleges  of  the  State  of  New  York.  Instead 
of  inquiring  what  indeed  were  the  characteristic 
elements  of  intrinsic  strength  and  attractive- 
ness of  the  foremo.st  and  mo.st  prosperous 
collegiate  foundations  of  the  country,  the 
leaders  of  1867- 1870  sought  to  compete  with 
local  conditions  of  free  instruction,  clearly  con- 
tent to  be  local,  pure  and  simple,  for  all  time. 

At  this  time,  in  January  1868  let  us  say, 
the  financial  status  of  the  University  College 
was  most  satisfactory ;  the  compensation  to 
the  Chancellor  and  Faculty  had  been  liber- 
ally increased,  that  of  the  Chancellor  being 
$4884.37,  and  so  on  in  proportion,  and  from 
the  endowment  revenue  $1382  was  given  as 
an  additional  compensation  to  Professor  John 
Norton  Pomeroy  of  the  Law  School  for  in- 
struction in  Political  Science  in  the  University 
College.  At  the  end  of  1867  there  was  a 
balance  of  $1431  in  the  treasury. 

Chancellor  Ferris,  out  of  whose  policy  the 
idea  of  free  instruction  had  originally  come, 
on  January  27,  1868,  submitted  resolutions 
(which  were  unanimously  adopted)  proxiding 
for  a  definite  extension  of  the  principle  of 
free  instruction  in  certain  contiguous  spheres  : 


"  Resolved,  'I'hat  this  Council  will  admit  to 
tuition  without  charge,  in  the  Department  of 
Science  and  Letters,  such  youth  of  good 
character  as,  having  reached  sixteen  years 
of  age,  and  having  become  fully  qualified  for 
admission,  shall  be  recommended  by  the  Board 
of  lulucation  of  lirocjklyn  —  and  shall  pass 
.satisfactory  examinations  —  to  the  number 
of  twenty-five."  "Resolved,  That  the  same 
prixilege  be  extended  to  the  Bcmrd  of  Educa- 
tion of  Hudson  County,  New  Jersey." 

Surveying  the  chief  data  of  1868  we  notice 
this  following  resolution  of  the  Faculty  of  Sci- 
ence and  Letters  of  date  June  16,  1868,  and 
submiltcd  to  the  Council  on  June  18,  1868. 
It  must  be  ke[)t  in  mind  that  at  that  time  the 
l)lan  was  in  modern  languages  to  make  a 
transition  from  the  system  of  personal  fee 
and  optional  work  on  the  part  of  the  student, 
to  gi\e  a  salary  to  teachers  of  mcjdern  lan- 
guages, a  measure  which  was  postulated  with 
additional  force  by  the  general  and  far-reach- 
ing program  of  freedom  from  all  fees  for 
instruction.  The  resolution  of  the  P'aculty 
is  appended  (adopted  June  16,  1869):  "Re- 
solved, That  in  the  judgment  of  the  Faculty 
it  is  exceedingly  desirable  that  in  making 
arrangement  for  permanent  instruction  in 
the  Modern  Languages  the  University  should 
aim  to  obtain  a  Professor  to  whom  the  Eng- 
lish language  is  vernacular  ;  and  that  a  copy 
of  this  resolution  be  given  by  the  Secretary 
to  the  Chancellor,  to  be  respectfully  presented 
to  the  Council."  There  had  been  a  very  long 
list  of  those  who  held  the  slender  tenure  of 
this  optional  power  to  teach.  Particularly  in 
German  had  the  list  been  a  long  one :  Er- 
nenpeutsch  1832-38,  Nordheimer  1840-42, 
Adler  1844-54,  Beleke  1862-63,  W'rage, 
1863-64,  Schreibner  1866  to  date.  Of  all 
these,  George  Adler  of  Buffalo,  of  the  Class 
of  1844  and  \'aledictorian  of  the  same,  had 
clearly  been  the  most  eminent  ;  in  fact,  had 
been  the  one  who  through  the  solidity  of  his 
specific  attainments  as  a  philologer  has  up  to 
the  present  day  maintained  a  name  in  the 
annals    of    American    work    in    Modern    Lan- 


138 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


guages.  In  the  Financial  Report  of  March 
I,  1869,  again  there  was  a  balance  reported 
by  the  Treasurer  of  the  Corporation,  of 
$1567.79.  But  with  all  this,  the  Under- 
graduate College  did  not  seem  to  grow.  As 
regards  the  Medical  School  for  the  three 
sessions  after  the  fire,  viz.  from  October  12 
to  March  i,  1866- 1869,  we  note  the  following: 
During  this  triennium  "the  Faculty  took  up 
their  quarters  in  the  old  New  York  Hosi)ital, 


student's  point  of  view,  was  the  large  number 
of  cases,  of  which  more  than  fifteen  hundred 
were  surgical  ones,  in  connection  with  New 
York  Hospital. 

The  degTee  of  Doctor  in  Philosophy,  we  see 
by  the  Medical  Circular  of  1 868-69,  was  still 
associated  with  and  acquirable  at  the  Labora- 
tory for  Practical  Chemistry,  being  thus  quite 
distinctly  an  appendi.x  of,  and  properl)-  to 
be  assorted   with    the    assets    of,  the    Medical 


OI,r>    NEW    YORK    HOSPITAL 


which  then  occupied  the  square  between 
Broadway  and  Church  Street,  and  between 
Duane  and  Worth  streets.  They  rented  one 
of  the  large  edifices,  but  were  obliged  to 
abandon  it  in  1869,  ""  account  of  the  sale  of 
the  property  for  commercial  purposes."  This 
southward  movement  of  the  Medical  School 
for  a  three-years  period  of  time  is,  in  my  belief, 
fairly  the  only  exception  to  the  unvarying 
northward  movement  of  educational  institu- 
tions in  the  City  of  New  York.  One  particular 
advantage  of    that    sojourn,  from  the  medical 


School.  In  that  laboratory  not  only  were 
persons  desiring  to  prepare  themselves  for 
the  duties  of  instructors  or  lecturers  on 
Chemistry  fitted  for  such  situations,  but  "as- 
says and  analyses  of  all  kinds  needed  by  busi- 
ness men  "  were  "  made  in  the  usual  manner." 
From  1869  onward  the  new  site  of  the 
Medical  College  was  the  structure  on  East 
Twenty-Sixth  street,  near  the  East  River,  op- 
posite the  Gate  of  Bellevue  Hospital.  The 
course  was  partly  given  in  the  College  build- 
ing and  partly  in  the  amphitheatres  and  wards 


IIISTORT   OF   NEW    YORK    UNIVERSITT 


139 


of  Ik'llevuc  Hospital,  the  Charity  Hospital, 
and  the  Manhattan  I'-yc  and  I'ar  Hospital. 

At  this  time,  in  May  i  <S69,  tlic  Law  Com- 
mittee of  the  Council  recommended  to  that 
body  two  important  changes.  The  first  change 
did  away  with  the  provision  that  "  no  one  re- 
ligious sect  shall  ever  have  a  majority  of  the 
Hoard."  1  he  second  change  was  designed  to 
relieve  an  embarrassment  which  had  existed 
for  over  seventeen  years  :  the  effect  would  be 
that  while  the  conveyance  of  real  estate  would 
still  require  a  vote  of  eleven  in  a  meeting  of 
seventeen,  appointments  might  be  made  at  an 
ordinary  business  meeting.  The  committee 
suggesting  these  changes  consisted  of  Messrs. 
Wm.  Allen  Hutler,  '43,  andjno.  I*'.  Parsons,' 48. 

Among  the  tenants  of  the  University  Build- 
ing at  this  time  had  been  the  well-known  Dr. 
Deems,  who  had  organized  his  Church  of  the 
Strangers  in  the  University  Building.  Soon 
after  this  time  Dr.  Deems  accjuired  a  prop- 
erty in  Mercer  Street  near  by,  with  generous 
support  given  him  by  Commodore  Vanderbilt. 
The  total  of  rents  in  the  report  of  December  9, 
1869,  reached  the  sum  of  $16,817.00. 

At  the  beginning  of.  the  fall  term  of  1869 
the  work  of  instruction  in  Political  Science 
was  entrusted  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Ezra  H.  Gil- 
lett,  who  was  then  forty-seven  years  of  age,  a 
graduate  of  Vale  1841,  and  Pastor  of  the 
Harlem  Presbyterian  Church  for  twenty-fi\e 
years,  one  of  the  most  eminent  writers  in  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  and  indefatigable  in  his- 
torical research,  more  particularly  in  the  pre- 
Reformation  period.  Some  weeks  before  the 
termination  of  the  courses  in  Law  the  ina- 
bility of  Professor  John  Norton  Pomcroy 
further  to  carrv  on  the  work  of  instruction 
mnde  it  necessary  to  find  a  substitute  to  carry 
to  a  proper  completion  the  work  of  the  year. 
This  work  was  undertaken  by  E.  Delafield 
Smith  of  the  Class  of  1846.  This  alumnus, 
who  had  been  Corporation  Coun.sel  of  the  City 
of  New  York,  and  United  States  District 
Attorney,  and  was  the  author  of  Law  Re- 
ports, not  only  performed  this  task  but  re- 
fused   to    accept    any    compensation.       As    a 


model  for  the  present  and  the  ri.sing  genera- 
tion of  New  York  University  men,  I  append 
a  portion  of  his  report  to  the  C"ouncil  (dated 
May  18,  1870):  "As  to  the  suggestion  of 
compensation,  I  must  frankly  declare  that  I 
could  accept  nothing  but  the  ho])e  that,  while 
my  services  were  of  short  duration  and  of 
little  account,  they  may  be  accepted  as  a 
cheerful  testimonial  of  my  gratitude  to  the 
University  for  a  material  portion  of  my  edu- 
cation." Among  the  LL.  B.s  who  thus  com- 
pleted their  Law  Course  we  find  the  name  of 
Randolph  (iuggenheimer,  and  of  the  small 
Law  Class  of  1867  that  of  IClihu  Root,  the 
present  Secretary  of  War.  Nor  should  we 
leave  unmentioned  of  the  alumni  of  Eerris's 
administration  the  geologist  John  J.  Steven- 
son, who  in  1867  acquired  the  degree  of 
Doctor  in  Philo.sophy,  and  Charles  B.  Brush, 
B.S.  and  Civil  Engineer  of  1867,  who  subse- 
quently gained  wide  reputation  in  his  profession. 

We  have  arrived  at  the  i:.w\  of  the  third 
administrati<m.  Chancellor  Eerris  resigned  his 
office  at  a  special  meeting  of  the  Council,  held 
at  119  Liberty  Street,  the  office  of  John  Tay- 
lor Johnston,  the  Vice-President  of  the  Coun- 
cil, on  July  18,  1870,  there  being  present  at 
the  meeting  Messrs.  John  C.  Green,  John  T. 
Johnston,  William  M.  Vermilye  the  Treasurer 
of  the  Corporation,  Howard  Crosby,  the  Rev. 
Drs.  Campbell  and  Hutton,  and  Messrs. 
Dodge,  Charles  Butler,  William  Allen  Butler, 
Nielson,  Leveridge,  Norrie,  Parsons,  Martin, 
Doremus  and  Maclay,  and  the  Chancellor 
himself. 

The  latter  had  reached  the  ripe  age  of 
seventy-two.  With  just  satisfaction  he  sur- 
veyed the  contrast  between  1852  and  1870, 
and  recounted  his  services,  particularly  in 
fields  not  congenial  to  him.  Here  for  the 
first  time  it  is  recorded  that  it  was  William 
Bedlow  Crosby  who  in  1852  induced  him  to 
undertake  the  formidable  task. 

A  pardonable  satisfaction  is  betrayed  in 
the  comparative  glance  directed  toward  the 
two  preceding  administrations  in  one  particu- 
lar respect  :  "  and  especially,  among  my  most 


140 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


pleasant   reminiscences,  will    be  the  fact   that  10%    Bond,     5 1,000  ;    James     Suydam     fund, 

we   had   no  controversies  to  wage  through  the  $4550  ;  total,  $175,550. 

public    press,    or    any    others." — "Ours    has  Chancellor  Ferris,  entering   upon    the   task 

been    a  reign    of    peace,    of    good    feeling,    of  of  financial  rehabilitation  in  the  latter  part   of 

mutual  confidence  and  cooperation,  though  we  his  life,  may    fairly   be  called   one   who   fully 

have  as  an  institution   suffered  and  do   suffer  discharged  this  task.     That  he  did  not  more 

from  the    effects   of   the   past   newspaper  and  profoundly    discern    the  true    reason    for    the 

pamphlet  war.      Indeed,    I   have   been   amazed  somnolent    state    of    the    Undergraduate    Col- 


that  the  University  has 
lived  through  it  all." 
The  Council  in  accepting 
the  resignation  bestowed 
upon  Dr.  Ferris  the  title 
of  Chancellor  Emeritus, 
and  a  pension  of  S3000, 
i.  e.  after  October  1871, 
up  to  which  time  he  was 
to  receive  S4000. 

It  is  difficult  for  the 
candid  student  of  these 
chronicles  to  overstate  the 
financial  services  of  the 
third  Chancellor,  who 
found  the  institution  in 
debt  to  the  amount  of 
more  than  $87,000,  while 
in  the  fall  of  1870  the 
revenue  producing  a.ssets 
stood  thus  :  Washington 
Square  property  with 
rents  producing  S17,- 
080.40  ;  Loring  Andrews 
fund,  $100,000;  John  T. 
Johnston  fund,  $25,000  ; 
John  C.  Green  fund, 
$25,000 ;     James    Brown 


.AKlOTVHli  COHV  OF    THK  EARLIEST   SUNLKJHT 
PICTURE    OF    A    HUMAN    FACE 

Miss  DoKoTHY  (■  ATI! ERIN K  Drai'F.r,  taken  by  her 
brother.  Professor  John  William  Draper,  M.D., 
L1..I).,  of  the  University  of  the  City  of  New 
York  early  in  1840.  The  original  daguerreo- 
type is  the  property  of  Sir  NVilliam  John 
Herschel  of  Kngland. 


lege,  —  for  this  we  are  all 
the  less  justified  in  hold- 
ing him  responsible,  since 
a  younger  man,  his  suc- 
cessor, sought  progi'css 
along  the  same  lines. 

A  notable  incident  in 
the  history  of  American 
science  recordable  as  be- 
longing to  the  Chancel- 
lorship of  Dr.  Ferris  was 
the  work  in  Solar  Physics 
and  optics  undertaken  by 
John  William  Draper. 
I  )agticiTe's  invention  had 
l)een  aimounced  in  1839. 
Professor  Draper,  whowas 
then  twenty-eight  years  of 
age,  at  once  took  up  the 
subject,  and  was  the  first 
l")h\sicist  who  ever  se- 
cured a  photograph  of  the 
human  countenance  ;  this 
was  a  picture  of  his  sister 
Catherine,  whose  face  at 
first  was  dusted  with  white 
jjowder,  a  measure  of  cau- 
tion soon  found  to  be  un- 


fund,  $5,000;   William  K.  Dodge  fund,  S5000  ;      necessary.     This  notable  .souvenir  in  the  history 
George  Griswold  fund,  $10,000;  United  States      of  American  physics  is  presented  above. 

E.  G.  s. 


APPENDIX    TO    CHAPTER    V 


The  following  is  from  the  pen  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Edward 
Abbott  of  the  Class  of  i860:  "Ours  were  the  days  of 
Chancellor  Ferris,  the  grandest,  most  majestic  specimen 
of  the  physical  man  whom  I  ever  saw  or  expect  ever  to 
see ;  of  Professor  Draper  the  elder,  whose  lectures  in  Physi- 
cal Science  lent  lustre  to  our  Senior  Year;  of  Dr.  Howard 
Crosby,  when  he  was  Professor  of  Greek,  and  to  whom,  I 


fear,  I  was  too  often  an  irritating  pupil  ;  of  Professor 
Loomis,  whose  mien  and  manner  were  Mathematics  per- 
sonified ;  of  Professor  Bull,  who,  good  soul  that  he  was, 
was  probably  the  most  laughed-at  man  in  the  Faculty  ;  of 
Professor  Martin  the  elder,  who  certainly  was  one  of  the 
best  informed  and  most  instructive  men  I  ever  listened  to 
in  any' connection  ;  of  Professor  Johnson,  who  was  as  hard 


IIISTORT  OF  NEll^  TORK    UNIVERSI'ir 


141 


and  severe  as  one  of  Cicero's  orations  ;  and  of  Janitors 
llalliday  and  Reed,  one  of  whom  was  as  unpopular  a  mar- 
tinet as  the  oilier  was  an  ea.sy  going  grandfather  of  an 
official. 

•'  1  well  reniemlier  my  entrance  examinations.  They  were, 
for  personal  reasons  of  convenience,  special  anil  private,  and 
very  different  ordeals  from  entrance  e.vaminations  now.  In 
Oreek  my  paces  were  tried  by  Professor  Crosl)y  in  the  front 
basement  of  his  dwelling,  somewhere  in  one  of  the  Twentieth 
streets,  if  I  rememl)er  rightly  ;  in  Mathematics  by  Professor 
Loomis,  grim  and  sphinx-like,  in  his  boarding  house  in 
University  Place.  My  Latin  e.xamination  1  do  not  remem- 
ber. The  scenes  and  exjieriences  that  most  distinctly  I  do 
rememl)er  are  the  meetings  of  the  students  on  the  Univer- 
sitv  steps,  of  a  morning,  before  prayers,  when  every  new 
spring-suit  was  an  object  of  common  remark  and  observa- 
tion, and  every  first  tall-hat  a  target  for  all  sorts  of  shots ; 
the  declamations  in  the  chapel  following  morning  prayers, 
when  Poe's  '  Raven  '  and  '  Spartacus  to  the  Roman 
Knvoys"  did  unwearied  duty  year  after  year;  the  tramp, 
tramp,  tramp  of  the  jjacings  to  and  fro  on  the  marble  floor 


of  the  great  hall  during  the  five  minute  intermissions;  the 
boyish  and  not  very  studious  recitations  that  went  on  in 
Professor  Martin's  lecture-room ;  the  honest  and  admiring 
respect  that  was  always  paid  to  Dr.  Draper;  the  sturdy 
nianline.ss  of  Professor  Crosby's  dealing  with  the  class,  Ixjih 
collectively  and  as  individuals;  and  the  racy  meetings  of 
the  I'.ucleian  .Society,  which  came  on  Friday  evenings,  and 
invariably  yieldetl  entertainment,  if  not  edification."  .  .  . 

"There  were  Saturday  boating  trips  on  the  Harlem  River 
towards  High  IJridge ;  there  was  a  slight  attack  of  the 
baseball  fever,  which  spent  itself  on  the  plains  of  Weehaw- 
ken ;  there  were  Sunday  afternoon  promenades  on  Uroad- 
way,  where  all  the  young  life  and  fashion  of  the  city 
congregated,  sweeping  back  and  forth  in  long  currents 
from  Fourteenth  Street  to  Canal  ;  there  was  a  college  ])aper, 
the  University  Item,  of  which  our  class,  I  think,  was  the 
founder,  and  which,  I  sadly  remember,  terribly  wounded 
one  of  the  professors  in  the  Law  .School  by  a  harmless  pun 
upon  his  name.  Our  class,  I  think,  inaugurated  class  meet- 
ings and  class  suppers  and  a  class  song)x)ok.  We  had  an 
imitation  Junior  Exhibition  and  a  brilliant  Commencement." 


CHAPTER    VI 


Chancellor   Howard  Crosby  and  tiif.  Crisis  of   i88r 


TWV.  historian  has  this  palpable  and 
most  delis^htful  advantage  over  the 
man  of  action,  and  over  those,  who- 
ever they  may  be,  who  are  called  upon  to  act: 
these  latter  must  be  wise  before  acting  or  while 
acting,  whereas  the  chronicler  is  free  from 
these  embarrassments  and  enjoys  the  privilege 
of  being  wise  after  the  acts  and  events, 
inasmuch  as  he  may  calmly  survey  the  train 
of  consequences  and  examine  the  generative 
points  whence  issue  new  trains  of  events. 
And  so  it  will  be  in  the  ca.se  of  our  dealing 
with  the  fourth  administration  of  New  York 
University. 

Immediately  after  the  retirement  of  Lsaac 
Ferris  there  was  a  —  statutory  —  interregnum. 
In  this  interregnum  the  most  incisive  and  clear 
propositions  were  those  emanating  from  the 
Pastor  of  the  Fourth  Avenue  Presbyterian 
Church,  who  had  been  a  student,  a  Professor 
in  the  College  Facult\-.  had  for  four  years  been 
connected  with  a  most  reputable  foundation 
near  by  and  thus  enriched  both  his  e.xperience 
and  his  faculty  of  judgment,  and  had,  im- 
mediately upon  his  return  to  his  native  city. 


resumed  active  relations  with  his  College  by 
accepting  a  seat  in  the  Council.  Moreover  he 
was  endowed  with  a  per.sonality  the  most  gifted 
to  engage  sympathy,  nay  admiration,  and  his 
reputation  had  been  for  .some  time  growing 
into  a  renown  destined  to  become  national. 
And  the  specific  matter  for  which  a  remedy 
was  sought,  was  the  stationary  or  retrogressive 
position  of  the  Undergraduate  College  in  sjiite 
of  the  strong  Fa  cult  \',  in  .spite  of  the  great 
betterment  affected  in  the  economic  aspects  of 
the  College. 

On  September  15,  1870,  the  C'ouncil  held  a 
meeting.  They  had  upon  examining  the  affairs 
of  the  University  come  to  see  "the  necessity 
of  some  very  radical  changes  in  the  conduct  of 
the  institution,"  and  so  there  had  been  aji- 
pointed  a  committee  to  "  revise  the  curriculum." 
Of  this  Committee.  Howard  Crosby  was  made 
Chairman.  There  was  also  appointed  a  com- 
mittee to  confer  upon  the  .subject  of  the  elec- 
tion of  a  new  Chancellor.  This  Committee 
consisted  of  Messrs.  William  Allen  Butler,  John 
E.  Parsons  and  William  M.  Vermilye.  Both 
committees  were  to  report  on  October  6,  1870. 


142 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


On  that  date   Dr.  Crosby,  for  the  Committee 
on    Curricukim,  reported  as  follows  : 

"  The  Committee  appointed  to  revise  the 
Curriculum  and  suggest  such  changes  in  the 
system  of  the  University  as  may  be  expedient, 
beg  leave  to  report  —  That  they  believe  the 
public  needs  of  our  day,  and  the  original 
design  of  the  University,  equally  demand  a 
much  closer  contact  of  the  University  with 
the  Community,  by  a  much  broader  exhibi- 
tion of  the  objects  and  means  of  Knowledge. 
To  this  end,  as  well  as  in  view  of  a  greater 
general  eflficiency  in  the  Collegiate  work, 
they  present  to  the  Council  the  following 
propo.sals  : 

1.  That  immediate  steps  be  taken,  as  far  as 
expedient,  to  locate  the  Meteorological  Obser- 
vatory of  the  Government  at  the  University, 
and  to  provide  all  the  apparatus  for  such,  at 
an  expense  of  $75,000  if  necessary,  thus  mak- 
ing the  University  a  valuable  and  energizing 
centre  for  the  whole  nation,  placing  it  in  the 
first  rank  of  scientific  institutions,  and  lifting 
it  at  once  to  a  liealthful  popularity. 

2.  That,  after  the  present  academic  year, 
the  instruction  in  the  Department  of  Science 
and  Letters  be  given,  freely,  to  all  who  may 
pass  the  proi)er  examination,  and  in  this  way 
a  more  beneficent  [italics  our  own]  diameter 
and  a  more  far-rcacliing  usefulness  be  at- 
tained by  the  University. 

3.  That  the  Professorship  of  Evangelical 
Theology  be,  with  the  consent  of  Mr.  Andrews, 
abolished,  as  unnecessary  in  a  city  where 
Theological  Seminaries  can  much  more  thor- 
oughly furnish  theological  instruction,  and  as 
conflicting  practically  with  the  basis  on  which 
the  University  is  founded. 

4.  That  two  courses  of  study  be  consti- 
tuted by  the  Faculty  of  Science  and  Letters, 
to  wit,  a  Classical  Course,  and  a  Scientific 
Course;  the  former  to  be  known  as  compris- 
ing Freshman,  Sophomore,  Junior  and  Senior 
years ;  and  the  latter  as  comprising  First, 
Second  and  Third  year  ;  and  that  a  student 
entering  on  either  of  these  —  be,  as  far  as  pos- 
sible,   confined    to    the   requirements    of    the 


courses,  all  elective  privileges  on  the  student's 
part  being  denied. 

5.  That  at  the  close  of  the  present  academic 
year,  the  Grammar  School  be  abolished  as 
not  a  necessary  part  of  the  original  design, 
and  as  in  many  points  conflicting  with  the 
interests  of  the  institution. 

6.  That  the  examinations  of  the  Univer- 
sitv,  both  as  regards  number  and  character,  be 
regulated  by  the  Facult}^  on  a  more  thorough 
basis. 

7.  That  the  present  prize  system,  as  far  as 
possible,  be  abolished:  and  the  prize  fund,  with 
such  other  moneys  as  may  be  obtained  for  that 
purpose,  be  used  to  establish  a  system  of  fel- 
lowships. 

8.  That  the  Law  Department  be  reconsti- 
tuted, under  the  direction  of  the  Law  Commit- 
tee, with  power  as  speedily  as  possible. 

9.  That  the  salaries  of  the  Professors  be, 
after  the  present  academic  year,  fixed  if  possi- 
ble at  Four  Thousand  Dollars. 

10.  That,  in  order  to  accomplish  the  fore- 
going purposes,  so  necessary  to  the  usefulness 
and  life  of  the  University,  the  Council  en- 
deavor at  once  to  raise  the  sum  of  Two  Hun- 
dred Thousand  Dollars."  This  was  the  plan  of 
1870,  October  6  ;  admirable  in  some  ways,  but 
completely  ignoring  the  new  social  and  athletic 
life,  and  the  wider  freedom  in  academic  sites 
and  that  whole  element  in  College  life  —  at- 
tractive to  youth  —  the  academic  home,  and  the 
environment  so  dear  to  youth,  the  associations 
so  cherished  ;  elements  of  academic  strength 
which  in  the  current  vernacular  of  academic 
youth  mark  the  wide  and  deep  difference  be- 
tween "a  real  American  College"  and  "a  day 
school." 

On  the  tenth  section,  which  dealt  with  the 
financial  postulates  of  the  new  program, 
there  was  appointed  a  committee  consisting  of 
Messrs.  Charles  Butler,  James  Brown  and 
William  M.  Vermilye,  to  which  was  added 
the  President  of  the  Council,  John  Cleve 
Green.  Whether  this  eminent  patron  of  higher 
education  had  or  had  not  matured  or  was  be- 
ginning to  mature  those  bequests  which  ulti- 


HISTORT  OF   NFJV   YORK    UNIVERSITY 


'4; 


niatcly  placed  scientific  instruction  at  Prince- 
ton on  a  pcrniaiK-nt  foundation,  we  know  not. 
Nor  are  we  permitted  to  put  on  record  liie 
indirectness  of  hearsay  in  this  respect.  Had 
the  University  College,  however,  been  in  a  sit- 
uation invitini;  expansion,  such  as  was  not  the 
case  at  \\'a.,lun.i;ton  Square,  nor  possible  there, 
perhajw  his  munificence  would  have  taken  a 
different  turn  or  would  have  been  divided. 

But  to  return  to  the  inijxjrtant  Council 
meet  in  <(  of  October  6,  1870.  The  Committee 
on  the  election  of  a  new  Chancellor  presented 
their  correspondence  with  Dr.  Crosby,  the  latter 
having  withdrawn  from  the  meetin<^.  It  was 
Dr.  Crosbv  whom  the  committee  (Messrs. 
William  Allen  Butler,  William  M.  Vermilye 
and  John  1*2.  Parsons)  had  invited  to  accept 
the  Chancellorship.  And  in  doing  so  they  did 
not  ask  him  to  withdraw  from,  or  essentially 
reduce,  that  labor  which  was  the  main  sphere 
of  his  life,  viz.,  the  Pastorate  of  the  Fourth 
Avenue  Presbyterian  Church.  It  was  under- 
stood that  Dr.  Crosb}'  was  ''to  give  to  the  gen- 
eral oversigitt  and  administration  of  the  affairs 
of  tlie  University  only  such  time  and  attention 
as-'  might  "  de  compatible  zvith  the  discharge 
of"  his  "pastoral  duties."  [The.se  words  as 
well  as  those  below  are  emphasized  b\-  us.] 

And  they  went  on  to  say  :  "  We  are  satis- 
fied that,  in  the  present  situation  of  the  Uni- 
versity, the  arrangement  we  have  indicated 
affords  the  best  if  not  the  only  practicable  so- 
lution of  our  difficulties.  It  is  consistent  with 
the  original  design  of  the  oflfice  ;,  it  accords 
with  the  unanimous  and  strongly  expressed 
wish  of  the  Faculty ;  it  will  be  acceptable  to 
the  undergraduates,  and  to  the  Alumni ;  and 
we  believe  that  the  friends  of  the  Institution 
generally  will  recognize  the  wisdom  and  pro- 
priety of  securing  at  once  (although  not  to 
the  e.xclusion  of  other  duties  and  interests)  the 
services  of  one  of  its  own  alumni  and  former 
Professors,  who  by  his  scholarship  and  literary 
ability,  as  well  as  by  the  deserved  public  es- 
teem in  which  he  is  held,  is  so  well  qualified  to 
be  the  executive  head  of  a  prominent  seat  of 
learning." 


In  accepting  this  call  thus  qualified,  Howard 
Crosby,  after  reviewing  what  association  he 
had  had  to  tiie  L'liiversity,  as  a  "grammar 
sch<Jolboy"  until  he  became  a  member  of  the 
Council  and  the  Secretary  of  the  same,  u.sed 
the  following  words,  which  we  think  are  emi- 
nently characteristic  of  the  noble  impulsive- 
ness and  intensity  of  his  soul  :  "  My  course  in 
connection  with  the  University,  thus  briefiy 
sketched,  has  not  only  brought  me  into  most 
intimate  acquaintance  with  tlic  Institution,  in 
all  its  character  and  hi.story,  but  has  begotten 
in  me  a  devoted  attachment  to  my  Alma 
Mater,  so  that  ni\'  interest  in  its  welfare  is  as 
natural  to  me  as  my  breathing  of  the  air." 
iXiul  in  surveying  the  duties  of  the  Chancellor 
he  noted  that  neither  instruction  nor  any 
charge  of  the  finances  was  expected  of  him. 

To  "superintend  the  interests  of  the  Uni- 
versity" he  conceived  to  mean  this,  that  "he 
is  to  put  himself  into  magnetic  relation  with 
all  its  departments,  to  conceive,  accept  and 
mature  plans  for  the  development  of  its  true 
lite,  to  represent  it  judiciously  before  the 
communit},  and  to  contribute  to  the  sympa- 
thetic and  harmonious  working  of  the  Council 
and  the  Faculties.  The  other  specified  duties 
of  the  Chancellor  are  mere  matters  of  routine, 
and  demand  very  little  of  his  time."  Dr. 
Crosby  believed  that  the  proposed  additional 
responsibilities  called  rather  "  for  the  efficient 
interest  of  heart  and  mind,  than  the  actual 
consum])tion  of  specific  time."  At  the  same 
time  Dr.  Crosby  made  one  condition,  viz.,  the 
matter  of  the  additional  endowment  of  $200,- 
000,  towards  the  immediate  acquisition  of 
which  vigorous  efforts  must  be  made.  This 
was  a  sine  qua  ncn.  Without  it,  "  no  man 
could  do  justice  to  himself  or  the  Institution, 
in  accepting  the  office  of  Chancellor."  He 
did  not  close  this  important  communication 
without  calling  attention  to  the  statutory  lim- 
itation of  the  Chancellorshii)  to  four  years, 
strictly  speaking,  intimating  that  the  service 
he  could  give  was  indeed  given  willingly,  but 
merelv  to  bridge  over  the  present  emergencv. 
All    this    must    be    kept    in    mind    by    those 


144 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


uho  would  be  qualified  to  pass  judgment  on 
Howard  Crosby's  administration.  Clear))-  the 
men  of  1870  did  not  believe  that  the  principle 
of  "This  one  thing  I  do"  was  essential  for 
the  management  and  for  the  advancement  of 
New  York  University.  W'e  may  perhaps  say 
they  took  altogether  too  unbusinesslike  a 
view,  too  spiritual  a  view  of  the  situation  ;  the 
lustre  of  a  distinguished  and  still  rising  name 
they  trusted  would  produce  the  desired  results. 
If  they  had  been  called  uix)n  to  name  an  ex- 
ecutive for  a  railway  company  or  some  other 
great  business  enterprise  they  would  ha\e 
probably  declined  i)r()mptly  to  engage  a  partiid 
force,  or  to  be  content  with  a  fraction  of  the 
abilities  of  any  leader,  however  strong.  They 
seemed  to  have  overlooked  the  fact  that  there 
were  set  over  Columbia,  Princeton,  Yale,  in 
the  vicinage  of  this  younger  and  weaker 
foundation,  men  who  gave  to  the  service  of 
their  respective  Colleges  tt//  their  energies;  in- 
deed it  is  related  of  Dr.  ]\IcCt)sh,  President 
of  Princeton  1865-1888,  "that  when  he 
once  upon  a  time  in  the  far  West  descended 
into  a  mine,  he  had  bespoken  a  substantial 
contribution  before  he  reascended  to  daylight." 
If  the  whole  Council  gave  time  and  labor  as  a 
public  service,  it  w-as  after  all  not  a  continu- 
t)us,  not  an  exclusive,  service,  it  was  occasional 
and  j^eriodical  service,  needing  the  undivided 
and  absolute  con.secration  of  one  personality, 
to  maintain  the  direction  and  united  aim  of  all 
the  forces. 

The  decade  after  the  Civil  War,  1865-1875, 
was  one  when  the  country,  freed  from  the 
incubus  of  slavery,  girt  its  loins,  even  in  educa- 
tional matters,  to  new  and  gieater  achievements. 

At  Harvard,  President  Eliot  began  his  ad- 
ministration in  1869;  at  New  Haven,  Noah 
Porter  was  inducted  into  the  Presidential 
office  in  1871,  succeeding  Theodore  Woolsey ; 
at  Columbia  during  the  middle  sixties  the 
School  of  Mines  was  begun  ;  at  Princeton  in 
1868  Dr.  McCosh  began  his  splendid  service 
for  that  foundation  ;  at  Baltimore,  a  few  years 
after  Dr.  Crosby's  inauguration,  Johns  Hop- 
kins  began  to  mature  his  great  plans  of  mu- 


nificence for  a  University  and  a  Hospital.  As 
for  Princeton,  Dr.  McCosh  even  utilized  his 
hours  of  relaxation  in  laying  out  grounds  and 
walks  and  locating  buildings. 

On  October  11,  1870,  Howard  Crosby  was 
unanimously  appointed  Chancellor.  He  had, 
for  such  partial  service  as  he  could  give,  in 
his  letter  of  acceptance  said  :  "  I  could  not 
entertain  an)'  proposition  of  salar)'  in  con- 
nection with  the  oflfice  proposed."  But  it 
was  moved  that  the  sum  of  $1000  annually 
be  paid  by  the  Treasurer  to  Chancellor 
Crosby,  "  to  meet  any  expenses  which  may 
be  incurred  b)-  him,  and  to  reimburse  him  for 
an)'  loss  by  reason  of  his  acceptance  of  the 
office  of  Chancellor."  The  present  chronicler 
may  say,  upon  very  good  authority,  that  this 
sum  was  understood  as  fairly  representing 
some  equivalent  for  the  product  of  literary 
labor  in  wliich  Dr.  Crosby  would  t)therwise 
have  engaged.  At  best  we  see  it  was  a 
parcrgon,  a  minor  occupation,  in  the  whole 
sphere  of  steadily-widening  activity  of  the 
Pastor  of  the  Fourth  Avenue  Presbyterian 
Church,  and  the  vigorous  combatant  of  evil 
in  civic  affairs. 

The  Inauguration  of  the  fourth  Chancellor 
took  place  on  November  17,  1870.  The 
President  of  the  Council,  John  C.  Green, 
issued  the  following  card  of  invitation  :  — 

U.NivKRsiTY  OF  THE  CrrY  OF  Nf.w  Vork, 

14  November,  1870. 
You  are  respectfully  invited  to  meet  with  the  Council 
Faculties,  and  their  Guests,  at  the  East  Parlor,  Association 
Hall,  Fourth  Avenue,  comer  Twentv-Third  Street,  at  Seven 
o'clock  I'.M.  Thursday,  17th  inst.,  so  as  to  proceed  together 
to  attend  the  Inauguration  of  Chan."ellor  Crosby  in  the 
Main  Hall. 

John  C.  Gree.n,  President  of  the  Council. 

Dr.  Crosby  had  been  one  of  the  founders 
of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  of 
New  York.  In  fact  the  revelation  to  his  own 
soul  of  the  beneficent  power  which  it  was 
given  him  to  wield  over  young  men,  had 
been,  we  believe,  one  of  the  motives  which 
induced  him  to  enter  upon  the  avocation  of  a 
clergyman,  during  his  four-years  sojourn  at 
Rutgers  College. 


Ill  STORY   (jF   new    YORK    UNIYERSI'I'Y 


145 


Ani<)n<^  prominent  persons  wlio  atlciulcd 
the  inaiij;uralion  \vc  may  mention  I'ldlcssor 
Morse,  Peter  Cooper,  V'incenzo  Hotta,  Presi- 
dent Barnard  and  Professor  Nairne  of  Co- 
lumi)ia  Collej;e,  Professors  Roemer,  Barton, 
Conipton,  Woerner,  Spencer  and  John  Chris- 
toplier  Draper  of  the  City  Colle<;^e,  President 
Campbell  of  Rutgers,  Dr.  Cununin,i;s  of  Wes- 
leyan.  Chancellor  Ferris  opened  the  exer- 
cises with  prayer.  The  addres.ses  made  on 
that  evening  to  the  Chancellor  by  Charles 
Butler,  for  the  Council  ;  by  Professor  IC.  A. 
Johnson,  on  behalf  of  the  P'aculty  of  Letters 
and  Art  ;  by  Professor  Alfred  C.  Post,  on  be- 
half of  the  I'^aculty  of  Medicine;  by  the  lion. 
Henry  K.  Davies,  on  behalf  of  the  P'aculty  of 
Law;  by  Profes.sor  Henry  Draper,  on  behalf 
of  the  Faculty  of  Science,  and  by  John 
Taylor  Johnston  on  behalf  of  the  Alumni,  all 
preceded  the  hiaugural  Oration  of  Dr.  Crosby. 
Charles  Butler  summarily  reviewed  the  history 
of  the  Institution  and  said  towards  the  conclu- 
sion :  "  It  only  now  remains  to  open  its  doors 
and  to  offer  these  advantages  to  all,  without 
money  and  without  price.  To  enable  the 
Council  to  do  this,  will  require  a  moderate 
addition  to  its  existing  endowments,  and  in- 
come." Professor  Johnson,  a  Yale  man,  be- 
trayed a  consciousness  that  an  institution  in 
the  heart  of  the  gi'eat  city  was  perhaps  not 
in  the  most  effective  position.  Professor  Po.st 
referred  to  Draper  and  Morse,  and  the  accom- 
plished freedom  of  anatomical  dissection,  and 
the  widely  scattered  and  numerous  alumni  of 
the  Medical  School.  Hon.  Henry  Davies 
{inter  a/ia)  alluded  to  the  tremendous  conflict 
of  the  P'ranco-Prussian  War  then  going  on,  by 
quoting  the  familiar  "  InUr  anna  leges  silent ;  " 
and  John  Taylor  Johnston  said  :  "Let  us  hope 
that  the  Alumni  will  now  be  found  urging 
forward,  with  heart  and  hand  and  purse,  the 
interests  of  their  never-forgotten  Alma  Mater, 
and  that,  stimulated  by  your  zeal  and  energ)', 
they  also  may  successfully  add  to  that  pros- 
perity which,  without  their  steady  and  constant 
aid,  can  be  but  temporary."  Henry  Draper 
alluded,  not  unjustly,  to  the  fact  that  so  much 


of  the  scienlitic  work  of  the  professors  was 
due  to  their  //;/<//V/<v/  de\'otion  ;  adding:  " 'Phe 
University  shoukl  not  be  made  visible  by  bor- 
rowed ligiit,  but   shine  of  itself  like  the  Sun." 

Dr.  Cn^sby's  own  address  abounds  in  valu- 
able and  suggestive  matter.  He  enunciated 
the  three  points  of  "  Instruction,  Sustentation, 
(io\ernment,"  by  which  to  estimate  an  institu- 
tion of  learning.  But  both  these  analytical 
ideas,  as  well  as  his  historical  glance  at  luiro- 
pean  L'niversities,  we  must  here  pass  by,  and 
select  a  few  of  his  utterances  that  have  a  dis- 
tinct historical  significance  and  import  for  our 
])articular  theme,  as  well  as  for  the  stutlent  of 
the  history  of  American  ICducation,  who  may 
wish  to  weigh  the  mutations  of  a  generation  : 

"  The  College  usually  in  the  L^nited  States 
is  simply  a  High  School,  into  which  a  student 
enters  with  so  scant  a  preparation,  and  at  so 
early  an  age,  that  proficiency  in  any  depart- 
ment of  research  as  the  result  of  his  curri- 
culum is  an  impossibility.  'Phe  most  that 
can  be  done  is  to  strengthen  the  elementary 
knowledge  and  create  a  taste  for  something 
beyond."  A  little  further:  "The  cau.se  of 
high  education  in  our  own  city  has  had  es- 
pecial disadvantages  to  contend  with  in  the 
great  material  prosperity  of  our  metropolis. 
The  riches  are  here  to  found  and  furnish  a 
hundred  L^niversities,  but  the  bent  of  the 
public  mind  is  in  another  direction.  The 
young  are  dazzled  b)'  the  display  of  wealth 
and  seek  the  paths  which  lead  to  material 
success." 

"Grais  ingenium,  Grais  dedit  ore  rotundo 
Musa  loqui,  praeter  laudem  nullius  avaris. 
Haec  nostri  (Dr.  Crosby  substitutes  for  Romani) 

pueri  longis  rationibus  assem 
Discunt  in  partis  centum  diducere." 

(Horace  ad  Pisones,  322  pgg-) 

Praising  the  City  College,  he  added  :  "  But 
its  connection  with  the  City  Government  will 
always  prove  an  obstacle  to  its  growth  into 
a  University,  for  a  University  must  be  inde- 
pendent of  political  movements."  In  the  very 
next  sentence  he  uttered  words  which  if  car- 
ried into  their  logical  sequence  might  have  led 


146 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


to  a  movement  into  an  autonomous  home 
at  that  earher  day.  "  It  (a  University)  must 
be  shut  in  to  its  own  high  employment,  free 
from  the  excitements  of  the  world  without." 
Of  the  Medical  College  of  1870  he  said  : 
"  The  affairs  of  that  Faculty  have  been  man- 
aged with  consummate  tact  and  energ)',  by 
which  the  losses  sustained  in  the  destruction 
by  fire  of  the  edifice  and  museum  have  been 
surmounted  and  their  present  condition  made 
more  prosperous  than  ever." 

Of  the  disproportion  of  the  actual  College 
in.struction  he  speaks  with  trenchant  words, 
although  he  actually  seemed  to  pursue  lines 
since  actual!)-  elaborated  by  President  Eliot 
of  Harvard  University  :  "  If  the  University 
scheme  were  fulfilled,  we  should  see  the 
undergraduates  of  the  Department  of  Letters 
and  Arts  pursuing  the  higher  studies  of  Liin- 
guage,  Philosophy  and  Mathematics,  following 
these  studies  to  their  remotest  lengths  in 
Comparative  Philology,  Ancient  and  Modern 
Literatures,  Metaphysics,  Psychology,  Moral 
and  Political  Philosophy,  Fluxions  and  Qua- 
ternions." This  was  six  years  before  the 
opening  of  the  Johns  Hopkins  University. 
And  of  what  we  now  call  graduate  instruction 
in  the  country  at  large  he  said :  "  These 
In.stituti()ns,  although  many  of  them  are  hon- 
ored i)y  the  presence  of  the  first  scholars  of 
our  country,  are  (as  we  have  already  said) 
but  high  schools  for  general  elementary  train- 
ing, and  the  Department  of  Letters  and  Arts 
in  our  Universities  (by  which  title  I  include 
all  such  Colleges  as  Columbia  and  Vale)  are 
in  no  higher  position."  Further  on,  on  liberal 
post-collegiate  studies :  "  Now  in  a  land  like 
ours,  with  wealth  and  honors  lavishly  offered 
to  all,  it  is  too  much  to  expect  of  human 
nature  that  it  should  present  self-denying 
souls  devoted  to  the  profound  study  of  ab- 
struse subjects,  at  least  in  any  large  measure. 
Society  shrinks  from  the  poverty  and  humility 
of  such  a  course,  not  recognizing  the  true 
wealth  and  sublimity  that  is  involved  in  it." 
And  then  with  glowing  words  he  prophecies 
a    speedy    realization    of    University    work    in 


nonprofessional  lines,  and  adds :  "  Already  a 
few  here  and  there,  known  as  resident  gradu- 
ates, or  post-graduates,  mark  the  beginning  of 
the  consummation." 

In  conclusion  the  new  Chancellor  said  :  "  It 
will  be  mine  to  foster  the  interests  of  the 
University  with  sedulous  care,  to  seek  its  com- 
plete enlargement  to  the  full  measure  of  the 
University  outline,  to  bring  it  into  the  closest 
relations  with  the  wants  of  the  country  and 
the  age,  and  in  doing  this  to  cast  off  all  that 
may  be  obsolete  or  merely  formal,  and  to  con- 
serve only  that  which  has  adaptation  and  life. 
In  this  may  I  have  the  hearty  co-operation  of 
my  brethren  of  the  Alumni,  the  generous  sym- 
pathy of  the  educated,  and  the  blessing  of  God." 

Of  the  specific  and  particular  needs  of  his 
own  immediate  designs  Chancellor  Crosby  said 
nothing  then  to  the  general  public,  but  he  pre- 
sented them  to  the  Council  as  follows  (on 
December  8,  1870).  He  desired:  i.  P'or  in- 
crease of  salaries  of  the  Professors  in  the 
Department  of  Arts,  $86,000;  2.  for  Profes- 
sorship of  English  Language  and  Literature, 
$50,000  ;  3.  for  Meteorological  Apparatus  and 
Professors,  $75,000  ;  4.  to  meet  loss  of  tui- 
tion fees,  $25,000  ;  amounting  to  $236,000,  of 
which  the  Alumni  will  raise  the  $36,000. 

Meanwhile  the  Law  Department  had  been 
reorganized,  with  a  Senior  and  a  Junior  Class, 
and  a  Faculty  organized  consisting  of  the 
Hon.  Henry  ¥..  Davies,  LL.D,  President ; 
Hon.  E.  Delafield  Smith,  A.M.,  Hon.  David  R. 
Jaques,  LL.B.,  George  H.  Moore,  LL.D., 
Charles  Francis  Stone,  A.M.  The  sequence 
of  courses  was  arranged  thus:  l.  Persons  and 
Remedies ;  2.  Property ;  3.  Obligations ;  4. 
Succession  ;  to  each  of  which  certain  studies 
were  appended  that  were  requisite  for  the 
degree.  The  year  was  to  consist  of  three 
terms  of  twelve  weeks  each.  Special  courses 
of  evening  lectures  were  promised.  Among 
these  legal  auxiliaries  there  were  named  for  the 
winter  of  1 870-1 871  :  Professor  Benjamin  N. 
Martin,  D.D.,  on  Legal  Ethics;  A.  T.  Van- 
derpoel  on  the  Law  of  Corporations ;  \\m. 
Allen  Butler,  on  the  Law  of  Navigable  Waters 


HISTORY  OF  NEW   YORK    UNIVERSITY 


H7 


and  Riparian  Rifjhts ;  Hon.  A.  O.  Ilall,  on 
Criminal  Law  in  a  jjeneral  view;  John  IC.  Par- 
sons, on  I'uhlic  Ways  ;  the  Rule  of  the  Civil 
as  contrasted  with  that  of  ICn^lish  Common 
Law,  as  to  Rights  of  Adjoining  Owners ; 
Hon.  R.  L.  l-juremore,  on  Land  Tenures  and 
Titles  ;  A.  A.  Redfield,  on  the  Theory  of  Judi- 
cial Determination.  Other  au.xiliaries  and 
volunteers  whose  themes  were  not  announced 
were  these,  all  alumni  of  College  or  Law 
School :  I'Vancis  N.  Bangs,  John  Sedgwick, 
B.  Vaughan  Abbott,  I'lthan  Allen.  The  first 
graduates  of  the  reorganized  Law  School, 
which  wo  may  for  brevity's  sake  designate 
as  that  of  Professor  Jaciues,  were  the.se : 
Ale.xander  W.  I^'rascr,  Harmon  H.  Hart, 
George  W.  Hunt,  Walter  W.  Schell,  Elmer 
Rapp,  David  A.  Sachs,  Moses  Wyman,  A. 
De  Witt  Wales;  with  one  exception  of  the  city 
of  New  York. 

In  April  1871  nothing  could  as  yet  be 
reported  in  the  way  of  actual  accomjilishment 
of  the  raising  of  the  additional  endowment  of 
$236,000,  "upon  tlic  result  of  tv/iic/i  [the 
emphasis  is  our  own]  his  own  position  as 
Chancellor  depended."  This  was  Chancellor 
Crosby's  own  statement. 

On  motion  of  the  Chancellor,  Charles  Carroll 
was  appointed  Instructor  in  German  and  French 
for  the  next  Academic  year,  with  the  title  of 
Professor,  and  with  the  aggregate  salaries  of 
the  existing  Professorships  of  French  and 
German,  to  commence  in  September  1871. 
Mr.  Carroll  was  distinctly  a  modern,  in  more 
than  one  sense,  with  a  power  of  accomplished 
mastery  over  French  and  German  speech  quite 
remarkable,  and  unattached  by  any  domestic 
ties  as  he  was,  then  fond  of  sauntering  along 
in  his  leisure  hours  through  the  streets  of 
upper  Broadway  and  P'ifth  Avenue,  and  often 
presenting  to  his  classes  witty  and  clever  satires 
on  modern  topics  in  exquisite  French  or  German 
speech. 

The  principle  of  abolishing  tuition  fees  abso- 
lutely was  clearly  the  adopted  policy,  and  the 
Council  on  May  23,  1871  "pledged  themselves 


that  any  deficiency  arising  in  the  income  of 
the  University  by  reason  of  the  abolition  of 
tuition  fees  for  the  ensuing  year  (i  871-1872) 
to  the  extent  of  I^'ifteen  Hundred  Dollars  shall 
be  made  u[)  .so  that  the  .salaries  of  each  of  the 
present  Professors  at  the  sums  now  paid  them 
shall  be  fully  and  promptly  paid." 

On  the  same  date  William  Almy  Wheelock, 
of  the  Class  of  1843,  was  elected  to  the 
Council,  of  which  at  the  time  of  writing  he 
is  the  honored  President.  Of  the  Class  of 
1 87 1  several  have  reached  marked  distinction  : 
Borden  Parker  Bowne,  as  a  writer  of  philos- 
ophy (a  pupil  of  Lotze)  and  a  teacher  of  the 
same  in  Boston  University  ;  Edward  Wegmann 
has  attained  eminence  as  one  of  the  foremost 
authorities  on  the  subject  of  masonry  dams, 
and  as  an  explorer  of  ancient  Roman  engi- 
neering;  Abraham  S.  Isaacs  as  a  writer  on 
the  Talmud. 

On  June  22,  1871,  the  Council  adopted  the 
Chancellor's  plans  for  improvement  in  the 
undergraduate  work,  which  again  was  presented 
under  ten  heads  ;  the  Department  of  Science 
and  the  Department  of  Art  to  be  distinct 
and  coordinate,  recognizing  in  the  former 
Physiology  and  Civil  Engineering  as  distinct 
branches  of  instruction.  Paragraph  four  made 
the  important  change  in  the  statutes  which 
remained  in  force  from  1871  to  1893,  that  of 
free  tuition.  The  reader  will  have  seen  that 
for  many  years  in  the  latter  part  of  Chancellor 
Ferris's  administration  the  general  policy  as 
well  as  the  specific  measures  of  the  direction 
of  affairs  had  been  tendmg  towards  that  end. 
All  who  were  in  authority  considered  it  a 
wise  and  beneficent  step.  That  paragraph 
four  reads  :  "  that  instruction  shall  be  given  to 
students  in  both  departments  free  of  charges 
for  tuition." 

To  provide  for  increase  in  salaries  —  which 
were  to  range  from  S3500  for  Latin,  Greek, 
Logic,  etc..  Chemistry  and  Natural  History, 
Mathematics  with  Natural  Philosophy  and 
Astronomy,  to  Si  500  allotted  to  Modern 
Lanjruages,  while  S2000  was  allotted  to  Civil 
Engineering     and    also    to     Physiology    ( and 


148 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR    SONS 


Analytical  Chemistry),  and  the  salary  for  the 
Professor  of  Political  Science  was  fixed  at 
$1800  —  a  contribution  of  $12,000  was  to  be 
raised  for  the  ensuing  year,  of  which  §7000 
should  be  spent  upon  the  increase  of  the  salary 
charge,  and  $5000  was  to  be  given  to  the  aid 
of  the  Department  of  Science,  "  in  aid  of  its  pro- 
posed extension,  for  the  purpose  of  securing 
additional  instructors,  of  purchasing  chemical 
and  philosophical  ap- 
paratus, mineralogi- 
cal,  geological  and 
physiological  speci- 
mens and  arranging 
a  laboratory  for  ana- 
lytical chemistry." 
This  plan  was  to  be 
provisional  and  ex- 
perimental for  one 
year.  The  reader 
will  readily  perceive 
that  Chancellor 
Crosby  desired  to 
make  enlargement 
and  improvement 
largely  if  not  alto- 
gether on  the  side 
of  the  scientific 
branches  of  instruc- 
tion, and  further- 
more that  he  decided 
to  go  ahead,  al- 
though no  definite 
success  whatever  in 
the  gaining  of  the  additional  $236,000  had  as 
yet  been  attained. 

It  was  in  this  widening  of  the  scientific  work 
of  the  Undergraduate  College  that  John  James 
Stevenson  —  an  alumnus  of  1863,  and  a  Ph.D. 
of  Prof.  J.  \y.  Draper's  Laboratory  of  Practical 
and  Analytical  Chemistry  in  1867,  and  from 
1869  Profe.s.sor  of  Chemistry  and  Natural 
History  in  the  West  Virginia  University  at 
Morgantown,  thus  entered  the  direct  service  of 
his  Alma  Mater  at  the  age  of  thirty. 

This  fact  of  1871  marks  the  end  of  the  Uni- 
versit}'    Grammar   School's  tenancy   of   apart- 


HENRY    E.    DAVIES 


ments  on  the  ground  floor  at  Washington 
Square ;  the  largest  and  most  attractive  of 
whose  rooms  was  fitted  up  at  an  expense  of 
S800  and  added  to  the  resources  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  Science,  whose  Faculty  "acted  with 
vigor  and  enthusiasm."  The  connection  of  the 
Civil  Engineering  Department  of  the  New 
York  University  which  had  subsisted  with  the 
Cooper  Union  through  the  Institute  of  Geodesy 

of  Professor  Fox, 
was  dissolved.  Of 
the  inauguration  of 
free  tuition  Chancel- 
lor Crosby  said,  in 
his  report  of  Octo- 
ber 5,  1871  :  "This 
position  of  gratuit- 
ously furnishing  the 
higher  education  in 
our  city  is  a  proud 
one  for  our  Univer- 
sity to  occupy,  and 
puts  us  into  the  very 
front  rank  of  educa- 
tional in.stitutions  in 
our  country.  We 
are  setting  an  exam- 
ple which  will  have 
to  be  followed  by  all 
the  higher  Semina- 
ries of  the  land." 
Time  and  experience 
have  disposed  of  the 
sanguine  anticipa- 
tions of  Dr.  Crosby.  The  utterance  however 
deserves  this  place  for  its  historical  importance. 
As  ft)r  the  Grammar  School  of  which  more 
than  thirty  years  before  Howard  Crosby  him- 
self had  been  a  pupil,  he  said,  in  October  i  891  : 
".  .  .  the  Grammar  School,  which  filled  the 
lower  hall  with  noisy  boys,  often  troublesome 
with  their  mischief,  and  which  proved  of  scarcely 
any  value  as  a  feeder  to  the  University." 

The  "prizes"  had  been  turned  into  fellow- 
ships of  $300,  $200  and  $100,  respectively,  to 
foster  graduate  study  for  one  year  after  grad- 
uation. 


lIlsrORr   OF   NEW    TORK    UNIVERsni 


149 


The  press  of  New  \'()rk  cordially  appreciated 
these  enlari;eiiieiUs  and  improvements,  and 
about  forty  new  studenls  were  entered  in  the 
fail  of  1S71.  In  reviewinj;-  the  reor^^anization 
of  the  Law  Department  in  1 870-1871,  Dr. 
Crosby  particularly  praised  the  moot  courts  of 
Judge  Davies,  and  his  <;ratiiitous  efforts  in  the 
whole  work  of  reori;ani/.alion,  the  (gratuitous 
services  of  IC.  Delatield  Smith,  the  further  en- 
lari;enu'nt  of  the  Law  Library  by  John 
Taylor  Johnston,  and  the  work  of  Professor 
David  R.  Jaques,  who  had  i)orne  the  principal 
burden  of  instruction,  and  who,  with  the  coope- 
ration of  the  k\<;al  meml)ers  of  the  Council,  had 
caused  to  be  modified,  in  the  University's  favor, 
a  rule  of  the  Court  of  Appeals  which  had  been 
most  prejudicial  to  the  University's  interests. 
In  speakin^i;  of  the  prosperous  work  of  the  Medi- 
cal School,  Dr.  Crosby  urg'ed  upon  members  of 
the  Council  to  attend  the  examinations  and  the 
commencements,  a  visitation  ]m"oikm'  for  "the 
lei;"-al  custodians  and  directors  of  this  important 
department  of  the  University."  Dr.  Crosby 
desif^nated  the  movements  of  1870-1871  as 
"The  new  departure."  And  it  is  true  that  his 
very  report  to-tlay  impresses  one  as  vigorous 
and  energetic,  differing  very  positively  from 
the  rejiorts  of  former  administrators.  Lor- 
ing  Andrews  and  the  other  benefactors  had 
willingly  con.sented  to  have  the  specific  desig- 
nations withdrawn  from  the  various  bene- 
factions and  these  merged  in  a  general  fund. 
After  the  passing  away  of  George  Busch  and 
Isaac  Nordheimer,  i.e.  since  1846.  for  exactly 
twenty-five  years  the  department  of  Hebrew 
had  been  c|uiescent.  Now  Dr.  Alexander 
Meyrowitz  was  apj^ointed  Professor  of  Hebrew, 
without  salary. 

The  financial  report  of  December  7,  1871, 
showed  that  of  the  permanent  endowment 
(the  most  precious,  while  least  conspicuous, 
part  of  any  educational  corporation's  assets) 
$100,000  was  invested  in  United  States  10/40 
bonds,  producing  in  gold  S5000.  which  in  cur- 
rency was  equal  to  about  S5.600;  the  Green 
antl  Johnston  l'\mds  of  S50.000  together  in 
railroad   stock    of    the    Xew    Jersey   Central, 


producing  $3000;  the  $io,ooo  of  Messrs. 
Brown  and  Dodge  i)roduced  $600;  Mr.  James 
Su)(lam's  Arkansas  six  per  cent  bonds  of  JS7000 
j)roduced  58420,  and  (ieorge  (iriswold's  gift  of 
$10,000  on  bond  and  mortgage  produced 
$700  ;  one  Registered  United  States  bond  of 
$1000  i)r()duced  $50;  seventy-seven  medical 
diplomas  at  $10  each  produced  S770  ;  the  rents 
of  the  building  ])roduced  $17,000  —  a  total  of 
income,  without  tuition,  of  $28,040.  I  par- 
ticularly ask  the  general  reader  to  consider 
how  short  has  been  what  we  may  call  the  total 
fiscal  life  of  New  York  University.  It  was  free 
from  debt  on  the  Washington  Scjuare  Huilding 
in  1854.  The  date  of  the  Loring  Andrews  en- 
dowment 1866,  exactly  thirty-three  years  before 
the  time  of  this  writing  (December  30,  1899)  ; 
one  generation  of  endowment,  and  no  longer. 

Salaries  were  then,  and  had  always  been,  paid 
quarterly.  On  the  date  of  that  financial  re- 
jiort,  December  7,  187  i,  William  A.  Wheelock, 
'43,  was  elected  to  the  post  of  Treasurer, 
which  duty  he  held  to  1873,  and  again  later 
from   1 88  I  to   189 1. 

In  January  1872,  Chancellor  Crosby's  state 
of  health  made  imperative  a  vacation  in  the 
South,  and  in  going  he  by  letter  again  re- 
minded the  Council  what  vigorous  progress 
had  been  made  through  the  sjwcial  contribu- 
tion of  $12,000  and  urged  them  on  towards 
the  permanent  new  endowment  of  S236,ooo, 
he  .saying  in  conclusion  (January  25,  1872) — "I 
earnestly  hope  that  the  Council  will  take  im- 
mediate measures  to  secure  and  augment  these 
happy  results." 

While  the  Chancellor  was  away  under  milder 
skies,  the  Council  formed  a  project  of  turn- 
ing the  entire  lowest  floor  into  business  apart- 
ments and  warerooms,  thus  gaining  ten  rooms 
of  varying  size,  suggesting  to  the  bu.siness 
public  :  "  the  book  trade  would  be  in  harmony 
with  the  character  of  the  building." 

In  April  1872,  Dr.  Cro.sby  was  back  from 
the  South.  Meanwhile  the  Professors  inquired  : 
Is  the  extra  a]:)propriation  to  continue.' 

During  that  winter,  1871-1872,  the  Univer- 
sity gave  free  public  lectures  at  the  University 


15° 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


Chapel  on  Thursday  evenings,  from  December 
1 7  to  April  4.  Of  the  Faculty  the  following  ad- 
dressed the  public  :  John  W.  Draper,  on  Spec- 
trum Anal}'sis ;  George  W.  Coakley,  on  the 
Physical  Constitution  of  the  Sun  ;  Benjamin 
N.  Martin,  on  "  The  Natural  Theology  of  the 
Doctrines  of  the  Forces ;  Henry  Draper  on 
Respiration;  G.  \V.  Coakley,  on  Comets;  E. 
H.  Gillett,  on  The  Future  of  Society  ;  H.  M. 
Baird,  on  Homer  and  his  English  Translators; 
E.  A.  Johnson,  The  Industries  of  the  Ancient 
Romans  ;  J.  J.  Stevenson,  on  American  Geol- 
ogy ;  Professor  Carroll,  on  Robert  Browning ; 
Professor  W'eisse,  on  Sensation  and  Thought  ; 
Whitelaw  Reid,  on  Journalism.  The  lec- 
ture of  this  distinguished  gentleman,  full  of 
suggestive  th(Hight  and  effectively  marshaled 
information,  was  published  in  July  1872,  a 
momentous  year  for  the  Tribune  office  — 
whence  the  little  book  issued ;  printed,  how- 
ever, elsewhere.  The  little  book  of  forty-two 
pages  is  to-day  not  less  fresh  and  suggestive 
than  it  was  twenty-seven  years  ago.  The  fol- 
lowing paragraph,  from  p.  24,  may  \cell  deserve 
a  permanent  place  in  this  volume :  "  No  sepa- 
rate school  (of  Journalism)  is  likely  now,  or 
soon,  to  be  founded  for  such  a  course.  But 
more  than  one  College  or  University  beside 
that  of  the  City  of  New  York  has  been  con- 
sidering whether  such  studies — many  of  them 
already  taught  in  some  form  or  other  —  might 
not  be  appropriately  combined  into  a  special 
department,  or  a  post-graduate  course,  which 
would  at  least  command  as  large  attendance 
as  many  of  those  now  enjoying  the  support  of 
our  best  institutions  and  the  services  of  our 
ripest  scholars."  Such  lectures  as  the  course 
of  that  winter  of  1 871-1872,  which  must  needs 
move  in  the  middle  zone  between  information 
and  entertainment,  are  useful  as  ventures  from 
the  professional  representatives  of  the  intel- 
lectual side  of  life  and  society;  whether  they 
ever  ha\e  quickened  the  outlying  mass  or  re- 
acted to  the  benefit  of  the  citadel  of  mind  and 
culture  from  which  the  sallies  are  made,  may 
be  a  question  fairly  open  to  discussion.  They 
have  tried  it  at  Harvard,  at  Johns  Hopkins,  at 


Colum.bia.  The  well  endowed  lectures  at  the 
Peabody  foundation  in  Baltimore,  have,  we 
believe,  been  discontinued. 

Of  the  graduates  of  1872,  David  Leventritt 
attained  to  judicial  honors,  while  Frank 
Adelbert  von  Briesen  gained  distinction  in  the 
jurisprudence  of  patent  laws  and  in  move- 
ments for  civic  reform.  In  October,  Chan- 
cellor Crosby  could  report  an  enrollment  of 
si.xty-five  new  names  in  the  undergraduate  de- 
partments, at  which  rate,  if  it  were  continued, 
he  said,  the  Faculty  would  not  be  large  enough. 
At  the  same  time  there  was  announced  the 
gift  of  $5000  from  Mrs.  Hannah  Ireland,  a 
sum  "  to  be  preserved  as  a  fund  in  United 
States  stock  or  other  approved  securities,  the 
interest  of  which  shall  be  paid  to  a  student  in 
the  Department  of  Arts  in  said  University 
who  may  be  in  preparation  for  the  e\angelical 
ministry.  The  giving  or  withdrawal  of  this 
stipend  was  to  be  a  prerogative  of  the  Chan- 
cellor. 

In  November  of  this  year,  1872,  two 
years  had  elap.sed  since  Dr.  Crosby's  acces- 
sion, and  he  took  occasion  of  the  date  to 
remind  the  Council  of  the  matter  of  the  addi- 
tional endowment,  toward  the  securing  of 
which  no  successful  steps  had  as  yet  been 
taken,  nothing  had  been  raised.  Dr.  Crosby 
put  the  matter  in  his  own  somewhat  impulsive 
way  thus :  "  I  foresee  the  utter  ruin  of  our 
hopes  and  the  speedy  loss  of  our  present  pro.s- 
perity  unless  the  financial  embarrassment  is 
promptly  met  by  the  Council." 

On  the  same  date  Samuel  J.  Tilden  and 
Dr.  Daniel  B.  St.  John  Roosa  were  added  to 
the  Council  as  new  members.  As  to  the  latter, 
the  Medical  Faculty  had  a  short  time  before 
made  overtures  to  the  Council,  suggesting 
closer  relations  and  naming  a  number  of  dis- 
tinguished graduates  of  the  Medical  Depart- 
ment for  future  membership  in  the  Council ; 
of  these  Dr.  Roosa  had  been  one.  He,  with 
the  Chancellor  and  the  Secretary,  was  ap- 
pointed on  a  committee  on  the  Medical 
Department.  It  should  be  stated  here,  in 
passing  from  the  year   1872,  that  the   exhibit 


msTORr   OF   NEW    YORK    UNIVERSl'lT 


i5» 


of  the  Treasurer  of  Deccnil)LT  1S72  showed 
that  $6,050  for  special  endowment  had  been 
contributed  by  members  of  the  Council,  but 
this  considerable  sum  could  not  be  invested 
because  it  was  consumed  by  the  current  re- 
quirements of  the  enlarged  operations  and  in- 
creased salaries. 

On  February  6,  1873,  the  Alumni  Associ- 
ation of  the  Medical  Department  presented 
through  their  Secretary,  Charles  Inslee  Par- 
dee, resolutions  which  they  had  adopted  on  the 
preceding  December  16(1  872)  looking  towards 
securing  the  sum  of  $200,000  "to  be  used  by 
the  Council  for  the  general  endowment  of  the 
Medical  Department  of  the  University  "... 
"and  that  the  Treasurer  of  the  University  be 
requested  to  authorize  the  use  of  his  name 
as  the  custodian  of  any  mone}s  that  may  be 
collected."  On  April  i  of  this  year  1873 
Professor  Jaques  was  able  to  report  an  enthu- 
siastic meeting  of  alumni  of  the  Law  School 
in  which  they  had  deliberated  on  ways  and 
means  to  advance  the  welfare  of  the  Law- 
School,  and  had  also  proposed  to  offer  prizes 
of  $200,  $150  and  $100  for  legal  essays  for 
excellence  in  written  and  oral  examinations  for 
the  coming  year. 

As  to  the  matter  of  greatest  importance  to 
the  University,  the  special  committee  on  new 
endowment  reported  on  April  I,  1873,  that 
John  C.  Green  had  proposed  to  subscribe 
S8o,ooo  and  possibly  $120,000,  provided  the 
whole  simi  was  subscribed,  but  that  efforts 
made,  both  within  the  Council  and  without, 
to  complete  the  subscription,  had  failed.  Mr. 
Wheelock  going  to  Europe  for  a  long  sojourn, 
Morris  K.  Jesup  was  elected  Treasurer  in  his 
place.  Meanwhile  a  very  great  further  portion 
of  the  endowment  had  been  invested  in  New 
Jersey  seven  per  cent  convertible  bonds,  viz., 
$110,000,  while  $60,000  was  already  placed 
in  New  Jersey  Central,  South  Branch,  Rail- 
road stock,  —  the  financial  world  being  on 
the  eve  of  the  panic  of  1873.  The  twenty-six 
graduates  in  Law  reported  on  June  5,  1873, 
as  having  passed  their  examination,  were  the 
largest  class  which  had  up  to  this  time  issued 


from  thai  department  ;  they  came  from  Vonkers, 
New  York,  Mount  Vernon,  Port  Richmond, 
Orange  and  MadLson  in  New  Jersey. 

But  Dr.  Crosby  in  looking  at  the  situation 
at  large,  and  comparing  attainment  with  design, 
was  profoundly  di.scouraged  at  the  failure  to 
raise  the  $236,ockd,  or  to  secure  the  $12,000 
extra  for  the  current  academic  year.  The  pros- 
pect, as  it  appeared  to  him,  was  one  of  general 
failure  ;  .salaries  woukl  have  to  be  reduced, 
the  new  Professors  would  have  to  be  dis- 
missed, the  fellowships  must  be  abandoned, 
and  the  proper  scientific  aj^paratus  could  not 
be  provided.  "  In  short,  the  University  must 
contract  itself  to  an  ordinary  school  and 
utterly  lose  the  prestige  of  its  late  advance." 
And  so  Dr.  Cro.sby  tendered  his  resignation 
to  the  Council  :  "  It  is  with  pain  that  I  see  no 
alternative,  and  leave  a  post  where  m\  whole 
heart  has  been  interested  and  my  happiest 
hopes  excited."  On  June  9,  1873,  a  special 
meeting  was  held  to  consider  this  resignation, 
but  this  meeting  was  attended  by  only  nine 
members  of  the  Council.  Three  days  later 
another  meeting  was  held,  with  exactly  the 
same  attendance,  w-hen  it  was  proposed  to  re- 
sume the  subscription  for  the  current  as  well 
as  for  the  ensuing  academic  years.  On  Oc- 
tober 2,  and  on  December  4,  there  was  no 
quorum.  The  same  was  the  ca.se  on  Decem- 
ber 16,  1873.  The  official  archives  for  all 
this  time  fail  to  give  the  slightest  clue  as  to 
the  specific  manner  in  which  the  questicm  of 
Dr.  Crosby's  resignation  was  disposed  of  or 
adjusted. 

At  this  time  in  December  the  Medical 
Faculty  felt  ill  at  ease  in  their  Medical  Build- 
ing, which  they  had  leased  from  Mr.  Court- 
land  Palmer  on  East  Twenty-Sixth  Street, 
which  cost  $50,000  and  for  which  they  jjaid 
an  annual  rental  of  $5000,  with  all  incidental 
expenses.  They  asked  the  Council  to  help 
them.  At  the  same  time  Henry  DrajDer 
resigned  the  Professorship  of  Physiology  in 
the  Medical  College,  and  his  father.  Professor 
]'.  W.  Draper,  resigned  the  Presidency  of  the 
Medical   College,  as    well    as  —  and    this  was 


< 


152 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


clearly  even  more  significant  —  the  Emeritus 
Professorship  of  Chemistr)-  and  Physiology  in 
the  Medical  College.  These  communications 
were  presented  to  the  Council  on  December 
22,  1873. 

Meanwhile  the  University  was  more  than 
ever  in  need  of  an  ever  present  and  acti\e 
executive.  But  while  the  Emeritus  Chancellor, 
Dr.  Ferris,  had  passed  awa)-,  at  Roselle,  New 
Jersey,  in  June  preceding,  the  active  Chancel- 
lor's resignation  presented  in  the  same  month 
had  not  yet   been    disposed    of.     Dr.    Crosb) 


Resoh'ed,  that  while  the  Council  regret  that 
the  programme  of  the  Chancellor  cannot  be 
fully  carried  out,  yet  they  feel  that  the  high- 
est favor  he  could  confer  on  the  Institution 
would  be  to  comply  with  their  request." 

It  is  significant  and  worthy  of  the  reader's 
attention  to  learn  that  during  this  academic 
year  1 873-1 874  the  Chancellor  frequently 
attended  the  meetings  of  the  College  Faculty, 
or  as  they  then  were  recorded,  "  the  joint 
meetings  of  the  Faculties  of  Arts  and 
Science."        Dr.    Crosby    was    present    more 


I'.ll.l.hA  L  K     HO.M'llAl,     1  .N      1^74 


attended  no  meetings  of  the  Council  after 
June  5,  1873,  to  June  i8,  1874,  which  year 
may  fairly  be  designated  as  a  quasi  intcrrcg- 
niivi.  On  June  4,  1874,  the  Council  was 
officially  apprized  of  the  resignation  of  Mr. 
John  C.  Green  from  the  Council,  the  state  of 
his  health  having  for  several  years  rendered  it 
impossible  for  him  to  discharge  the  duties  of 
the  office  of  President  of  that  body.  And  as 
regards  the  Chancellor,  the  Council  on  that 
date,  June  4,  1874,  "Resolved,  that  the 
Council  would  earnestly  request  Dr.  Crosby 
to  continue  nominally  (Italics  our  own)  at  the 
head  of  the  Institution,  performing  only  such 
duties    as    his    time    and    ability    will    permit. 


than  a  score  of  times  between  September 
1873  and  May  1874.  On  May  19,  1874, 
when  the  Chancellor  was  not  present,  the 
Faculty,  having  learned  that  the  ascertained 
income  of  the  Univensity  fell  .short  of  its  ex- 
penditure by  the  average  sum  of  S4000  an- 
nually, "  Resolved,  that  it  is  the  desire  of 
these  Faculties  to  cooperate  with  the  Council 
in  any  efforts  that  it  may  be  thought  wise  to 
make,  to  bring  the  yearly  expenses  of  the 
University  within  its  available  resources.  Re- 
solved, secondly,  that  they  hope  this  result 
can  be  accomplished  without  loss  of  prestige, 
and  Avithout  impairing  the  extent  and  effi- 
ciency of  its  courses  of  instruction.     Resolved, 


HISTORT   OF   NEW   YORK    UNU'ERSITT 


^Sl 


thirdly,  that  it  is  the  earnest  wish  of  the 
Faculties  that  the  Chancellor  whose  four-years 
term  of  oiTice  expires  with  the  close  of  the 
current  year,  will  consent  to  continue  with 
them  in  the  exercise  of  his  office  for  a  further 
period.  " 

'I'hus  the  C"t)nnnencement  of  1874,  which 
concluded  an  academic  year  of  painful  inci- 
dents, came  on.  The  function  was  held  in  the 
Academy  of  Music,  at  Irving  Place  and  Four- 
teenth Street,  and  before  the  exercises  began 
Dr.  Crosby  was  requested  by  a  special  vote  of 
the  Council  to  act  as  ChanccUor  until  an  elec- 
tion for  Chancellor  should  be  held.  The 
summer  went  by.  On  October  22,  1874, 
John  Taylor  Johnston  reported  that  Dr. 
Crosby  was  unwilling  to  remain  unless  the 
endowments  were  made  up.  This  the  Coun- 
cil heard  with  deep  regret  and  expressed  their 
conviction  that  the  very  life  of  the  University 
depended  upon  his  not  withdrawing  at  present 
and  earnestly  entreated  him  to  continue  to 
act  as  Chancellor  ad  interim.  The  baneful 
effects  of  the  financial  crisis  of  1873,  we  may 
suggest,  were  still  l}ing  like  a  leaden  weight 
on  the  land ;  no  man  of  j^roven  excellence 
would  probably  ha\e  been  found  to  step  into 
the  place  of  Howard  Crosby  twenty-five  years 
ago,  without  positive  improvement  of  the 
financial  strength  of  the  Corporation.  The 
Council  had  no  choice.  Thus  the  Council 
had  a  Chancellor  whose  maintenance  of  the 
function  was  expres-sedly  nominal,  and  even 
at  that  a  favor  to  the  Corporation  ;  in  all  wa)s 
an  arrangement  of  the  most  unsubstantial 
order  and  precarious  to  a  degree. 

On  November  ig,  1874,  the  Hon.  Abram 
S.  Hewitt  entered  the  Council,  holding  a  seat 
in  it  to  1882.  The  University  —  if  one  may 
anticipate  a  little  —  will  always  be  kept  in 
grateful  remembrance  of  IMr.  Hewitt  through 
the  invaluable  Turkish  collection  of  books 
which  it  owes  to  him.  On  this  same  date, 
November  ig,  the  Council  decided  to  pro- 
vide an  additional  sum  of  $6000  for  three 
years,  to  meet  the  deficiency  in  the  current 
income,    due     to     the     enlargement     of     the 


work,  and  the  Chancellor  stated  that  if  this 
sub.scription  were  made  he  would  accept 
the  position  of  Chancellor  <iti  interim.  The 
Council  thereupon  voted  their  thanks  to  Dr. 
Crosby. 

lOarly  in  1875  (I'ebruary  4)  the  Rev.  Dr. 
John  Hall  of  the  I'"ifth  Avenue  Presbyterian 
Church  was  named  to  fill  a  vacancy  in  the 
Council,  and  John  Taylor  Johnston  was  placed 
in  the  chair  of  President  of  the  Council. 
In  April  (8)  1875,  in  accordance  with  the 
recommendation  submitted  by  the  Medical 
Faculty,  the  title  of  "  Dean  "  of  the  Medical 
Department  was  established,  with  the  then 
registrar,  Dr.  Charles  In.slee  Pardee,  as  the 
first  incumbent  of  the  office.  At  the  Com- 
mencement of  1H75  there  was  ccjnferred  the 
degree  of  Master  of  Science  on  Israel  Cook 
Russell  of  the  Cla.ss  of  1872,  who  in  this  \ery 
year  1875  attended  the  scientific  expedition 
of  the  United  States  to  New  Zealand  to 
observe  the  transit  of  Venus,  and  sub.sc- 
quently  after  long  service  on  the  United 
States  Geological  Survey  entered  the  service 
of  the  University  of  Michigan  as  an  aca- 
demic teacher  of  that  branch  of  science.  Hoth 
Loring  Andrews  and  John  Cleve  Green  passed 
away  in  this  spring,  1875.  All  friends  of  New- 
York  University  owe  both  of  them  a  grateful 
and  perpetual  remembrance,  particularly  to 
Loring  Andrews,  of  whom  the  Council  in  their 
minute  of  June  17,  1875,  said:  "He  was  the 
most  liberal  benefactor  of  the  Univer.sity 
and  a  valued  member  of  its  Council.  His 
efficient  help  to  the  In.stitution  mo.st  m(xl- 
cstly  bestowed  in  a  time  of  great  .straitness 
will  ever  be  gratefully  remembered  in  its 
history." 

The  examinations  for  the  LL.B.  degree 
ended,  in  the  spring  of  1875,  it  was  seen 
that  there  was  a  class  of  forty,  the  largest  in 
the  hi.story  of  that  department.  The  encour- 
aging report  on  this  work  was  signed  not 
only  by  D.  R.  Jacques,  Professor  of  Law  and 
Secretary  of  the  Faculty,  but  also  by  Chauncey 
B.  Ripley,  Chairman  of  the  ICxecutive  Com- 
mittee  of   Alumni  Association  of  the  Alumni 


154 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


Examining  Committee."  On  September  2, 
1875,  Professor  Ezra  Hall  Gillett  had  died 
and  on  Dr.  Crosby's  proposal  Charles  D. 
Morris,  A.M.,  of  Peekskill,  and  Borden  P. 
Bowne  were  appointed,  the  former  as  Profes- 
sor of  the  EngHsh  Language  and  Literature, 
the  latter  as  Assistant  Professor  in  Modern 
Languages. 

The  stay  of  both  gentlemen  at  Washington 
Square  was  brief  :  Dr.  Bowne  soon  was  trans- 
ferred to  Boston  University,  in  which  associa- 
tion his  distinction  as  an  exponent  oi  theistic 
philosophy  was  gained  ;  Professor  Morris  joined 
the  newly  established  Johns  Hopkins  Univer- 
sity in  the  following  year,  1876,  as  Collegiate 
Professor  of  Classics.  During  his  decade  of 
service  (i  876-1 886)  in  the  Baltimore  founda- 
tion his  indefatigable  industry  and  accuracy 
in  classical  scholarship  was  most  efficiently 
applied  and  appreciated,  but  even  more  the 
splendid  moral  impression  he  made  on  a  large 
and  steadily  widening  circle  of  young  or 
younger  men,  both  undergraduates,  gradu- 
ate students  and  fellows,  made  him  one  of 
the  recognized  forces  and  figures  in  Balti- 
more. An  l*-nglishman  by  birth  and  training, 
a  Fellow  of  Oriel  College,  Oxford,  and  a  near 
kinsman  of  the  late  Admiral  D'Urban,  he  was 
a  typical  exponent  of  the  gentleman-scholar. 
Childless  as  he  was,  he  bestowed  the  bounties 
of  heart  and  home  on  many,  of  whom  the 
present  writer  was  one.  His  marble  bust  is 
in  McCoy  Hall,  Johns  Hopkins  University. 

In  this  fall  were  completed  the  alterations 
in  the  large  Chajjel,  changes  designed  to  in- 
crease the  re\enue  earning  capacity  of  the 
projierty  on  Washington  Square. 

In  the  spring  of  1876,  the  centennial  year  of 
national  history,  the  new  Medical  College 
Building  was  completed  and  ready  for  inspec- 
tion, being  in  the  order  of  time  the  fifth  struc- 
ture sheltering  medical  instruction ;  the  list 
comprising  (i)  the  Stuyvesant  Institute  on 
Broadway  near  Bond,  i2)  the  building  on  Four- 
teenth Street  (where  Tammany  Hall  now 
stands),  burned  in  May  1866,  (3)  the  Old 
New    York    Hospital    on    Duane    Street,    (4) 


Courtland  Palmer's  Building,  and  (5)  the 
New  Medical  College  Building,  the  lot  on 
which  it  stood  being  70  x  98.9  and  the 
building  60  x  98.9  feet.  In  the  centennial 
year  the  number  of  graduates  in  Medicine 
reached  the  total  of  one  hundred  and  six- 
teen, being  the  highest  number  since  the 
beginning  of  the  Civil  War,  with  students 
from  Georgia,  Virginia,  Texas,  South  Carolina, 
North  Carolina,  Alabama,  Georgia  ;  and  two 
Armenians. 

In  July  of  this  year,  1876,  the  American 
Philological  Association  held  its  meetings  at 
New  York  University,  the  first  at  the  Council 
Chamber,  and  the  subsequent  ones  at  Dr. 
Crosby's  church  lecture  room.  The  famous 
William  Dwight  Whitney  of  New  Ha\en  made 
one  of  his  characteristic  attacks  on  the  San- 
scritist, Max  Mijller  of  Oxford.  Professor 
Erancis  March,  the  Anglo-Saxon  scholar,  of 
I.^fayctte,  Basil  Lanneau  Gildersleeve  of  the 
newly  established  Johns  Hopkins,  and  Professor 
Haldeman  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania 
attended  this  meeting,  Dr.  Crosby  having  been 
one  of  the  original  members.  Professional 
scholars  who  attended  that  meeting  of  1876 
will  readily  realize  to-day,  in  1900,  how  wide- 
spread since  that  time  technical  scholarship  has 
come  to  be  in  the  quarter  of  a  century  which 
has  elapsed  since  that  summer. 

Meanwhile,  with  a  practice  of  expansion 
over  against  stationary  or  even  retrograde 
financial  revenues,  the  usual  result  had  been 
reached.  There  was  a  debt  of  $25,000,  and 
a  mortgage  on  the  building  at  Washington 
Square,  for  $30,000,  was  proposed  and  unani- 
mously adopted  by  the  members  of  the  Coun- 
cil present  on  October  5,  1876,  seventeen 
being  present,  including  the  Chancellor. 

With  the  financial  outlook  thus  dimmed,  we 
need  not  wonder  that  the  authorities  were  not 
prepared  in  1876  to  entertain  a  proposition 
which  had  been  made  to  them  by  the  Medical 
Eaculty,  a  proposition  to  this  effect  (made 
about  the  time  when  the  foundation  was  laid 
of  the  fifth  Medical  College  Building,  in  April 
1876):    "The  (Medical)  Faculty  has  paid  on 


HISTOKT   OF   NEW   YORK    UNIFERSITT 


^55 


property    cash    Si  2, 500    and     owes     575,000;  When  wc  cast  a  ;;eneral  view  over   the  ap- 

whole  investment,  587,500.      l"'a(ult\  will  trans-  jjearancc   of   tlie  several    departments   as  they 

for    property   to    University    for  $87,500,  and  stood  in  the  centennial  year  of  the  country,  the 

donate  §12,500,  leavinj;  575,000  to  be  raised  ;  uiuierj^raduate  College  showed  one  hundred  and 

the   transfer   to    i)e    made    when    $40,000   has  forty  students  (the  Sophomores  were   forty-six 

been  paid  to   the   Treasiuer  of  the    University  stronj;,    the     l-'reslimen    about    forty).      In    the 


UNIVERSITY    MEDICAL    COLLEGE,    E.AST    26tH    STREET 


from  subscriptions  for  the  purpose  ;  the  Uni- 
versity to  assume  a  mortgage  for  the  balance 
of  $35,000.  When  transfer  is  made,  Faculty 
takes  a  permanent  lease  for  themselves  and 
their  successors  agreeing  to  pay  seven  per  cent 
per  annum  on  the  amount  of  mortgage  until 
it  is  paid  by  subscription  or  otherwise,  then  to 
have  it  free  of  expense." 


Department  of  Medicine  there  were  enrolled 
four  hundred  and  eighty  students.  Hut  the 
requirements  of  study  were  precisely  of  the 
same  limit  and  amount  as  they  had  been  in 
184!.  In  the  Governing  Faculty,  Charles  A. 
Budd  taught  Obstetrics ;  John  Christopher 
Draper,  Chemistry  ;  Alfred  L.  Loomis,  Pathol- 
ogy and  Practice  ;  William  Darling,  Anatomy  ; 


156 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR    SONS 


William  H.  Thomson,  Materia  Medica  and 
Therapeutics  ;  T.  \V.  S.  Arnold,  Physiology  and 
Histology ;  John  T.  Darby,  Surgery ;  Charles 
Inslee  Pardee,  Diseases  of  the  Ear  ;  Erskine 
Mason,  Clinical  Surgery.  Besides  there  had 
been  in  existence  for  one  year  the  so-called 
Post-Graduate  Course,  the  Faculty  of  which 
consisted  of  Drs.  Roosa,  William  A.  Ham- 
mond (the  familiar  specialist  in  nervous  dis- 
eases), Stephen  Smith,  Arnold,  Patten,  Faneuil 
D.  Weisse  and  Piffard.  Of  the  later  efforts 
of  this  branch  of  medical  instruction  to  attain 
academic  autononi}-  and  sovereignty,  and  to 
gain  strength  from  the  resources  of  the  Col- 
lege during  and  through  the  crisis  of  1881,  we 
may  have  occasion  to  speak  in  the  proper 
place.  As  a  third  branch  of  Medical  instruc- 
tion in  1876  there  was  the  Auxiliary  Faculty, 
with  twelve  names,  among  which  we  find  the 
names  of  Elsberg,  A.  E.  Macdonald  and 
Witthaus. 

The  Law  School  had  a  Junior  and  Senior 
Class  in  which  there  was  a  total  of  sixty-eight 
students  enrolled.  Students  were  advised 
before  entry  to  study  Hlackstone.  or  Kent's 
Commentaries  ;  Pomeroy's  Municipal  I^w,  or 
Warren's  Introduction,  and  some  elemen- 
tary work  on  Roman  I^w,  were  akso  recom- 
mended. 

In  January  1877,  the  $30,000  mortgage 
was  again  proposed  to  the  Council  and  ap- 
proved by  the  unanimous  vote  of  the  twenty- 
two  members  present,  the  session  being  held 
at  Dr.  Crosby's  hou.se. 

On  February  i,  1877,  the  proposition  of 
several  ladies  of  New  York  concerning  the 
admission  of  women  at  the  University  College 
was  taken  up.  This  matter  had  first  been 
brought  before  the  Council  in  the  December 
preceding.  At  that  time  Mrs.  Jennie  C. 
Croly,  President  of  Sorosis  ;  Mrs.  E.  Merwin 
Gray,  Chairwoman  of  their  Executive  Com- 
mittee ;  and  Mrs.  Anna  Randall  Diehl,  Chair- 
woman of  their  Committee  on  Education, 
had,  through  Chancellor  Crosby,  asked  for 
some  form  of  admitting  women  to  the  Col- 
lege,  either   by    holding    special    examinations 


for  women  and  conferring  certificates  for 
the  same,  or  by  receiving  women  into  the 
College  classes,  or  b)-  both  ways.  The  Coun- 
cil adopted  a  resolution  on  February  i, 
1877,  which  read  thus:  "Resolved,  that 
the  Council  of  the  University  approve  of 
the  plan  of  admitting  women  to  the  ben- 
efits of  the  Institution,  either  by  the  hold- 
ing of  special  examinations  for  women  and 
the  conferring  of  certificates  for  the  same, 
or  by  receiving  women  into  distinct  Col- 
lege classes,  at  different  hours,  or  by  both 
methods,  according  to  the  decision  of  the 
P"aculties  of  Arts  and  Science,  to  whom  the 
Council  leaves  the  whole  matter,  pro\"ided 
no  extra  expense  be  incuned  b)-  any  such 
action."  The  words  emphasized  by  us  were 
added  by  way  of  amendment,  thus  shear- 
ing the  entire  proposition  of  any  radical 
features. 

Whether  the  I'^aculties  would  have  actively 
welcomed  this  form  of  expansion  if  the  gen- 
eral principle  oi  free  tuition  should  have  been 
incorporated  with  the  operation  of  the  pro- 
posed annex,  may  well  be  doubted  ;  the  more 
so  when  we  take  into  consideration  the  partic- 
ular time,  when  the  depression  in  the  New 
Jersey  Central  affairs  positively  crippled  and 
threatened  to  paralyze  in  great  measure  the 
work  of  the  Undergraduate  College.  And  in 
April  1877  we  meet  for  the  fir.st  time  the 
ominous  word   "suspension." 

On  April  5  of  that  year,  1877,  Chancellor 
Crosby  told  the  Council  that  the  reduction  in 
income  would  be  about  $yyoo.  Moreover  the 
Medical  Department  were  stri\  ing  to  have  the 
graduation  fee  to  be  paid  to  the  University 
reduced  ;  "  he  also  called  attention  to  a  plan 
which  had  been  formerly  considered,  to  suspend 
tlie  Academic  Department,  acctiviulate  its  present 
income,  and  carry  on  its  Sc/iools  of  Medicine 
and  La7i'.  A  Committee  on  this  matter  was 
appointed,  consisting  of  Chancellor  Crosby,  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Hall,  and  Messrs.  Morris  K.  Jesup, 
John  E.  Parsons,  G.  H.  Moore  and  John  Taylor 
Johnston,  all  alumni  excepting  Messrs.  Hall  and 
Jesup. 


iiisroRr  OF  NEPV  tork  UN/rERsirr 


^S7 


Of  this  matter  the  I-'acuky  was  soon,  infor- 
mally, informed,  and  they  in  turn  appointed  a 
Committee  to  consult  with  the  f^entlemen  just 
named.  This  Committee  of  the  Faculty  con- 
sisted of  Professors  Johnson,  Draper,  Martin, 
liaird  and  Coakley  ;  and  they  made  the  follow- 
in<;  proposition  :  that  they  would  undertake 
the  cost  of  maintaining  the  building  and 
distribute  the  remainder  to  tiie  Professors 
as  salary  pro  rata,  according  to  the  existing 
salary  ajiportionment.  Tiiis,  which  was  the 
only  [mictical  solution,  the  Council  accepted, 
not  omitting  to  resolve  "  that  the  thanks  of 
the  Council  are  due  and  are  hereby  given  to 
the  Faculties  of  Science  and  Arts  for  their 
devotion  to  the  interests  of  the  University  in 
relinciuishing  so  much  of  their  salaries  during 
the  present  crisis."  The  reader  will  hardly 
need  a  reminder  of  the  analogy  of  the  situa- 
tion of  the  years  1 850-1 853,  when  the  financial 
administration  of  the  College  was  devoh-cd 
upon  and  accepted  by  the  Professors.  Of 
these  earlier  Professor.s,  Johnson  and  Draper 
were  still  active  and  now  shared  in  the  second 
financial  interregnum.  The  examination  in 
the  Law  Department  on  May  3,  4,  5  and  6  in 
1877,  ^^''1^  '■"-■'^^  i'l  the  presence  of  distinguished 
gentlemen  of  the  Bar,  viz.  Messrs.  C.  B. 
Ripley,  IClihu  Root,  P.  P.  Good,  William  Bart- 
lett  and  L.  I^.  Gilbert.  On  the  first  two  days 
the  candidates  underwent  a  written  e.xamina- 
tion  on  papers  containing  about  one  hundred 
and  fifty  questions ;  while  on  the  last  two 
days  the  examination  was  oral. 

The  financial  survey  of  the  next  October 
showed  that  besides  the  shrinking  of  income 
from  endowment  and  rents,  there  was  pending 
an  urgent  request  from  the  Medical  Faculty : 
viz.  that  the  Council  would  entirely  remit  the 
graduation  fee,  and  they  stated  that  in  no  year 
since  1863  (the  apparatus,  museums,  etc., 
destroyed  in  1866  having  also  been  replaced) 
had  the  income  of  any  Professorship  sensibly 
exceeded  $1000,  and  in  many  it  had  been 
nearer  to  $500.  The  erection  of  the  new 
Medical  Building  had  invohed  the  expenditure 
of   $134,220.38.       To   meet    this    outlay   the 


P'aculty  had  had  funds  amounting  in  all  to 
$39,500,  of  wliich  $20,000  was  obtained  by 
the  sale  of  the  old  building  and  $19,500  by 
subscription.  Thus  $94,720.38  had  to  be 
carried  by  mortgage  or  by  floating  debt.  And 
thus,  by  incurring  this  debt,  the  P'aculty 
had  been  enabled  "to  sustain  the  honor  of 
the  University  and  to  give  to  its  Medical 
Department  this  year  ( 1877)  the  largest  class 
ever  graduated  by  the  University  and  the 
largest  but  one  graduated  in  the  United 
States."  The  graduation  fee  was  designated 
as  a  "tax."  This  whole  matter  was  carried 
over  to  December  6,  1877,  when  Drs.  Pardee 
and  Thomson  appeared  before  the  Council, 
but  no  (|uorum  being  jiresent  the  question 
was  postponed  to  February  7,  187S,  when  it 
was  resolved  that  the  Medical  Department 
be  hereafter  placed  on  the  same  footing 
with  the  other  departments  of  the  Univer- 
sity in  respect  to  the  payment  of  diploma 
fees. 

Although  the  energy  and  willingness  to 
l)ear  grave  burdens  on  the  part  of  the  Faculty 
.seemed  to  have  disposed  of  the  question  of 
suspension,  still  on  February  7,  1878,  the 
subject  of  "suspension"  was  called  up  and  a 
Committee  was  appointed  to  rej)ort  on  the 
present  condition  and  the  prosjx-cts  of  the 
University,  and  what  changes  if  any  in  its 
plans,  organization  and  admini.stration  were 
advantageous  for  its  future  interests.  A  Com- 
mittee of  nine  was  appointed,  of  whom  Chan- 
cellor Crosby  was  not  f)ne.  Clearl)-  the 
interest  of  the  Council  had  been  moved.  At 
the  next  meeting,  on  March  25,  1878,  twenty- 
two  members  were  in  attendance.  There  was 
presented  a  majority  report  in  writing,  and 
a  minority  report  of  a  more  informal,  oral, 
character.  The  majority  report  surveyed  the 
actual  financial  condition,  which  was  pretty 
gloomy,  particularly  on  account  of  the  non- 
productive status  of  the  $110,000  invested 
in  Jersey  Central  convertible  bonds.  The 
deficit  was  computed  on  the  basis  of  the  full 
salaries  being  paid  to  the  Faculty  and  repairs 
of  $5000   being  required.     There   was  neces- 


158 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR    SONS 


sary  a  substantial  replenishing  of  the  appara- 
tus of  the  Professor  of  Chemistry.  The 
Committee  had  conferred  with  some  of  the 
Professors,  and  with  the  Chancellor. 

These  Professors  had  been  Coakley,  Draper, 
Johnson,  Martin  and  Baird.  These  members 
of  the  Faculty,  with  one  exception,  had  ex- 
pressed themselves  as  willing  to  go  on  with 
their  work  on  the  same  financial  basis  as  at 
present,  and  deplored  any  suspension  of  the 
present  work  of  their  departments.  The 
Chancellor  advocated  the  suspension  of  the 
Academic  and  Scientific  Departments,  and 
the  accumulation  of  the  funds  of  the  Council, 
or,  the  establishment  of  a  Post-Graduate  or 
Scientific  Department. 

Professor  J.  W.  Draper  in  a  letter  to  Dr. 
Roosa,  who  was  of  the  Council,  advocated  the 
suspension  of  the  Academic  Department,  but 
the  maintaining  of  the  Scientific  Department, 
which  had,  of  the  two,  the  strongest  hold  on 
the  public.  He  suggested  therefore  that  the 
Academic  Department  cease  its  work  after 
September  1878.  The  year  from  September 
1878  to  September  1879  "light  be  one  of 
preparation.  He  stood  ready  to  organize  an 
efificient  Scientific  Department,  which  was  to 
begin  work  in  September  1879,  with  all  the 
necessary  appliances  to  do  the  work  thoroughly 
and  permanently,  and  that  out  of  the  Univer- 
sity's resources  without  asking  any  subscription 
from  anyone.  Draper's  view  and  plan  was 
incorporated  in  the  report  of  the  Committee. 

The  latter  went  on  to  point  out  the  inade- 
quacy of  the  University's  resources  to  compete 
creditably  and  successfully  with  neighboring 
institutions  of  learning.  The  apparatus,  too, 
was  in  very  poor  condition  and  would  require 
a  large  outla\'. 

Chancellor  Crosby's  enlargements  had  been 
excellent  and  well  sustained  in  the  class  room, 
but  the  further  endowment  required  had  not 
been  forthcoming,  either  through  donations  or 
subscriptions.  If  accumulation  for  five  or  ten 
years  were  had,  the  same  or  higher  courses 
could  then  be  undertaken  and  this  in  the  end 
would  prove  the  best  thing  to  do. 


The  report  finally  issued  into  two  definite 
proposals:  i.  To  suspend  the  Academic  and 
Scientific  departments  as  then  constituted,  on 
and  after  the  Commencement  of  June  1878; 
2.  To  carry  on,  or  let  the  present  Professors, 
with  others,  carry  on,  a  kind  of  teaching 
establishment  with  self-sustaining  departments, 
by  lectures  upon  post-graduate  subjects  or  by 
other  methods,  in  such  a  manner  as  not  to 
interfere  with  the  work  of  accumulation  "and 
the  future  stable  foundation  of  all  the  depart- 
ments of  the  University."  The  report  was 
signed  by  five  members,  of  whom  one  only 
was  an  alumnus  of  the  College.  Three  alumni 
of  the  Committee,  and  Dr.  John  Hall,  verbally 
dissented  from  this  report.  The  three  were 
George  H.  Moore,  John  Ta\lor  Johnston  and 
William  Allen  Butler. 

The  matter  was  further  discussed  on  April 
8,  1878,  when  again  twenty-two  members  at- 
tended. At  this  meeting  the  P'aculty  was  rep- 
resented by  Professors  Johnson,  J.  \V.  Draper, 
Coakley,  Bull,  Baird,  Mott,  Martin  and  H. 
Draper.  Their  communication  was  read  by 
Professor  H.  M.  Baird.  The}-  pointed  to  the 
class  about  to  graduate  as  well  as  to  the  class 
last  admitted,  the  attainments  of  the  former 
and  the  numbers  of  the  latter  proving,  the  one 
the  results  of  the  Profes.sors'  labors  and  the 
other  the  public  sentiment  toward  the  Uni- 
versity. The  recent  tests  in  the  Intercollegiate 
Lit  era  r)'  Contests  had  well  demonstrated  how 
well  matched  the  University  was  to  compete 
with  other  Colleges,  inasmuch  as  the  students 
of  the  University  on  the  last  of  these  occasions 
received  a  greater  number  of  honors  than  were 
conceded  to  those  of  any  other  of  the  compet- 
ing Colleges.  They  then  proceeded  to  survey 
the  financial  assets,  showing  that  a  little  more 
than  half  of  the  full  .salaries  could  be  paid. 
(They  said  nothing  of  the  economic  beauty 
of  free  tuition.)  When  the  Jersey  Central 
reorganization  was  completed  the  unpaid  cou- 
pons would  have  a  market  value  ;  besides,  the 
resumption  of  interest  pajment  held  out  by  the 
receiver  of  the  defaulting  corporation  would 
rebuild  the  salaries  to  the  proportion  of  seventy- 


HISTORT   OF  NEW   YORK    VNIVERSITT 


'59 


five  per  cent  of  their  full  measure.  The  reixnt 
ended  with  the  following  words ;  "  Vox  them- 
selves, they  ( the  Professors  )  have  an  appreci- 
ation of  their  work  which  forbids  all  discourage- 
ment in  it,  and  a  faith  in  the  future  of  the 
University  which  impels  them  to  adhere  to  their 
offer  of  last  year,  with  unabated  confidence. 
They  stand  ready  to  conduct  the  discipline  and 
the  instruction  of  the  institution  as  heretofore, 
without  any  reductit)n  of  its  amount,  cheerfully 
accepting  the  limited  compen.sation  which  the 
reduced  means  of  the  institution  may  afford, 
and  asking  only  such  countenance  and  sym- 
pathy as  the  Council  has  heretofore  never  with- 
held from  them.  In  order  more  completely  to 
present  our  concurrence  in  the.se  views,  we  here- 
to severally  subscribe  our  names.  New  York, 
April  8,  1878  :  K.  A.  John.son,  Jno.  W.  Draper, 
Benj.  N.  Martin,  Richard  H.  Bull,  Henry  M. 
Baird,  George  W.  Coakley,  Charles  Carroll, 
Henry  Drajx^r,  Henry  P.  Mott,  J.J.  Stevenson 
per  B.  N.  Martin,  Att'y."  The  Professors 
having  retired,  the  Council  voted  by  fourteen 
to  five  not  to  adopt  the  majority  report ;  but 
they  accepted  the  proposition  of  the  Faculty, 
on  motion  of  Charles  Butler. 

The  intercollegiate  contest  referred  to  by 
the  Faculty  above  was  flourishing  during  a 
great  part  of  the  seventies.  The  contests 
were  once  held  at  the  University  Building  on 
Washington  Scjuare.  The  fundamental  idea 
was  a  sound  one :  to  arrive  at  some  feasible 
way  to  establish  a  test  at  least  of  a  common 
standard  of  excellence,  and  this  too  not  only  in 
Oratory  (in  which  John  Canfield  Tomlinson  of 
'75  won  the  P"irst  Prize  in  the  contest),  but 
also  in  College  studies  of  less  striking  or  pop- 
ular order,  such  as  Greek  Prose  Composition. 
In  1879  e.  g.  the  friends  of  the  higher  educa- 
tion of  women  still  iterated  with  much  satis- 
faction that  a  woman  student  from  Cornell 
had,  some  years  before,  defeated  the  men- 
competitors  for  the  Prize  for  Greek  Prose 
Composition  in  the  Intercollegiate  Contests 
at  Washington  Square.  The  minutes  of  the 
College  Faculty  allude  to  these  contests,  e.  g. 
on   December    15,    1874;    March    23,     1S75  ; 


March  30,  1875;  Deceml)cr  5,  1876;  March 
27,  1877;  October  3,  1877  ;  October  i,  1878. 
Gradually  the  number  of  Colleges  i^articipating 
diminished  and  the  As.sociation  became  e.xtinct, 
though  there  was  an  Intercollegiate  Contest  as 
late  as  1 880. 

Matters  went  on  quietly  enough  during  the 
ne.xt  few  years  in  the  Undergraduate  Dejiart- 
ment.  Here  the  principle  of  free  tuition  — 
which  had  been  probably  a  gro.ss  mistake  from 
the  beginning  —  created  the  designaticjn  of 
an  "eleemosynary  in.stilution  "  and  placed 
the  institution  in  a  wrong  position  either 
when  compared  with  Columbia  College  or 
with  the  City  College.  The  Medical  Depart- 
ment in  its  fifth  home  flourished  as  never  be- 
fore. In  the  winter  of  1878-1879  there  were 
enrolled  five  hundred  and  fifty-si.x  .students  ; 
in  1879-1880,  si.x  hundred  and  nin'j  students  ; 
in  1 880-1 88 1,  si.x  hundred  and  twenty-three 
matriculated  students.  In  Law,  too,  although 
on  a  more  modest  scale,  there  had  been,  in 
May  1878,  graduated  forty-nine  Bachelors  of 
Law;  in  1879,  thirty-nine  ;  in  1880,  the  consid- 
erable total  of  .seventy-three  graduates  in  Law 
was  reached.  The  contrast  with  the  Undergrad- 
uate College  was  indeed  striking  and  was  used 
directly  by  those  who  desired  to  suspend  or 
permanently  close  the  latter. 

Who  endowed  the  undergraduate  classes 
with  Greek  mottoes  in  that  period  of  a  win- 
ter's sun  of  prosperity  or  g(K)d-will,  we  know 
not  ;  they  certainly  breathe  a  spirit  of  stern 
resolution  or  high  i)rinciple  and  smack  more 
of  Sparta  than  of  S}baris.  Thus  the  Class  of 
1878  :  "  Do  not  try  at  all,  or  make  good  your 
success."  The  Cla.ss  of  1879:  "By  our  per- 
formance let  us  be  judged."  The  Class  of 
1880  :  "  F"ind  a  way  or  make  one."  That  of 
188  I,  "  Fverything  through  endurance."  And 
indeed,  even  though  we  will  not  with  the 
Ktruscan  faith  of  old  combine  uomcii  and  otmtt, 
the  words  may  be  always  associated  with  the 
great  struggle  for  existence  of  the  College, 
which,  after  many  seizures  and  fitful  attacks 
of  a  temporary  and  passing  nature,  finally 
passed  into  an  acute  stage  and  a  crisis  in  that 


i6o 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


year  1881.  Many  of  those  who  were  in  the 
centre  of  that  struggle  have  passed  away,  not- 
ably Charles  Butler  and  the  Rev.  Dr.  John 
Hall,  to  whom  the  friends  and  alumni  of  New 
York  University  owe  a  grateful  remembrance 
in  more  than  one  way.  The  present  writer 
was  a  young  scholar  of  twenty-eight  at  the 
time  and  unrelated  to  either  part}',  still  favored 
through  circumstances  to  be  a  witness  of  the 
convictions  and  utterances  of  some  of  those 
most  interested  in  the  crisis. 

It  was  in  December  1880,  in  a  session  of 
the  Council  of  the  9th  of  that  month,  when 
the  Treasurer  of  the  Corporation  "  called 
attention  to  the  condition  of  the  University 
and  recommended  that  some  means  should  be 
taken  to  increase  its  prosiDerity."  Dr.  Crosby, 
President  of  the  Council,  John  Taylor  John- 
ston and  four  other  gentlemen  were  consti- 
tuted a  Committee  to  consider  the  subject. 
This  Committee,  through  Chancellor  Crosby, 
on  February  24  of  that  year,  presented  a 
report  proposing  "  that,  by  reason  of  the 
deficiency  in  pecuniary  resources  the  Council 
will  suspend  the  Undergraduate  Department 
in  Science  and  Arts  with  the  ne.xt  Commence- 
ment celebration  of  that  Department,  and 
that  the  Professors  of  that  Department  shall 
be  paid  their  .salaries  in  full  to  the  fir.st  day  of 
January  1882."  The  Committee  after  advert- 
ing to  the  growth  of  Columbia  (which  counted 
among  its  students  Chancellor  Crosby's  sec- 
ond son)  referred  particularly  to  the  project 
in  1870  of  raising  an  additional  fund  of  half  a 
million  "for  the  furnishing  of  an  Undergrad- 
uate Department."  But  they  were  now  con- 
vinced that  it  was  vain  to  look  any  longer  for 
this  desired  endowment,  and  it  was  with  regret 
that  they  found  themselves  shut  up  to  the 
proposition  of  discontinuing  the  Undergradu- 
ate Department."  What  was  to  be  done  with 
the  assured  income  say  of  $20,000 .''  They 
might  accumulate  a  fund  sufficient  to  reopen 
the  Undergraduate  Department  ;  or  they  might 
establish  a  Post-Graduate  Department  of  Sci- 
ence and  Arts  whose  expenses  would  be  far  less 
than  the  Undergraduate  Department,  by  being 


limited  to  one  or  two  subjects  of  research  "  ;  or 
again  they  might  perfect  and  strengthen  the  De- 
partments of  Medicine  and  Law.  (The  sound 
measure  of  reestablishing  tuition  fees  does  not 
seem  to  have  occurred  to  the  Committee.) 
These  changes  required  only  a  modification  of 
the  ordinances  and  by-laws  of  the  Council, 
should  the  Council  determine  to  adopt  them. 
This  was  the  substance  of  the  majority  report. 
There  was  a  minority  report  also,  presented  by 
William  Allen  Butler,  who  recommended  that 
a  plan  of  Post-Graduate  Department  should  be 
matured  before  the  above  action  was  taken  ; 
furthermore,  that  the  Faculty  of  Arts  and 
Sciences  should  be  heard  on  the  subject  ;  and 
that  defects  in  the  organization  of  the  Council 
should  be  remedied  before  such  a  radical  exer- 
cise of  j)ower.  The  entire  matter  was  adjourned 
to  a  meeting  of  the  Council  to  be  held  on 
March  14.  All  this  took  place  fifty  years  after 
the  choice  of  the  first  Chancellor  and  President 
of  the  Council,  February  1831. 

Meanwhile  the  Committee  prepared  a 
printed  report,  which  may  fairly  to-day  be 
considered  a  sur\ey  by  the  foin"th  Chan- 
cellor of  his  own  administration  and  an  expla- 
nation of  its  non-success,  alluding  also  to  a 
concerted  effort  and  application  ("appeals  to 
individuals  of  known  liberality  ")  made  to  a 
distinguished  gentleman  of  wealth,  —  a  former 
cliicf  magistrate  of  the  state  being  probably 
meant,  —  efforts  which  had  proven  fruitless. 
The  devotion  and  eminence  of  the  Professors 
were  fully  acknowledged,  as  was  their  self 
sacrifice.  They  were  to  be  heard.  As  to  the 
idea  of  Post-Graduate  work  this  modified  report 
sjiecified  Political  Science,  for  which  too  addi- 
tional funds  for  the  creation  of  a  library  could, 
as  the  Committee  believed,  be  more  readily 
procured  than  for  the  present  Undergraduate 
Department,  and  it  might  be  made  the  best 
school  of  its  kind  in  the  country. 

The  second  report  in  a  word  differed  from 
the  first  in  being  more  specific  and  detailed  in 
its  positive  suggestions,  and  in  definitely  stat- 
ing that  the  Faculty  should  be  heard.  In  the 
fuller  statement  of  the  causes  which  had  led  to 


HISrORT  OF  NEIV  TORK    UNIFERSITT 


i6i 


the  design  of  abandoning  the  Department  of 
Arts  and  Sciences,  it  was  if  anything  even 
loss  liopcful  than  the  first.  This  rci)<)rt,  drawn 
up  on  March  5,  1881,  and  presented  to  the 
Council  on  March  14,  was  signed  by  Howard 
Crosby,  Ch'n.,  Jolni  Taylor  Johnston,  Morris 
K.  Jesup,  William  Allen  Butler,  George  H. 
Moore,  D.  B.  St.  John  Roosa.  The  Profes- 
sors were  notified  to  appear  and  attended  as 
follows  :  Professors  Johnson,  J.  W.  Draper, 
Baird,  Martin,  Bull,  Coakley,  II.  Draper, 
Carroll,  Brush,  Spielman,  Mott.  The  Protest 
prepared  by  the  Faculty  was  read  by  Pro- 
fessor Benjamin  Martin  and  was  a  represen- 
tation of  the  sense  of  the  Faculty  with  the 
exception  of  Profes.sor  Mott.  This  gentleman 
at  the  time  was  entrusted  with  the  instruction 
in  Political  Science.  The  blasts  of  1876-1880 
had  all  but  shaken  him  from  the  Faculty  tree. 
He  now  presented  a  paper  of  his  own  in  favor 
of  the  Post-Graduate  courses,  in  which  Dr. 
Crosby's  Committee  had  specifically  designated 
Political  Science  as  the  probable  sphere  of 
graduate  instruction. 

The  protest  of  the  Faculty  "against  a  pro- 
posed suspension  of  the  Undergraduate  De- 
partment "  remains  a  most  valuable  document 
in  the  history  of  the  Crisis.  The  Professors 
laid  stress  on  the  fact  that,  as  between  the 
other  Colleges  of  the  city.  New  York  Univer- 
sity was  the  only  unsectarian  )^et  positively 
Christian  evangelical  institution  of  the  city. 
The  proposed  suspension  would  be  a  blow  to 
sound  and  high  education.  It  would  be  a 
violation  of  good  faith  towards  the  donors. 
The  original  funds  had  substantially  been 
invested  in  the  construction  of  the  building. 
It  was  this  department  for  the  support  of 
which  all  these  gifts  had  been  intended. 
Finally  they  protested  against  the  suspension 
on  the  ground  that  it  was  wholly  unnecessary 
and  gratuitous.  The  Professors  w^ere  not  dis- 
posed to  recede  from  the  pledges  which  were 
offered  by  themselves  and  accepted  by  the 
Council  on  the  occasion  of  a  similar  proposal 
three  years  ago.  These  pledges  they  now 
maintained  and   repeated   with   a   still    higher 


confidence,  arising  from  the  somewhat  im- 
proved condition  of  both  the  finances  and 
the  apparatus. 

"  With  an  actual  standard  as  high  as  is  to 
be  found  elsewhere  in  our  community  ;  with 
funds  entirely  adequate  to  maintain  that  stand- 
ard; with  a  considerable  body  of  students  suc- 
cessfully, and  many  of  them  enthusiastically, 
pursuing  their  studies,  a  number  which,  if 
smaller  tlum  desirable,  is  so  in  part  frovi  these 
repeated  assaults  upon  tlie  pennancncc  of  the 
department  —  [these  words  are  emphasized  by 
the  present  historian]  we  feel  assured  that  if 
the  Professors  are  simi)ly  let  alone  and  allowed 
to  do  their  work,  it  can  be  done  effectually, 
successfully,  and  to  great  public  ad\antage. 
Any  change  in  the  present  system  of  operations 
is  uncalled  for  ;  and  any  such  change  as  a  gen- 
eral suspension  were  a  most  injurious  and  disas- 
trous mistake.  Against  such  a  fatal  resolution 
—  taken  hastily  under  some  temporary  feeling 
of  depression  —  we  protest  with  the  utmost 
emphasis  ;  and  we  most  earnestly  entreat  every 
friend  of  high  moral  and  literary  education  in 
our  honored  Council  to  refuse  his  concurrence 
in  any  such  deplorable  conclusion.  All  which 
is  respectfully  submitted,  with  the  request  that 
this  protest  be  entered  on  the  minutes  of  the 
Council  if  this  be  in  order.  E.  A.  Johnson, 
Professor  of  Latin  ;  John  W.  Draper,  Pro- 
fessor of  Chemistry  ;  Benjamin  N.  Martin, 
Professor  of  Psychology  and  Logic  ;  Richard 
H.  Bull,  Professor  of  Civil  Engineering  ; 
Henry  M.  Baird,  Professor  of  Greek  ;  George 
W.  Coakley,  Professor  of  Mathematics  and 
Astronomy ;  Henry  Draper,  Adj.  Professor 
of  Chemistry  and  Natural  History  ;  Charles 
Carroll,  Professor  of  French  and  German  ; 
John  J.  Stevenson,  Professor  of  Geology; 
Arthur  Spielmann,  Adj.  Professor  of  Civil 
Engineering ;  Charles  B.  Brush,  Adj.  Professor 
of  Civil  Engineering." 

In  a  further  memorandum  the  Professors 
elucidated  the  contingency  and  possibilities  of 
graduate  work  with  fairness  and  good  sense, 
referring  both  to  Johns  Hopkins  and  to  the 
recently  established  School  of  Political  Science 


l62 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


of  Columbia  College.  The  application  of  the 
funds  to  Law  or  Medicine  was  also  considered. 
Of  the  policy  of  suspension  for  the  purpose 
of  accumulation,  the  Professors  said  in  part : 
"  It  is  the  policy  not  only  of  rashness  but 
of  weakness.  To  rebuild  what  has  been  de- 
stroyed would  require  wisdom  ;  to  build  well 
the  highest  wisdom  ;  but  to  tear  down  and 
not  rebuild  —  till  years  had  elapsed  —  this  is  a 
policy  in  which  we  can  see  no  wisdom  at  all." 
..."  Meanwhile  the  field  would  have  been 
so  occupied  by  the  steady  and  constant  growth 
of  rival  institutions  that  the  long-looked-for 
opportunity  might  never  be  found  till  the  funds, 
reduced  by  unexpected  expenses,  were  lost  by 
speculations  or  swallowed  up  by  injudicious  in- 
vestments. "  Towards  the  end  they  directed 
some  attention,  justly  and  modestly,  to  them- 
selves, saying  :  "  Some  consideration  may  be 
equitably  if  not  legally  claimed  by  the  Profes- 
sors themselves."  "Some  of  us  have  spent 
many  years  in  the  service  of  the  University, 
and  have  grown  gray  in  upholding  —  with  con- 
stant labor  and  very  scanty  ccjmpensation  — 
the  interests  and  honor  of  the  institution  at 
home  and  abroad."  .  .  . 

At  the  adjourned  meeting  of  the  Council  on 
March  29,  1881,  these  and  further  considera- 
tions were  presented  to  the  Council  by  the 
Faculty  who  personally  attended,  through 
Professor  Martin.  After  the  Professors  had 
retired  from  the  Council  room,  the  motion  to 
adopt  the  report  of  the  Council's  Committee 
and  suspend  the  Undergraduate  Department 
was  again  made,  and  considerable  debate  was 
had ;  after  which  the  Rev.  Dr.  John  Hall  pro- 
posed the  following  as  a  substitute :  "  Re- 
solved, that  while  the  Undergraduate  Depart- 
ment in  Science  and  Arts  has  been  suffering 
from  insufficient  means,  yet  in  view  of  the 
past  sacrifices  of  the  Professors  and  their  will- 
ingness to  continue  their  work  even  with  in- 
adequate income,  this  department  be  continued 
in  the  hope  — for  the  realization  of  which  the 
members  of  the  Council  pledge  themselves 
to  labor  —  that,  as  has  occurred  with  many 
other  institutions  now  renderine:  valuable  ser- 


vices to  the  country,  larger  resources  may  yet 
become  available  and  increased  efficiency  be 
attained." 

No  vote  was  reached  on  that  evening  and 
the  whole  matter  was  carried  over  to  April  26, 
1 88 1.  First  there  was  a  vote  on  Dr.  John 
Hall's  substitute  ;  it  was  lost.  The  following 
resolution  was  adopted  :  "  Resolved  that  the 
Undergraduate  Department  of  Science  and 
Arts  be  suspended  from  and  after  the  Com- 
mencement in  June  1881.  2d.  That  the 
salaries  of  the  Professors  of  that  depart- 
ment be  paid  in  full  until  the  last  day  of 
December  1881.  3d.  That  it  be  referred 
back  to  the  same  Committee  to  prepare  and 
report  a  plan  for  a  Department  in  Political 
Science  and  other  subjects,  and  for  the  en- 
largement of  the  Law  School,  and  also  to 
ascertain  and  report  what  schools  already 
established  may  be  brought  into  relations  with 
the  L^niversity."  This  was  carried  by  a  vote 
uncomfortably  close  for  the  project  of  suspen- 
sion, there  being  nine  votes  in  the  affirmative 
and  eight  in  the  negative.  The  noes  were 
cast  by  Messrs.  Aycrigg,  Wheelock,  Moore, 
Thompson,  Charles  Butler,  Hall,  Hamilton 
and  A.  J.  Vanderpoel. 

It  should  not  remain  unsaid  in  this  record 
that  there  was  a  vigorous  movement  in  one 
quarter  to  divert  the  assets  of  the  Under- 
graduate College,  after  its  disestablishment,  to 
the  project  of  rendering  autonomous  and  inde- 
pendent the  Post-Graduate  Department  in  the 
School  of  Medicine.  And  we  may  as  well 
here  append  the  further  history  and  lapse  of 
that  project,  coming  soon  after  the  College 
Crisis  of  1881.  W'e  quote  from  the  "  History 
of  the  Medical  Department  of  the  University 
of  the  City  of  New  York,  October  1 890,  pub- 
lished by  the  Alumni  Association,"  p.  18: 
"After  seven  years  of  existence  this  Post-Grad- 
uate Course  was  abolished.  The  '  Supple- 
mentary Faculty,'  as  the  Professors  giving 
instruction  in  this  course  were  styled,  to  dis- 
tinguish them  from  the  Governing  Faculty 
of  the  College,  desired  to  be  allowed  to  grant 
degrees    instead  of  certificates,  and  they  also 


HISTORT  OF  NEPV  TORK    UNIFERSITT 


clcsirotl  to  have  a  system  of  separate  fees,  sepa- 
rate lecture  halls,  etc.,  and  to  be  allowed  a 
share  in  the  <jencral  government  of  the  Col- 
lege." "  L'pon  due  consideration  by  the  Gov- 
erning Faculty  it  was  decided  that  these 
propo.sals  would  not  accord  with  the  policy  of 
the  College,  and  it  was  therefore  deemed  for 
the  best  interest  of  the  institution  to  accept 
the  resignations  which  were  tendered  by  a  ma- 
jority of  the  Post-Graduate  Professors,  who 
seceded  in  April  1S82." 

But  to  return  from  this  project  of  applying 
the  funds  of  the  Undergraduate  College,  to 
April -May  188 1,  and  the  crisis  of  that  year. 
On  May  9  the  Council  convened  again  and 
this  time  the  attendance  was  quite  extraordi- 
nary, twenty-three  out  of  thirt\-six  (if  we 
count  the  four  members  from  the  municipal 
administration  who  had  not  attended  for  a 
number  of  years).  At  this  meeting  Charles 
Butler  presented  a  printed  protest  against  the 
proposed  suspension,  in  which  protest  there 
were  associated  with  him  Mr.  Moore,  Dr. 
John  Hall,  Dr.  Aycrigg,  Mr.  Wheelock,  Dr. 
Thompson,  Dr.  Hamilton  and  with  a  modifica- 
tion A.  J.  Vanderpoel.  (A  similar  protest  was 
signed  by  William  E.  Dodge  as  a  subscriber  of 
$5000.)  This  protest  is  still  remarkable  for  its 
temperate  tone,  its  lucid  presentation  of  the 
merits  of  the  case,  and  the  occasional  glow 
of  noble  sentiment.  Who  the  real  author  was, 
who  drew  and  composed  it,  we  know  not,  or 
whether  authority,  credit  and  authorship  were 
all  blended  in  the  person  of  the  venerable 
patron  of  New  York  University  who  presented 
it  at  that  memorable  May  meeting  1881. 

In  this  document  it  was  pointed  out  that 
the  action  on  April  26  was  clearly  illegal, 
because  it  was  a  violation  of  the  by-laws  of 
the  Corporation,  Chapter  \T.,  which  expressly 
declared  that  the  Second  General  Department 
of  the  University  "  shall  embrace  what  is 
usually  deemed  a  full  course  of  Classical, 
Philosophical  and  Mathematical  instruction,  and 
also  a  complete  course  of  English  Literature, 
of  Mathematics  and  Sciences,  with  their  appli- 
cation to  Agriculture,  to   the  Arts,   and  gen- 


erally to  the  ordinary  jnirposes  of  life."  Nor 
could  any  alteration  in  the  by-laws  be  made 
"  unless  openly  proposed  in  writing,  at  a  meet- 
ing of  the  Council,  entered  on  the  minutes, 
with  the  name  of  the  member  j^roposing  the 
same,  and  adopted  at  a  sul)sec|uent  meeting 
of  the  Council,  by  the  vote  of  the  majority 
of  the  members  present,  notice  having  been 
previously  given  that  the  proposed  alteration 
would  be  acted  on  at  that  meeting."  l-"urther, 
the  dispensing  with  the  services  of  the  J-'aculty 
wa.s,  legally,  an  e(iui\alcnt  to  a  removal  ;  but 
such  an  act  on  the  part  of  the  Council  re- 
quired a  concurrent  vote  of  not  less  than 
eleven  member.s,  being  a  majority  of  tho.se 
present,  at  a  meeting  of  the  Council  appointed 
for  this  express  purpose,  of  which  due  notice 
shall  be  given,  and  at  which  there  shall  be 
present  and  voting  at  least  seventeen  mem- 
bers." The  vote  therefore  of  April  26,  on 
the  report,  was  a  nullity  and  that  action  was 
void. 

Furthermore  the  propo.sed  action  would 
constitute  a  breach  of  trust,  apart  from  the 
fact  that  it  would  be  a  serious  loss  to  the 
cause  of  Christian  education,  and  to  the  City 
of  New  York.  The  Council  had  no  power  to 
change  the  purpo.se  of  the  foundation  and 
incidentally  to  di\ert  the  funds  for  a  different 
appropriation.  "  The  individuals  composing 
the  Council  have  no  arbitrary  powers  over  the 
Institution  ;  they  cannot  shape  it  and  use  its 
funds  according  to  their  own  personal  and 
varying  notions  of  expediency."  .  .  .  "The 
suspension  of  this  department  would  therefore 
be  a  perversion  of  the  trust,  and  the  funds 
could  not  be  retained  for  any  other  use,  with- 
out the  consent  of  every  one  of  the  contribu- 
tors, or  his  legal  representatives.  No  vote 
of  the  Council  can  take  the  place  of  that 
consent."  The  claims  of  the  Faculty  for 
consideration  were  irresistible.  Their  posi- 
tion was  "  one  of  a  life -tenure  apart  from 
such  exceptional  cause  as  would  justify  a 
direct  vote  of  removal,  and  this  tenure,  above 
everything  else,  gave  it  dignity  and  impor- 
tance." 


164 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


Every  College  Professor  who  may  read  the 
extract  which  I  will  now  subjoin,  cannot  but 
feel  an  almost  personal  feeling  of  regard  and 
grateful  esteem  for  the  author  :  "  But  the  legal 
contract  of  the  Faculty  with  the  University  is 
not  the  strongest  part  of  their  case.  They 
are  the  men  who  are  permanently  connected 
with  the  institution,  whose  lives  are  spent  in 
its  service,  whose  labors  give  it  character, 
whose  names  are  one  with  its  fame.  The 
Councillors  are  men  with  other  cares  and 
objects  in  life  ;  the  Chancellor  has  his  pastoral 
charge  and  his  numerous  public  and  profes- 
sional duties ;  the  students  spend  their  few 
years  of  devotion  to  the  curriculum  in  the 
University  and  then  pass  out  into  the  world. 
But  the  Professors  are  men  whose  culture  has 
fitted  them  for  one  kind  of  work,  that  which 
constitutes  the  very  being  of  this  Institution ; 
they  have  dedicated  their  lives  to  it  ;  they 
form  a  permanent  body,  with  no  aim  before 
them  but  to  fulfil  its  duties  and  promote  its 
ends  ;  and  thus,  in  the  highest  sense  of  the 
words,  both  as  respects  the  inner  life  of  the 
College  and  its  position  before  the  world,  they 
are  the  University.  Its  pa.st  history  has  been 
the  history  of  their  learning  and  labor,  its 
honors  have  been  won  by  their  exertions,  its 
very  existence  has  more  than  once  been 
rescued  from  disaster  by  their  sacrifices." 
Chancellor  Crosby  after  this  protest  had  been 
presented  moved  such  a  change  in  the  by-laws 
as  to  bring  the  proposed  action  within  the 
provisions  of  the  statutory  requirements,  and 
further  moved  reconsideration  of  the  vote  of 
suspending  the  Undergraduate  Department, 
and  that  these  resolutions  with  their  preamble 
lie  on  the  table.  All  matters  involved  were 
to  go  over  to  a  meeting  be  to  held  on  May  16, 
1881. 

These  then  were  the  discourses  and  discus- 
sions of  May  9.  At  last  the  alumni,  as  a 
body  of  alumni,  bestirred  themselves  and  in 
a  public  way,  and  with  some  manifestation  of 
devotion  and  affection,  came  to  the  support  of 
their  Alma  INIater  so  sorely  beset.  This 
Alumni  Meeting  was  held  on  May  10,  being 


called  by  the  President  of  the  Alumni  Associ- 
ation, Aaron  Y.  Vanderpoel,  a  member  of  the 
Class  of  1843,  a  distinguished  member  of  the 
Bar,  and  also  one  of  the  Council.  Both  those 
who  wished  to  close  and  those  who  wished 
to  go  on  had  opportunity  of  utterance  in  that 
meeting,  which  was  held  in  the  Chapel  (i.  e. 
the  small  chapel  of  old).  Nearly  every  class 
from  1836  to  18S0  was  found  to  be  repre- 
sented. "  On  one  side  of  the  Chapel  (Univer- 
sity Quarterly,  May  1881,  p.  123)  might  be 
seen  the  care-worn  yet  joxial  faces  of  the 
graduates  of  '36,  '40,  '44,  etc.,  while  on  the 
other  side  sat  the  vigorous  and  enthusiastic 
members  of  the  later  classes.  For  the  pro- 
posed suspension  there  were  brought  forward 
a  letter  from  John  Taylor  Johnston,  and  an 
address  from  Chancellor  Crosby,  who  mainly 
dwelt  upon  his  woeful  experience  when  $200,- 
000  of  conditional  subscription  was  allowed  to 
go  because  it  was  impossible  to  raise  the  addi- 
tional $50,000.  Dr.  Wilson  Phraner  then 
read  a  series  of  resolutions  protesting  against 
the  action  of  the  Council  in  very  strong  terms. 
Rev.  \\'.  Cone,  '42,  spoke  for  the  resolution, 
and  Dr.  Hopper,  '39,  against.  On  motion  of 
the  Rev.  Ale.xander  R.  Thompson  of  Brooklyn, 
Professor  Martin  was  invited  to  take  the  floor. 
In  an  earnest,  impressive  and  eloquent  speech, 
he  denounced  the  action  of  the  Council,  and 
compared  it  to  leaving  a  sick  mother  to  die, 
because  she  could  never  get  well.  He  called 
upon  all  the  alumni  to  uphold  and  strengthen 
their  Alma  Mater.  Professor  Baird,  '50,  now 
came  forward  at  the  unanimous  call  of  the 
meeting.  In  a  direct  and  concise  manner  he 
jilainly  proved  that  the  need  of  the  Univer- 
sity was  not  money,  but  "to  be  let  alone," 
and  that  the  present  action  of  the  Council  was 
entirely  without  cause  and  unwarranted.  He 
showed  that  the  University  was  "  in  a  better 
financial  condition  to-day  than  she  has  been 
for  thirty  years."  After  a  prolonged  discus- 
sion in  which  many  took  part,  among  whom 
were  Rev.  Alexander  R.  Thompson  and  Theo- 
dore E.  Tomlinson,  '36,  who  ably  upheld  the 
University,  the  resolutions  were  amended  and 


HISTOKr  OF  NEW   YORK    UNIVERSITY 


i6j 


then  passed.  A  Committee  of  five  was  ai> 
pointed  to  present  the  protest  of  the  alumni 
to  the  Council  ;  at  the  head  of  this  Committee 
w-as  Judge  Van  Brunt  of  the  Class  of  1856,  a 
classmate  of  William  S.  Opdyke. 

One  of  the  most  effective  points  of  the 
alumni  debate  was  this,  that,  if  this  depart- 
ment was  really  worth  sustainini,%  the  alumni 
should  prove  that  fact  by  sendin<j  their  sons 
to  earn  its  degrees.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the 
President  of  the  alumni,  four  members  of  the 
Council  who  were  of  the  alumni,  and  a  large 
number  of  other  graduates  of  the  University, 
then  had  sons  studying  in  tlie  Academic  De- 
partment of  other  Colleges.  Besides  Judge 
\'an  Brunt  there  were  on  the  Committee  of 
the  Alumni  the  Rev.  Dr.  Lyman  Abbott, 
Rev.  Dr.  Wilson  Phraner,  Dr.  H.  D.  Noyes 
and  the  Rev\  Dr.  Edward  Hopper.  Among 
the  numerous  communications  sent  to  the 
daily  press  of  New  York  a  letter  appeared  in 
the  Tribune  of  May  9,  1881,  from  Monsieur 
Elie  Charlier,  a  gentleman  who  had  conducted 
very  prosjierous  private  boarding-schools  for 
boys,  with  a  wonderful  abundance  of  bells, 
signals,  reports,  military  and  other  honors, 
demerits,  etc.,  —  which  dazzled  the  unthinking 
not  a  little.  This  gentleman,  a  protege  of  Dr. 
Crosby,  while  urgently  advocating  the  policy 
of  suspension,  made  one  admirable  point  in 
his  letter,  a  point  which  from  another  mind 
and  by  another  executive  not  then  on  the 
ground  was  later  brought  into  realization.  Mr. 
Charlier  said :  "  There  are  other  considera- 
tions :  Is  a  large  city  the  best  place  for 
an  Undergraduate  Department .''  Harvard, 
Yale,  Princeton,  Amherst  and  Williams  bring 
their  students  all  together  ;  in  these  Colleges 
they  live  in  daily  contact  with  each  other 
and  with  their  Professors."  (Hardly  to-day 
in  the  two  greatest  New  England  Colleges.) 
The  College  is  the  grand  affair  of  the  locality  ; 
the  atmosphere  is  impregnated  with  studies  ; 
a  common  magnetism  forces  the  poorest  stu- 
dent to  work  to  a  certain  degree  or  lose 
caste.  (.')  In  a  large  city  like  New  York, 
students,  too   young  yet  to   feel  the  absolute 


necessity  of  work,  see  each  other  only  at 
recitations,  see  their  Professors  seldom  out- 
side of  the  class-room  ;  instead  of  making  the 
locality  they  are  sicallowcd  in  it  [emphasis  our 
own]. 

On  May  16,  then,  the  Council  met  again  in 
order  to  decide  in  some  definite  way  the  fate 
of  the  Undergraduate  College,  with  twent}- 
three  members  in  attendance.  The  five 
delegates  of  the  alumni,  with  Judge  Van 
Brunt  at  their  head,  appeared,  to  present  the 
remonstration  of  the  alumni  and  pledging 
themselves  to  do  all  in  their  power  to  se- 
cure the  pro.sperity  of  the  University.  Each 
of  them  addressed  the  Council  and  then 
retired. 

After  various  motions  had  been  made  and  a 
protest  entered  from  Charles  Butler  in  his 
two-fold  character  as  owner  of  a  perpetual 
scholarship  and  also  subscriber  to  the  funds, 
a  motion  was  adopted  that  those  members  of 
the  Council  who  were  lawyers  be  called  upon 
to  consider  all  the  legal  questions  which  had 
been  discussed  or  which  might  arise  from  the 
act  of  incorporation,  the  by-laws,  or  the  terms 
of  the  endowTnents.  Those  who  retired  to 
prepare  a  report  were  Messrs.  Johnston, 
William  Allen  Butler,  Vanderpoel,  Parsons, 
Maclay,  Leveridge,  Lane  and  Martin.  Upon 
their  return  the  expert  committee,  through 
John  E.  Parsons,  reported  : 

That  the  legal  difificulties  were  so  serious 
as  to  preclude  the  suspension  of  the  L'nder- 
graduate  Department.  Two  of  the  eight  law- 
yers dissented  from  the  report.  Then  the 
gentlemen  of  the  Council  adopted  Dr.  John 
Hall's  motion,  which  was  as  follows :  "  Re- 
solved, that  in  view  of  all  the  conditions  of  the 
University,  we  continue  the  Undergraduate 
Department,  and  that  all  aid  from  the  Alumni 
and  other  sources  will  be  welcomed  in  the 
effort  to  enlarge  the  resources  and  increase  the 
influence  of  the  institution." 

The  Commencement  of  June  23,  1881,  was 
the  last  one  at  which  Howard  Crosby  pre- 
sided as  Chancellor ;  Messrs.  D.  Willis  James 
and    Morris    K.    Jesup    having   retired    even 


i66 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


before.  For  a  number  of  years  in  fact  the  work 
of  Professor  H.  M.  Baird  had  really  disposed 
of  all  the  chief  requirements  of  the  Treasurer's 
office.  A  day  before  the  Commencement, 
Chancellor  Crosby  drew  up  his  resignation, 
which  was  presented  to  the  Council  and 
accepted  by  them  at  their  meeting  of  October 
II,  1 88 1.  But  he  did  not  retire  from  the 
Council.  In  fact  Dr.  Crosby  himself  was 
made  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  the 
vacant  Chancellorship.  Messrs.  Charlier  and 
Roosa  resigned  from  the  Council.  And  thus 
closed  the  administration  of  Howard  Crosby. 

The  present  writer  will  hardly  be  gainsaid  if 
he  states  his  conviction  that,  if  we  speak  in  a 
national  sense,  no  aknnnus  of  New  York  Uni- 
versity has  been  as  eminent  as  the  fourth  Chan- 
cellor ;  and  still  —  putting  aside  all  the  personal 
sentiment  of  profound  regard  and  grateful 
remembrance  —  it  cannot  be  .said  that  in  this 
admini-stration  the  institution  grew  stronger, 
unless  the  passage  through  the  crisis  of  "  to  be 
or  not  to  be,"  —  be  designated  as  a  severe  test 
of  its  vitality.  Crosby  felt  painfully  the  station- 
ary character  of  the  College's  endowment  ; 
he  could  not  however  raise  the  necessary 
$50,000  to  secure  a  further  $200,000.  Like  all 
sanguine  characters  he  was  perhaps  exposed 


to  that  alternation  of  elation  and  depression  — 
the  Horatian 

Aequam  memento  rebus  in  arduis 
Servare  mentem, 

was  denied  this  splendid  and  versatile  and  lofty 
character.  His  volition  was  strong,  but  it  was 
often  bent  on  immediately  forthcoming  results. 
It  was  unfortunate  that,  when  the  plans  for 
enlargement  of  endowment  were  not  immedi- 
ately successful.  Dr.  Crosby  became  despond- 
ent, but  determined  not  to  withdraw  but  rather 
to  strip  the  University  of  that  which  after  all 
was  its  beginning  and  central  element,  the  Un- 
dergraduate College.  Taking  his  character 
altogether,  the  combative  and  impulsive  strains 
were  predominant  elements  in  his  nature.  Con- 
vinced that  financial  improvement  was  out  of 
the  question,  he  strove  earnestly  for  a  metamor- 
phosis which  would  preserve  to  the  Institution 
a  position  of  its  own.  The  writer  knows  with 
absolute  certainty  that  Dr.  Crosby's  personal 
scheme  was,  in  the  winter  and  spring  of  1880- 
188 1,  to  have  some  half-dozen  Professors  of 
undisputed  and  national  eminence,  whose  direct 
academic  function  towards  the  public  would 
have  been  limited  to  cxatnining  candidates  for  a 
degree  whether  Bachelor,  Master  or  Doctor,  the 
whole  to  resemble  the  University  of  London. 

E.  G.  s. 


APPENDIX   TO   CHAPTER   VI 


We  desire  to  append  a  few  more  details  as  to  the  Inter- 
Collegiate  Contests  established  in  1874  of  the  Seventies, 
suggestive  reading  to-day  when  the  rivalry  of  muscle  has 
fairly  crowded  the  primacy  of  spirit,  soul  and  mind  in  our 
colleges  into  a  corner,  particularly  in  the  glamour  of  public 
attention.  In  January  1878  twelve  Colleges  were  repre- 
sented by  their  champions.  These  Colleges  were :  New 
York  University,  Cornell,  Madison  (now  Colgate),  Rutgers, 
Williams,  Princeton,  Northwestern,  Lafayette,  Wesleyan, 
St.  Johns,  College  of  the  City  of  New  York,  and  Syracuse. 
The  subjects  of  competition  were :  Public  speaking  on 
themes  freely  chosen  by  the  speakers  themselves.  The 
judges  of  oratory  on  this  occasion.  January  10,  187S.  in  the 
Academy  of  Music,  were  E.  L.  Godkin,  D.  H.  Olmstead  and 
A.  D.  F.  Randolph.  Another  sphere  of  contest  was  essay- 
writing.  Colonel  Thomas  Wentworth  Higginson  of  Boston 
reported  for  the  judges  on  essays.  Then  there  was  Greek, 
Latin  and  Mathematics,  and  Mental  Science.     The  whole 


admirably  represents  to-day  the  old-time  College  curriculum. 
Carlton  P.  Mills,  of  Williams,  won  the  first  prize  in  oratory, 
James  J.  Grant,  of  Lafayette,  won  second  prize  in  the  same. 
Altogether  New  York  University  won  one  first  and  two 
seconds,  and  thus  in  points  led  all  the  others.  In  essays 
the  themes  were  set.  Colonel  Higginson  called  attention 
to  the  fact  that  the  New  York  University  and  Coniell 
had  each  carried  off  four  prizes  in  essays  and  the  North- 
western University  three.  Louis  Bevier  of  Rutgers,  now 
Professor  of  Greek  there,  carried  off  the  prize  in  Greek. 
In  Mathematics  the  first  prize  was  awarded  to  Theodore 
K.  Satterlee  of  the  New  York  University,  the  second  went 
to  A.  S.  Hathaway  of  Cornell.  President  McCosh's  Col- 
lege fitly  carried  off  the  prize  in  Mental  Science.  It  was 
11.30  P.M.  when  the  audience  was  dismissed.  "The  Acad- 
emy then  echoed  with  cheers  of  the  successful  Colleges,  and 
louder  than  all  the  rest  was  heard  the 'New-  York  University' 
of  our  College."     A  schedule  of  the  awards  is  appended: 


IIISrORT  OF   NEJV    YORK    UNII^'ERSITT 


167 


COLLEGES   KBPRBSBNTED. 

FIRST 
PRIZE. 

SECOND 
PRIZE. 

HONORABLE 
MENTION. 

N.  Y.   University    .     .     . 

t'ornell 

Madison 

Rutgers 

Williams 

rrinceton 

Northwestern     .... 

l.afayctle 

Wesley  an 

St.  Johns 

C.  C.  N.  Y 

Syracuse    

0 
0 

0 
0 
0 

2 

I 
I 

0 
0 
0 
0 

I 
I 

0 
0 
0 

0 
0 
0 

I 

0 
0 

0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 

Kach  College  payed  S50  aiiiuially  into  a  common  fund. 
There  was  a  Council  of  Regents.  Hamilton  had  recently 
withdrawn.  —  There  was  a  LaCrosse  Club  in  New  York 
University  at  this  time,  which  was  defeated  by  the  Ravens- 
woods  in   Madison   Square    Garden    early  in  March    1878. 

—  Profes.sor  Henry  Draper  was  soon  to  go  "  out  West,"  to 
observe  the  transit  of  iMercury.  —  The  Fhilomathean  had 
been  in  a  somnolent  state  for  two  years  and  then  reorganized. 

—  One  of  the  themes  of  graduating  C.  E.'s  '78  was  on 
"the  New  York  Elevated  Railroad."  —  .\lbert  Warren  P'erris 
was  Chairman  of  a  Committee  to  cancel  the  debts  of  the 
Intercollegiate  Literary  Association.  —  A  writer  of  an  Edi- 
torial in  the  University  Quarterly  of  October  1878  candidly 
recognizes  the  futility  of  trying  to  have  many  kinds  of 
athletic  sports  in  a  city  College,  and  says  he  could  not 
wonder  "that  each  and  every  enterprise,"  such  as  baseball, 
football, cricket  and  lacrosse,  running  and  jumping  contests, 
etc.,  "should  fizzle  out."  —  On  Thanksgiving  day  1S7S  the 
N.  Y.  U.  LaCrosse  Club  again  attempted  a  contest  and  this 
time  they  were  successful.  Their  opponents  were  the  West- 
chester LaCrosse  Club.  The  contest  took  place  on  the 
ball-ground  in  Central  Park.  On  the  N.  Y.  U.  side  were : 
Dunning  '80,  Ferris  '7Q,  Gillett  '80  (our  Professor  W.  K. 
Gillett),  Capwell  '81,  Doremus  '81,  Swaine  '79,  Pearce  '81, 
Wheeler '81,  Wetmore  '79.  —  In  the  Intercollegiate  Literary 
Association  in  January  1879,  George  C.  Wetmore  '79  took 
he  first  prize  in  Greek.  —  The  Medical  class  of  N.  Y.  U. 
which  graduated  at  the  Academy  of  Music  on  February  18 
numbered  205,  called  at  the  time  the  largest  class  in  Medi- 
cine ever  known  in  the  United  States.  —  In  1880  the  first 
Semi-Centennial  of  New  York  University  was  celebrated, 
the  year  1S30  being  very  properly  considered  as  the  initial 
year,  and  not  1832,  although  it  was  in  the  latter  year  that 
instruction  actually  began.  Both  the  commencement  and 
the  Semicentennial  were  held  at  one  and  the  same  time, 
on  June  17,  1S80,  at  Chickering  Hall.  The  average  age 
of  the  Class  of  1880  was  twenty-two  years,  four  months  and 
twelve  days.  The  celebration  passed  off  very  quietly.  Pre- 
vious to  the  conferring  of  degrees,  the  Rev.  Dr.  William  R. 
Gordon.  '34,  by  appointment  of  the  Council,  delivered  the 
Semicentennial  Discourse.  And  sketches  of  the  Univer- 
sity's History  were  published  in  the  University  Quarterly. 
The  sense  of  oppression  and  gloom  which  must  have 
lodged  at  that  time  in  the  consciousness  of  Council  and 
Faculty  could  not  possibly  have  found  issue  in  hearty 
felicitations.     As  for  the  current  undergraduate,  the  nar- 


rower horizon  of    happy   youth    was    neither    reminiscent, 
which  their  young  life  forbade,  nor  given  to  much   anxious 
computation  of  the  future.     And  even  the  undergraduates, 
incessantly  hearing  and  reading  of  the  wider   autonomy  and 
the  resources  so  dear  to  academic   youth,  elsewhere,  could 
not  very  well  satisfy  the  sense  of  want    by  contemplating 
the  fame  of  Morse  and   Draper  or   by    reading  ittms  like 
this  one,  in  the  July  number  of  the    University  Quarterly, 
18S0,  p.  145:  "  George  T.  Seney,  '46  (N.  Y.  U.),  has  given 
{550,000   toward  the  endowment  fund    of  Wesleyan  in  addi- 
tion to  the  5125,000    previously  given    by  him."     [Would 
that  we  might  chronicle  such  an   example  of  generosity  ex- 
hibited toward  the  University,  which  has   met  with  no  just 
return  for  giving  to  the  world    the    electric    telcgiaph,  the 
Croton  Aqueduct,  and  the    delineation   of  the  human  face 
by  photography.     Ed.]      And  on  a  further  page,  in  Novem- 
ber of  the  same  year,  p.   22  (from  an  "  Alumnus.") :  "  What 
course  are  the  Alumni  pursuing  ?     What   is  being  done  to 
keep  the  name  of  the  Institution  before  the  public'    These 
are  questions  which  should  be  pondered  by  every  student 
and  alumnus,"  etc.  etc. —  When  the  Juniors  wished  to  hold 
a  Junior  exhibition   they  had  to   engage,  say,  the  Academy 
of  Music,  which  cost  S250  an    evening.  —  As  for  a  "Class 
Day"  —  the  old  pile  on  Washington    Square   in  unwelcome 
proximity  to  the  ever  surging  commercial  tide  of  Broadway 
—  the  very  idea  of  a  real  Class  Day  in   that   environment  is 
preposterous,  and  we  marvel  not  in    reading  in  the  Chroni- 
cles of  the  Undergraduates  that  "  the  Class  of  '80  made  a 
futile  attempt  to  hold  them  "  (Class  Day  exercises)  "at  its 
graduation."  —  The  LaCrosse  Association  had  to  go  in  the 
spring  of   1881  across  the  East    River  to    Prospect   Park,  in 
order  to  find  a  place  for  training.  — The  first   intimation  of 
the  Crisis   of  18S1  in  the  recorded  utterances  of  the  under- 
graduate of  that  year  is  in  the  May  number  of  the  Univer- 
sity   Quarterly    1881.        They    pointed    to    graduates    who 
gained    distinction,    as,    in    church    work    and    the    pulpit, 
Howard    Crosby,    Henry    M.    Scudder,    DeWitt    Talmage, 
Bishop  A.  Cleveland  Coxe,  George    H.  Houghton  of  "  the 
Little  Church  around  the   Comer,"  Wm.  P.  Breed  of  Phila- 
delphia, Byron  Sunderland  of  Washington,  (ieorge  L.  Gray, 
Dean  of  the  Cambridge  Divinity  School,  and  particularly  a 
great  body  of    ministers  in    the    Reformed   Dutch  Church, 
including    many  who    were    high   in    the   Councils  of  that 
Church,  among  them  William   R.    Gordon,  A.  G.  Yermilye, 
Samuel  M.  Woodbridge,  Samuel  Lockwood  (also  known  as 
a  naturalist).   Hartley,  Collier  and   Amerman.     Of  lawyers 
they  named   William    Allen    Butler,   Aaron  J.  Vanderpoel, 
John  A.  Foster,  Judge   Sedgwick,  Myer  S.  Isaacs,  l-Jliott  F. 
Shepard,  Judge   Bond   of   Baltimore,  Austin   Abbott.  John 
E.    Parsons,    E.    Delafield    Smith,    and    Benjamin   Yaughn 
Abbott,  "in  his  department    the  acknowledged  head  of  the 
legal   profession   in  this    countr\-,"    who    was   unanimously 
chosen  by   Congress  to     codify    the    laws   of   the   United 
States;  and   they  might    have    added    Judges    Yan  Brunt, 
Van    Hoesen    and    others.     Of     distinguished     physicians. 
S.  O.  Vanderpoel  and   Henr)-  D.  Noyes.       Of  authors  and 
other  literary  men.  Crosby,  Baird,    Richard    Grant   White. 
Croly,    Eugene    Lawrence.       Among    the     graduates   there 
were  no  less  than  four  College  Presidents,  and  a  score  of 
Professors    including    Robert    Ogden    Doremus     and    J.  J. 
Stevenson.     The  antiquated  character  of  the    scientific  aj>- 


i68 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


paratus  was  dwelt  upon.  And  the  earnest  College  Editor 
says  further :  ■•  Let  us  add  the  testimony  of  President 
Porter  of  Vale  College,  who  says  that  in  the  Department 
of  Philosophy  and  Logic,  and  of  the  Latin  Language  and 
Literature,  the  University  is  unsurpassed  in  this  country." 
—  The    Undergraduates'    Protest    against    suspension    was 


voted  at  a  meeting  held  on  Wednesday,  May  4,  1881.  The 
Committee  on  Resolutions  were  these :  Of  the  Senior  Class, 
George  M.  Duncan  (now  a  member  of  the  Faculty  of  Yale) ; 
of  the  Juniors,  Arndt,  of  the  Sophomores,  Charles  L. 
Bristol  (now  Professor  of  Biology  at  N.  Y.  U.)  and  Cobb, 
of  the  Freshman  Class.  E.  G.  S. 


CHAPTER    VII 
The  Second  Interim  :  Chancellor  John  Hall.  —  Vice-Chancellor  Henry  I\I.  MacCracken. 


DR.  CROSBY  himself  referred  to  the 
last  eight  years  of  his  service,  i.  e. 
1873-188 1,  as  a  Chancellorship  ad 
intcrivi,  for  as  he  put  it,  the  terms  of  the 
agreement  under  which  he  had  accepted  the 
title  had  not  been  fulfilled.  Dr.  Crosby  him- 
self and  the  alumni  as  a  body  recommended 
that  the  Council  should  elect  the  Rev.  John 
Hall,  D.D.,  Pastor  of  the  Fifth  Avenue  Pres- 
byterian Church,  Chancellor  of  New  York 
University.  The  Faculty  had  already  passed 
similar  resolutions.  The  distinguished  Pastor 
and  preacher  was  then  fifty-two  years  old,  and 
had  since  his  departure  from  his  post  in  Ireland 
served  his  American  congregation  for  fourteen 
years.  He  had,  against  the  actual  Chancellor, 
who  was  an  alumnus  of  New  York  Univer- 
sity, maintained  the  position  in  the  Council 
that  the  University  College  should  not  be 
closed,  but  preserved.  And  in  seeking  Dr. 
Hall  they  sought  not  only  the  lustre  of  a  dis- 
tinguished name,  the  "  far-shining  counte- 
nance "  of  Pindar's  phrase.  The  very  letter 
declining  the  Chancellorship  showed  senti- 
ments which  could  not  but  endear  Dr.  Hall  to 
the  friends  of  the  University  College. 

"  I  have  been,"  Dr.  Hall  said  in  his  com- 
munication submitted  to  the  Council  on  No- 
vember 17,  1 88 1,  "at  some  pains  to  inform 
myself  as  to  the  e.xact  present  condition  and 
also  the  history  of  the  University,  and  to  esti- 
mate its  capacity  for  usefulness  in  the  future. 
The  result  is  a  profound  conviction,  stronger 
than  can  be  here  expressed,  that  a  wise  and  far- 
sighted  public -spirit  on  the  part  of  the  citizens 
of    New   York   ought  to  maintain  and  e.xtend 


its    advantages." 


"  It     is     stronger     now 


than  were  many  sister  Colleges,  now  vigorous, 
at  times  within  the  present  generation  ;  and  it 
only  needs,  in  my  humble  judgment,  a  dispas- 
sionate consideration  of  its  career  and  its  pos- 
sibilities, to  secure  the  support  of  a  body  of 
citizens  conspicuous  for  their  liberality  to  good 
objects,  who,  if  it  ceased  to  exist,  would  be 
obliged  to  replace  it  in  a  few  years,  at  an 
enormously  greater  outlay  than  would  now 
assure  its  high  efficiency."  As  a  matter  of 
fact  Dr.  Hall  had  felt  bound  to  defer  to  the 
joint  session  and  Trustees  of  his  Church, 
who  had  strongly  deprecated  his  accepting 
the  post  of  Chancellor  "  in  view  of  the  large 
demands  made  upon  the  Pastor  by  the  Congre- 
gation under  his  charge."  He  also  disclaimed 
any  merit  for  the  continuation  of  the  Univer- 
sity College.  "  It  is  fit  that  all  should  know 
that  this  department  stands  on  the  ground  of 
law ;  and  that  so  soon  as  this  was  authorita- 
tively shown,  there  was  prompt  acquiescence 
on  all  hands,  so  that  the  integrity  of  the  Insti- 
tution is  not  dependent  on  any  man  or  any  ad- 
vocacy." In  fact  the  Council,  although  Dr. 
Hall  had  declined,  printed  his  letter  for  dis- 
tribution. 

In  this  winter,  1881-1882,  Professor  John 
W.  Draper,  who  for  forty  years  had  stood  in  the 
very  forefront  of  the  representative  American 
men  of  science  and  had  certainly  deserved  the 
most  grateful  regards  of  the  University  Col- 
lege, passed  away,  on  January  4,  1882,  at 
Hastings-on-the-Hudson.  The  reader  is  re- 
ferred to  the  biographical  part  of  this  work. 
But  even  here  we  may  insert  one  of  the 
resolutions  of  the  Council  which  points  out 
one  of  the  lessons  of  Dr.  J.  W.  Draper's  life 


IIISTORT  OF  NEW  TORK    UN  I  VERS  ITT 


I  69 


in  words  of  permanent  suggestiveness  :  "  Re- 
solved, that  the  assiduous  industry  with  which 
the  {^reat  genius  of  Dr.  Draper  was  aUied,  and 
his  happy  combination  of  original  research  with 
his  daily  duties  of  instruction,  present  to  all 
College  Professors  an  admirable  example  of  the 
high  possibilities  of  usefulness  which  lie  open  in 
their  honorable  though  often  ill-reciuited  work.'  " 
And  in  passing  away  from  this  name,  borne 
by  the  most  eminent  academic  personage  thus 
far  connected  with 
New  York  Univer- 
sity in  the  period  of 
time  recorded  in  this 
recital,  the  present 
chronicler  must  pause 
to  utter  a  necessary 
observation.  He  is 
in  the  remaining  part 
of  these  chronicles  to 
deal  very  largely  with 
the  living.  And  while 
conscious  of  the  wis- 
dom of  particular 
moderation  in  this 
field,  he  yet  discerns 
the  fact  that  this  book 
may  possibly  be  a 
record  consulted  by  a 


friends  or  alumni. 
The  lines  of  move- 
ment which  led  up 
to  the  status  of  New 
York  University  as  it 


JOHN    H.ALL 


acquired  at  the  Yale  Law  School  the  academic 
distinction  of  Doctor  of  Civil  Law,  the  first 
New  York  University  man  who  had  attained 
youthful  fame  through  Gains,  Justinian,  and 
Code  and  Digest,  was  appointed  Professor  of 
Political  Science  in  the  College  and  at  the  same 
time  a  Professor  in  the  Law  School  to  assist 
Professor  Jacques  there.  The  vitalizing  energy 
of  his  sprightly  and  productive  mind  presently 
found  both  a  good  field  and  ready  appreciation. 

Professor  Henry 
Drai)er  was  entrusted 
with  his  father's  aca- 
demic function.s,  and 
it  was  resolved  by 
the  Council  that  the 
I  'rof  essorsh  ip  thus 
formed  be  designated 
as  the  Professorship 
of  Chemistry  and 
Physiology,  and  the 
Council  at  the  subse- 
quent Commence- 
ment in  June  1882 
bestowed  upon  him 
the  degree  of  Doctor 
of  Laws.  Two  hun- 
dred and  thirteen 
graduates  of  the 
Medical  School  re- 
ceived diplomas  at 
the  end  of  the  winter 
term  1882.  In  the 
absence  of  Dr.  John 
Hall,  who  was  about 


is  on  the  threshold  of  the  new  century,  the 
injection  of  new  and  decisive  ideas  and  forces 
into  the  development  and  history  of  the  College 
and  the  professional  schools  as  well  require 
some  fJiir  and  adequate  delineation  not  less  than 
the  half-century  antecedent  to  the  Crisis  of 
1 88 1.  \Ve  have  earnestly  striven  for  a  sincere 
realization  of  the  Tacitean  sine  ira  ct  studio  in 
the  preceding  portion.  We  shall  even  more 
strive  to  attain  this  ideal  to  the  end. 

In  the  fall  of    1881    Dr.   Isaac   Russell,  an 


to  depart  for  Europe,  Rev.  Dr.  Alexander  R. 
Thompson  of  the  Council  was  desig^iated  to 
preside  at  the  Commencement. 

The  most  absorbing  matter  of  this  academic 
year  from  the  standpoint  of  the  College  men 
was  a  wearying  struggle  for  the  control  of 
the  annual  Editorship  of  the  Quarterly.  Nor 
was  it  unaccompanied  by  the  heartburnings 
and  jealousies  of  fraternity  rivalry.  The  La- 
Crosse  team  was  quite  successful  in  the  spring 
of   1882.  inasmuch  as   they  played  a  tie  game 


alumnus  of  the  College,  who  had  at  an  early  age     with  Harvard  at  Cambridge,  and  defeated  Co- 


70 


UNIVERSITIES   JND    THEIR   SONS 


lumbia  by  3  to  o ;  a  drawn  game  was  played 
with  Yale  also.  The  graduating  Class  of  1882 
in  the  College  was  remarkably  youthful  in  their 
average,  being  but  twenty  years,  one  month 
and  twenty-nine  days.  In  that  spring,  as  for 
some  time  before,  Professor  George  W.  Coakley 
conducted  astronomical  observations  from  one 
of  the  towers  of  the  Washington  Square  Build- 
ings. On  June  16,  1882,  at  the  end  of  the  Col- 
lege year,  the  Eucleian  Society  held  its  fiftieth 
Annual  Reunion.  At  that  time  C.  L.  Bristol 
'83  was  reported  as  winner  of  the  first  Butler 
Eucleian  prize.  There  was  an  entertainment 
furnished  by  Maresi,  and  toasts.  "The  Uni- 
versity "  was  responded  to  by  Dr.  Howard 
Crosby.  He  said  that  the  success  of  the  Uni- 
versity depended  on  her  alumni,  and  pleaded 
for  their  earnest  and  zealous  assistance.  He 
predicted  that  during  the  next  fifty  years  she 
would  become  one  of  the  leading  Colleges  of 
the  country.  Other  toasts  were:  "The  Quar- 
terly," "La  Crosse,"  "Eucleian,"  "  Philoma- 
thean,"  "  Psi  Upsilon,"  "  Delta  Phi,"  "  Zeta 
Psi,"  "  Delta  Upsilon,"  and  the  various 
classes,  which  with  "The  Ladies,"  consti- 
tuted the  whole  sphere  of  the  Undergradu- 
ates' interests  in  the  early  eighties. 

Entering  upon  the  second  academic  year  of 
the  Interim  1 882-1 883,  Professor  Johnson  still 
made  his  reports  directly  to  the  Council, 
reporting  twenty-seven  Freshmen,  which  at 
the  time  was  designated  as  a  gratifying  in- 
crease. The  number  of  books  in  the  library 
in  the  fall  of  1882  was  only  4,1 16.  Professor 
Baird  served  as  Librarian.  The  finances  in 
the  College  proper,  without  any  tuition  fees, 
showed  an  income  of  $28,035.72,  and  there 
was  no  deficit  of  any  kind. 

In  the  Fall  of  this  year,  on  October  17, 
1882,  the  Council  accepted  the  resignation  of 
Professor  Henry  Draper,  M.D.,  LL.D.  This 
event  led  to  a  number  of  changes  or  modifi- 
cations in  the  teaching  staff.  The  Professor- 
ship of  Chemistry  and  Geolog)'  was  united 
with  the  Professorship  of  Geology  and  Pro- 
fessor J.  J.  Stevenson  was  appointed  to  this 
chair,    so  that   our   Professor  of  Geolog}'^  was 


then  the  direct  successor  of  the  Drapers,  father 
and  son,  in  the  Undergraduate  College  of  New 
York  University.  At  the  same  time  Albert 
H.  Gallatin,  ]\I.D.,  of  the  College  Class  of 
1859,  was  appointed  Professor  of  Analytical 
Chemistry.  In  this  fall  and  winter  the  Coun- 
cil prepared  several  changes  in  the  statutes  of 
the  Corporation.  One  of  these  was  the  ex- 
tinguishing of  the  "  shareholders "  as  the 
holders  of  the  property  and  charter  rights, 
and  the  vesting  of  all  the  coq^orate  rights, 
powers  and  privileges,  property  and  estate 
of  the  University  of  the  City  of  New  York  in 
the  Council,  which  hereafter  itself  was  to  be 
the  Corporation.  The  Mayor  and  four  mem- 
bers of  the  Common  Council  were  eliminated 
from  the  Council.  That  section  which  postu- 
lated a  balancing  of  religious  denominations  in 
the  Council  was  likewise  done  away  with  ; 
all  three  changes  being  passed  b}'  an  ordi- 
nance of  the  Regents  at  Albany,  on  January 
12,  1883.  The  three  coporate  matters  carry 
the  reader  back  to  the  year  1830,  when  they 
were  full  of  life  and  meaning  and  when  they 
were  born  out  of  the  sentiments,  practices  and 
aspirations  of  that  period.  Will  any  one  in 
1900  believe  that  a  University  was  theoreti- 
cally considered  as  a  revenue-producing  in- 
vestment .''  The  revulsion  against  the  close 
corporation  practices  elsewhere  had  much  to 
do  no  doubt  with  the  shareholders-organiza- 
tion. The  Council  by  the  power  of  filling 
its  own  vacancies,  the  power  of  cooptation,  be- 
came fully  analogous  to  the  majority  of  non- 
public educational  corporations  of  our  land. 

The  decease  of  the  Hon.  Henry  E.  Davies, 
LL.D.,  Professor  Emeritus  and  former  Presi- 
dent of  the  Faculty  of  Law,  led  to  resolutions 
of  culog)'  and  respect  on  the  part  of  the  Coun- 
cil, presented  October  17,  1882.  He  had 
served  the  New  York  L'ni\ersity  after  his  re- 
tirement from  the  Court  of  Appeals  in  which 
he  had  been  Judge  and  Chief-Justice  as  well. 
On  the  same  date  resolutions  were  adopted  in 
memor}'  of  Hon.  W.  B.  Maclay,  of  the  Class 
of  1836,  a  member  of  the  New  York  State 
Legislature,  where  he  was  prominent  in  estab- 


HISTORT  OF  NEW   YORK    UNIVERSITY 


171 


lishinj^  the  present  system  of  I'ublic  Schools  in 
New  York  City.  Later  he  was  for  five  terms 
a  member  of  Congress,  serving  on  the  Ways 
and  Means  and  other  important  Committees, 
and  being  effective  in  questions  of  those  days, 
e.  g.,  the  reduction  of  postage,  the  annexation 
of  Texas  and  the  Oregon  controversy.  For 
forty-three  years  he  served  as  member  of  the 
Council  of  his  Alma  Mater. 

On  December  19,  1S82,  the  Council  adopted 
resolutions  in  honor  of  Henry  Draper,  who 
iiad  died  November  20,  1882.  The  reader  will 
please  turn  to  the  biograjihical  part  of  this  work. 

On  April  17,  1883,  Klbert  B.  Monroe  and 
William  S.  Opdyke,  most  loyal  Alumni  of  the 
College,  were  elected  to  the  Council.  The 
incorporation  of  "  a  Medical  College  Labora- 
tory," reported  by  Dean  Pardee,  was  approved 
by  the  Council. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Hall  had  been  named  Chan- 
cellor ad  vi/cntfi  and  the  intcriviistic  character 
of  the  administration  was  emphasized  by  a 
measure  adopted  February  21,  1882  "that, 
until  the  election  of  a  Chancellor  the  Presi- 
dents of  the  Several  Faculties  of  Science  and 
Arts,  of  Law  and  of  Medicine,  be  invited  to 
attend  the  meetings  of  the  Council  and  to 
make  the  usual  reports  from  the  Faculties  of 
their  respective  departments."  The  whole 
relation  was,  on  the  part  of  Dr.  Hall,  one  of 
informal  courtesy  and  comity  to  his  fellow 
Councillors.  In  the  minutes  of  June  20,  1882, 
Dr.  Hall  (absent)  is  designated  as  "  Chancellor 
pro  icm."  And  this  title  Dr.  Hall  used  in 
signing  an  appeal  to  the  public  for  further 
endowment  of  $250,000,  dated  May  14,  1883, 
an  appeal  signed  also  by  John  Taylor  John- 
ston, Charles  Butler,  William  A.  W'heelock 
and    Peter    Carter. 

The  Fiftieth  Commencement  was  impending, 
being  set  for  June  21,  1883.  The  average  age 
of  the  Class  of  1883.  of  \vhom  our  Professor 
Bristol  was  one,  was  twenty-one  }ears  and  six- 
months.  The  chief  address  at  the  Fiftieth 
Commencement  in  June  1883  was  delivered 
by  the  Rev.  Dr.  John  Hall.  We  select  a  few- 
concrete  and  specific  points  from  that  admirable 


address.  He  said,  in  referring  to  the  College 
of  the  City  of  New  York  :  "  Wy  its  laws  and 
by  American  ideas  that  instituticm  is  precluded 
from  going  beyond  a  certain  point  in  moral 
and  religious  teaching,  and  I  submit  to  you 
here  —  I  submit  to  the  clergymen  here  —  that 
if  we  are  to  have  faithful,  honest  and  earnest 
candidates  for  the  ministry,  that  we  must  carry 
moral  and  religious  teaching  further  than  it 
can  be  carried  in  this  College."  "  If  there  be 
young  men  who  want  to  go  through  College, 
where  they  can  stand  as  well  as  any  one  with- 
out making  large  contributions  to  clubs  or 
societies,  without  the  possession  of  much 
wealth,  then  welcome  the  young  men." 

"  I  will  add,  however,  that  I  am  not  without 
the  hope  that  at  no  distant  time  there  will  be 
found  one  who  can  fill  the  place  of  the  Chan- 
cellor permanently,  and  to  give  to  its  duties 
that  time  and  attention  which  its  present 
occupant  has  not  been  able  to  do." 

"  Of  the  solid  and  substantial  character  and 
success  of  the  University  College  with  its 
strong  Faculty  and  small  classes  as  it  stood  at 
the  expiration  of  half  a  century  of  teaching,  in 
comparison  with  the  enormously  grown  College 
classes  of  one  of  the  oldest  and  most  venerable 
foundations  as  it  was  in  1883,  something  might 
be  said.  A  letter  from  a  competent  observer 
who  graduated  in  the  New^  York  University 
College  and  then  pursued  graduate  studies  at 
an  older  and  greater  Institution,  a  letter 
written  in  the  academic  year  1 882-1 883,  lies 
before  us.  After  speaking  with  great  satisfac- 
tion of  the  post-graduate  work  and  eminent 
men  who  conducted  it ;  of  the  system  of  tutors 
at  X  and  similar  large  Colleges,  the  writer 
quotes  from  the  New  York  Independent  of 
February  8,  1883:  —  'There  is  thus  a  con- 
stant change  (of  Tutors),  and  it  falls  to  the  lot 
of  each  entering  class,  to  break  in,  so  to  speak, 
one  or  two  Inexperienced  instructors.  We 
have  known  students  over  and  over  again  to 
assert  that  they  believed  their  Freshman  and 
Sophomore  years  to  have  been  immensely 
damaged  and  almost  wasted  by  the  wretched 
instruction  of  incompetent  tutors.'     I  find  that 


172 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


while  my  class  at  New  York  University,  during 
the  Freshman  and  Sophomore  years,  were 
receiving  instruction  in  the  Classics,  in  Mathe- 
matics, in  Belles-Lettres,  in  Modern  Lan- 
guages, in  Science,  from  experienced  men,  from 
original  thinkers  and  investigators,  from  Pro- 
fessors of  solid  and  established  reputation, 
the  same  class  at  X  during  the  entire  first  half 
of  their  course  were  subjected  almost  wholly 
to  the  manipulation  of  mere  tutors,  men  of 
very  recent  knowledge,  and  generally  of  even 
less  experience.  During  these  two  important 
formative  years  they  met  but  one  Professor  ! 
During  the  last  two  years  here  the  students 
come  largely  under  the  Professors  themselves, 
though  even  then  it  should  be  noted  that  many 
of  the  ablest  and  best  known  Professors  give 
little  or  no  instruction  to  the  undergraduate 
students,  while  others  instruct  only  in  optional 
courses." 

Such  were  some  of  the  main  points  of 
differences  in  1883  as  between  one  of  the  oldest 
and  largest  Colleges  and  between  New  York 
University,  and  of  it  Dr.  Hall  said  in  conclu- 
sion :  "  If  I  were  to  speak  for  these  denomina- 
tions with  an  intelligent  view  of  the  future  of 
religion  and  of  religious  institutions  in  this 
city,  I  would  \'enture  to  e.xpress  my  own  per- 
sonal conviction  that  if  this  University  did  not 
exist  to-day,  it  would  be  our  duty  as  citizens  to 
found  such  an  institution.  But,  ladies  and 
gentlemen,  it  does  not  need  to  be  founded  ;  it 
has  been  founded.  It  has  lived  these  fifty 
years ;  it  has  a  good  life  ;  it  has  a  good  Coun- 
cil ;  it  has  a  good  body  of  alumni ;  it  has  a 
good  corps  of  Professors ;  and  with  God's 
blessing,  it  will  have  a  good  career  of  harmony 
and  of  usefulness  in  the  time  to  come."  There 
was  clearly  a  slowly  rising  tide  of  better  days 
and  stronger  interest. 

But  in  the  very  same  number  of  the  Univer- 
sity Quarterly  a  College  editorial  strikes  the 
point  of  the  essential  weakness  of  the  mere 
didactic  function  of  the  day  College  in  a  great 
city:  (p.  162).  After  pleading  for  a  stronger 
bond  of  class  feeling  than  that  actually  attained, 
the  writer  goes  on  to  say  :   "The  lack  of  this 


spirit  forms  one  of  the  great  defects  in  our 
(i.e.,  N.  Y.  U.)  College  life.  The  members  of 
a  class  come  together  in  the  morning,  spend 
three  or  four  hours  in  attending  recitation,  and 
then  see  no  more  of  each  other  till  the  next 
day,  when  they  repeat  the  same  routine." 
"The  power  of  associatiouis  a  strong  influence 
in  favor  of  country  Colleges,  and  we  shall 
doubtless  see  for  many  years  to  come  men  of 
this  city  sending  their  sons  all  over  the  country 
to  be  educated,  while  they  ha\e  as  good  and 
better  institutions  at  home." — "Our  sub- 
scribers number  but  a  small  proportion  of  the 
alumni."  —  "  Wanted  :  a  sanctuviy  —  "  There 
seems  to  be  an  intention  on  the  part  of  some  of 
the  students  to  form  a  baseball  nine." 

There  was  one  definite  and  concrete  result 
of  the  crisis  of  February-May  1881  :  ample 
provision  was  made  for  much  needed  additions 
to  the  physical,  chemical  and  astronomical 
a]")paratus  of  the  Undergraduate  College,  largely 
given  by  Charles  Butler,  Miss  lunily  Butler 
and  Messrs.  Wm.  A.  Wheelock,  John  R.  Ford, 
Jenkins  Van  Schaack  and  others.  Particularly 
notable  in  1883  was  the  reunion  of  the  Class 
of  1843,  so  often  made  notable  by  the  verse 
of  William  Allen  Butler  of  that  notable  band 
which  moreover  had  enjo}ed  forty  consecutive 
reunions  and  dinners.  The  first  luicleian 
prize  of  1883  went  to  James  Morton  Baton, 
who  has  since  won  distinction  as  a  profes- 
sional classicist  and  is  a  worthy  member  of  the 
Faculty  of  Wesleyan  at  the  present  time.  He 
also  was  Valedictorian  on  that  noted  occasion. 

The  alumni  meeting  was  full  of  brisk  and 
felicitous  speech-making  and  William  Allen 
Butler  used  this  phrase  :  saying  that  he  had 
been  sitting  up  with  his  Alma  Mater  for  many 
years,  but  he  now  saw  a  change  for  the  better 
in  her  condition.  "The  doctors  would  say 
that  she  needed  galvanism,  but  the  honored 
Chancellor  is  certain  that  all  that  is  necessary 
is  Calvinism." 

In  November  1883,  the  sum  of  $1230.57, 
subscribed  by  alumni,  was  accepted  and  by 
the  donors'  desire  was  appropriated  for  repair- 
ing   the    recitation    rooms    in    the    University 


HISrORV  OF  NEW   YORK    UNIVERSITY 


'73 


Buiklinj;.  The  thanks  of  the  Council  also  were 
presented  to  Dr.  1  lall  for  providing;  a  renewal 
of  the  decoration  of  the  Council  Room. 

On  Decenil)er  26,  1883,  Profes.sor  lienjamin 
N.  Martin  passed  away,  and  so  strong  was  the 
sense  of  loss  that  the  Council  held  a  special 
meeting  at  the  Scotch  Presbyterian  Church, 
Fourteenth  Street,  preliminary  to  attending  the 
funeral  services  of  the  departed  Professor.  Of 
this  eminent  man,  whose  spiritual  influence  and 
whose  example  of  high  virtues  are  still  cherished 
by  hundreds  of  alumni,  we  will  have  occasion 
to  deal  more  adequately  in  the  biographical 
part.  In  Tappan,  Henry,  Martin,  the  annals  of 
the  University  present  a  triad  of  sterling  and 
impressive  acailemic  teachers  in  the  particular 
departments  of  thinking  and  of  utterance. 

The  Committee  on  endowment  reported  on 
March  3,  1884,  that  by  the  will  of  Julius  Hall- 
garten,  dated  9  July  1883,  and  probated  in 
New  York,  27  P'ebruary  1884,  $50,000  had 
been  devised  to  the  University. 

A  portrait  of  the  Hon.  Albert  Gallatin,  first 
President  of  the  Council,  painted  by  Daniel 
Huntington  (a  pupil  of  Morse),  was  presented 
to  the  Council  by  the  statesman's  son,  Albert 
Rollaz  Gallatin,  at  the  suggestion  of  the  latter's 
son,  Professor  Albert  Horatio  Gallatin,  of  the 
Department  of  Analytical  Chemistry  in  the 
University  College. 

On  May  5,  1884  the  Finance  Committee  re- 
ported a  bequest  of  Augustus  Schell,  late  a 
member  of  the  Council,  of  S5000,  and  a  gift 
from  "a  friend  of  the  University  "  of  $25,000. 
It  was  learned  that  "a  friend  of  the  University" 
was  Mrs.  Robert  L.  Stuart.  In  expressing 
their  gratitude  to  Mr.  Hallgarten's  family  and 
heirs  the  Committee  of  the  Council  said  :  "They 
would  mark  their  appreciation  of  Mr.  Hall- 
garten's wise  discernment  in  selecting  for  his 
benefaction  an  institution  that  has  accomplished 
so  much  for  our  City  and  yet  has  been  so 
strangely  neglected  by  its  wealthy  citizens." 
On  the  same  date  Commodore  David  Banks, 
who  has  done  so  much  in  the  movement  to  the 
Heights  to  endow  the  new  life  with  the  acces- 
sories of   athletics  and  the  bracing  influences 


of  out-door  sports,  and  Robert  Schell,  entered 
the  Council. 

On  June  2,  1884,  the  lioard  of  V^isitors, 
through  Dr.  Hall,  reported  a  re.solution  calling 
from  the  Chancellorship  of  the  Western  Penn- 
sylvania University  at  Allegheny  City,  Penn- 
sylvania, the  Rev.  Dr.  Henry  Mitchell  Mac- 
Cracken  as  Professor  of  Logic  and  Moral  and 
Intellectual  Philosophy.  Of  the  decisive  im- 
portance of  the  coming  of  Dr.  MacCracken  to 
Washington  Square  I  need  not  say  very  much 
at  present,  Hut  this  may  be  said  now :  A 
man  was  called,  who  while  in  the  prime  of  his 
strength — he  had  not  quite  completed  his 
fourty-fourth  year  when  he  took  his  seat  in  the 
Faculty  in  1884  —  had  from  the  time  when 
he  became  a  Bachelor  of  Arts  in  his  seven- 
teenth year  exercised  himself  in  educational 
work  now  as  a  teacher  of  classics,  or  High 
School  Principal,  then  a  student  in  a  (jcrman 
University,  or  a  teacher  from  the  desk  of  City 
Churches,  afterwards  a  Profes.sor  of  Philosophy 
and  head  of  a  College,  proving  himself  fitted 
to  labor  in  both  instruction  and  administration. 
The  gentleman  who  became  the  sixth  Chan- 
cellor was  called  as  Professor  of  Philosophy  and 
as  successor  to  Benjamin  N.  Martin  ;  but  in  a 
notable  address  delivered  at  a  special  reception 
tendered  by  the  New  York  University  Council 
on  December  2,  the  new  Professor  showed  his 
special  aptitudes  and  the  stronger  drifts  of  his 
professional  aspirations  in  an  address  entitled  : 
"The  relation  of  Metropolis  and  University." 
This  address  with  its  historical  retrospect,  and 
its  sober  and  clear  analysis  of  present  and 
actual  conditions,  united  with  a  spirit  of  hope- 
fulness that  set  itself  definite  goals  and  ends, 
revealed  a  man  fitted  and  prepared  for  admin- 
istration and  leadership.  He  clearly  showed, 
e.  g.  (a  matter  which  time  has  since  proven 
amply  true)  the  feasibility  of  coupling  College 
work  and  graduate  work :  "  the  economy 
which  suggests  that  the  teachers  of  the  ad- 
vanced courses  can  without  serious  diversion 
of  their  minds  from  their  specialties,  give  in- 
struction also  to  undergraduates."  And  he 
pointed  to  the  scheme  for  graduate  instruction 


174 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR    SONS 


as  embraced  in  the  first  and  original  design  of 
New  York  University.  The  address  ended 
with  a  significant  and  particularly  appropriate 
utterance :  "  New  York  has  self-forgetfully 
endowed  Colleges  and  schools  here  and  there 
o\er  the  land,  and  she  has  done  well.  But 
now  that  we  have  reached  the  point  in  our 
national  growth  where  full  University  Faculties 
begin  to  be  thought  of,  I  am  sure  that  the  wise 
men  of  New  York  City  will  decide  that  it  is 
their  duty  to  invite  Wisdom  to  utter  her  words 
in  the  cit}-,  to  cry  at  the  entering  in  of  your 
own  gates  —  in  the  high  places  of  this  metro}> 
olis  of  the  United  States  of  America." 

There  was  a  Glee  Club  in  the  College  at 
that  time,  but  it  rarely  went  further  afield 
than  to  Hoboken  or  Staten  Island.  And  they 
even  organized  an  Athletic  Association,  al- 
though the  paved  walks  of  the  Square  warned 
the  youth  of  those  days  to  hie  themsehes  far 
away  if  they  wished  to  train  their  body  also : 
many  were  contented  therefore  to  widen  their 
chests  and  lung  capacity  by  frantic  yelling  in 
the  halls.  The  police  were  outside  and  the 
grassplots  were  for  looking  at  merely. 

These  pre-Raphaelites,  so  to  speak,  in  the 
history  of  New  York  University,  College,  ath- 
letics drew  up  a  constitution  and  all  the  other 
accessories  that  may  be  drawn  —  on  paper. 
"The  meeting  was  then  adjourned,  all  the  men 
.  .  .  prophesying  a  new  era  for  the  University 
—  an  era  of  unparalleled  success  and  prosper- 
ity." As  for  money  —  hiring  grounds  and  that 
sort  of  thing  —  why  could  not  the  Glee  Club 
give  concerts  at  Chickering  Hall  and  cooperate  : 
such  were  the  reciprocal  exhortations  of  the 
youth  of  1884-1885  in  their  urban  confinement. 

It  made  them  feel  better.  The  utterance 
of  the  words  brought  pleasant  associations. 

The  Faculty  of  Arts  and  Science  presented 
on  March  2,  1885,  a  readjustment  of  certain 
lines  of  work  : 

"Natural  Philosophy,"  i.e.  Physics,  to  be 
separated  from  Mathematics  and  Astronomy, 
Professor  Coakley  to  hold  the  latter  chair,  and 
a  new  appointment  to  be  made  for  the  former. 
On  May  4,  Professor  Daniel  W.  Hering,  C.  E., 


of  the  Western  University  of  Pennsylvania,  was 
appointed  for  the  work  in  Physics,  having  at 
the  Sheffield  School  of  Yale  and  as  a  fellow  in 
the  Johns  Hopkins  University  devoted  much 
time  to  professional  preparation.  At  the 
same  time  the  title  of  Emeritus  Professor  of 
Civil  Engineering  was  bestowed  upon  Richard 
W.  Bull,  Ph.D. 

At  this  meeting  also  William  Allen  Butler, 
from  the  Committee  on  Chancellorship,  pro- 
posed such  a  change  in  the  b)-laws  as  would 
permit  the  creation  of  a  Vice-Chancellor.  Reso- 
lutions commemorative  of  the  distinguished 
author  in  jurisprudence,  and  former  Professor 
of  Law  in  the  University,  John  Norton  Pome- 
roy,  were  adopted. 

On  June  8,  the  election  of  Dr.  John  Hall  as 
Chancellor  and  Professor  H.  M.  MacCracken 
as  Vice-Chancellor  was  unanimously  effected 
by  the  Council.  An  executive  officer  fully 
abreast  with  the  best  educational  currents  of 
the  day  and  exclusively  devoted  to  this  work 
only  was  given  to  New  York  University,  a  step 
taken  late  indeed,  but  taken  at  last.  The 
principle  of  prestige  and  reflected  light  was 
exchanged  for  that  of  a  live  force  ever  within 
and  at  the  helm  of  the  educational  mechanism. 

The  editors  of  the  1885  Quarterly  distin- 
guished themselves  as  journalists  by  securing 
an  elaborate  paper  from  J.  Stuart  Blackie  of 
Edinburgh  on  Classical  Study  :  its  merits  and 
demerits  as  now  conducted.  The  reader  must 
remember  that  Blackie  had  a  strong  faith  in 
the  practice  of  building  up  a  knowledge  of 
Greek  by  colloquial  methods.  Even  Ruskin 
favored  them,  though  with  but  a  brief  note  : 

"My  Dear  Sir:  Many  thanks  for  your  reference  to 
me  —  but  I  never  would  read,  nor  trouble  myself  to  speak  a 
word  on  the  subject,  knowing  classic  tongue  and  history  is 
the  primary  difference  between  a  gentleman  and  a  clown. 
I  know  neither  myself  (to  call  knowing)  and  am  a  clown 
therefore  —  but  at  least,  one  who  has  the  grace  to  be  sorry 
for  himself.  Very  truly  yours, 

J.  Ruskin. 

Brantwood,  Coniston,  Lancashire,  March  5,  1885. 

Dr.  James  McCosh  of  Princeton  was  like- 
wise gracious  enough  to  say  something  on  the 
subject,  so  that  the  College   editors  of    1885 


HISTORY  OF   NEW   YORK   UNIVERSITY 


^7S 


in  New  York  University  were  successful  in 
gathering  eminent  opinions  from  all  the  three 
kingdoms  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland. 

The  Athletic  Association  actuall)  hckl  a 
spring  meet,  the  first  one,  we  believe,  in  the 
history  of  the  College,  at  the  [now  built  up] 
Manhattan  Grounds,  at  Eighty-sixth  Street 
and  Eighth  Avenue,  on  Friday,  May  15,  1885. 
Professor  Stevenson  acted  as  referee.  Profes- 
sors Carroll  and  Russell  as  judges  at  the 
finish.  The  best  work  was,  in  the  100  yards 
dash,  lOi,  by  P.  H.  Martyn,  "88;  C.  H. 
I^oberts,  '86,  ran  the  440  yards  in  55  seconds  ; 
H.  Mitchell,  '88,  ran  the  mile  in  5  m.  14 
seconds  ;  E.  Van  Schaick,  '87,  ran  the  1 20 
yards  hurdle  in  18^  seconds  ;  S.  H.  Scott 
(walkover)  did  the  milewalk  in  10  minutes  42 
seconds;  the  220  yards  dash  went  to  P.  H. 
Martyn  in  245  seconds.  E.  Tilton,  '86,  jumped 
18  feet  7^  inches,  VV.  Seward,  '88,  took  the  half 
mile  in  2  m.  19  s.  E.  Van  Schaick  cleared  5 
feet  in  the  high  jump.  In  tug  of  war  'Sy  de- 
feated '86.  The  axerage  weight  of  the  Class 
of  '85,  by  the  by,  was  but  136  pounds.  The 
curriculum  for  1 885-1 886  showed  much  expan- 
sion and  some  beginning  of  elective  work  in  the 
upper  College.  Physics  appeared  as  something 
distinct  and  by  itself.  English  was  greatly 
enlarged  ;  there  were  three  terms  of  Histor}-. 

On  October  5,  1885,  it  was  reported  for  the 
first  time  that  an  application  had  been  received 
from  a  young  lady  in  Brooklyn  for  permission 
to  enter  the  Law  School  - —  the  initial  point  for 
throwing  open  the  Law  School  to  all  students 
without  regard  to  sex,  though  at  that  time  the 
Law  Faculty  did  not  dare  to  take  the  step.  At 
this  time  also  the  academic  rights  and  service 
of  the  Vice-Chancellor  were  more  clearly,  and 
officially,  defined  and  established,  which  were 
in  the  main  the  functions  of  the  Chancellor  in 
virtually  all  intramural  matters  of  administra- 
tion and  the  representation  of  the  Faculties  to 
the  Council,  and  the  important  function  of 
recommending  to  the  enacting  authorities  modi- 
fications or  expansion  in  the  teaching  body. 

Steps  were  taken  to  send  three  hundred  or 
more  copies  of   the  University    Quarterly    to 


preparatory  schools,  and  to  a  carefully  selected 
list  of  persons  whom  it  was  desirable  to  inform 
of  the  work  of  the  University  College. 

Visitors  from  the  Synod  of  New  York  were 
made  officially  welcome  to  inspect  the  College 
of  Science  and  Arts  ;  they  actually  made  their 
visitation  on  April  20,  1886:  this  deputation 
consisting  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Chamberlain  and 
five  others.  Matriculation  in  the  Law  Dejiart- 
ment  to  be  systematically  done,  and  such  regular 
minutes  kept  in  that  Faculty  as  permitted  a  sur- 
vey of  all  operations  in  that  quarter,  which  books 
were  to  be  the  property  of  the  University,  kept 
there,  and  always  to  be  open  to  inspection  by 
the  proper  authorities,  including  the  Vice-Chan- 
cellor. A  much  closer  relation  was  postulated 
in  very  many  important  details,  between  the 
Law  School  and  the  University  authorities. 
And  here  the  Vice-Chancellor  or  Law  Commit- 
tee became  the  guardian  authorities,  the  former 
always  at  the  helm,  the  latter  periodically. 

The  idea  of  an  ever-active  executive  whose 
eyes,  mouth  and  hands  and  feet  were  to  be 
those  of  the  Council,  all  this  was  new,  but 
eminently  necessary,  eminently  wholesome. 
Several  minor  funds  were  more  directly  con- 
veyed  to   the   Trusteeship  of  the  University. 

Instead  of  the  "first,"  "  second"  and  "third  " 
"fellowship,"  two  such  stipends  were  estab- 
lished, viz.  the  classical  fellowship  amounting 
to  $300,  and  the  philosophical  fellowship  en- 
dowed with  the  same  amount,  both  as  incentives 
to  graduate  study.  The  division  of  Professors 
into  a  Faculty  of  Arts  and  a  Faculty  of  Science 
was  obliterated  — the  distinction  henceforth  to 
be  between  the  College  Faculty  of  Arts  and 
[Pure]  Science,  and  the  Faculty  of  Engineer- 
ing, which  had  made  a  small  beginning  in  the 
sphere  of  Applied  Science.  Lectureships  in 
the  domain  of  Morals  and  Religion  were  to  be 
established,  the  "Monday  Lectures" — on  the 
first  Monday  of  each  month,  lectures  to  be 
delivered  by  gentlemen  not  of  the  Faculty  of 
Arts  and  Science,  in  large  part  chosen  from 
the  eminent  clergymen  of  the  vicinage. 

In  June,  the  Council,  after  having  reserved 
its    decision  for   a    long  time,   determined    to 


1/6 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


decline  the  application  of  the  Woman's  Medi- 
cal College  for  union  with  the  University. 
Professor  Coakley  was  relieved  of  work  in  the 
two  lower  classes  of  the  College,  and  Hiram 
Messenger,  a  Ph.D.  of  Cornell,  called  to  give 
Mathematical  instruction  to  the  Freshmen 
and  Sophomores.  The  gift  of  $100,000  to 
build  a  laboratory  to  be  known  as  the  Loomis 
Laboratory  was  announced.  The  conditions 
of  the  gift  unfortunately  prevented  promise  of 
the  highest  usefulness.  The  refrain  of  the 
undergraduate  utterances  of  this  year  is  lamen- 
tation over  the  negative  influence  of  fraternity 
jealousies,  crippling  healthful  joint  movement, 
as  for  example  the  attempt  to  produce  a 
University  Annual.  The  "  Quarterly "  de- 
plored the  "generally  pervading  bigotry  that 
blinds  the  eyes  to  College  interest  and  goes 
hand  in  hand  with  unhealth)-  fraternity  antag- 
onism." There  was  also  a  cry  for  a  gymna- 
sium, for  a  cloak  room  and  other  pia  dcsideria. 

At  this  time  the  wildly  disproportionate 
emphasis  which  the  public  press  began  to 
attach  to  the  spectacular  side  of  College 
athletics — to  the  obscuring  of  the  "unseen 
things  "  for  which  primarily  Colleges  had 
been  founded  —  began  to  be  deplored  by  sober 
observers,  and  thoughtful  men  jirotested 
against  this  excess.  I  quote  from  "Thoughts 
for  Students "  by  Chancellor  Hall,  in  the 
University  Quarterly,  December  1885.  "It  is 
an  evil  in  some  of  the  'elective  studies,'  like 
rowing,  ball-playing  and  so  forth,  in  Colleges, 
that  the  cost  of  an  education  is  thus  artificially 
increased,  and  it  is  an  open  question  with 
thoughtful  men,  whether  the  gold  of  muscular 
education  is  not  in  danger  of  being  '  bought  too 
dear.'  "  Even  a  College  may  pay  too  much  for 
its  whistle. 

The  Glee  Club  penetrated  as  far  as  Scranton 
in  this  year.  The  annual  concert  was  given 
at  Chickering  Hall  on  May  4,  1886,  a  part  of 
the  net  revenues  being  destined  for  the  benefit 
of  lacrosse.  We  also  hear  of  other  enterprises  : 
"  The  classes  intend  to  have  baseball  nines ! 
Think  of  it  !  '89  has  already  formed  hers  and  is 
ready  for  work.     Good  for  '89  !  "     The  reader 


will  not  need  our  assistance  in  properly  inter- 
preting the  exclamation  points. 

The  baccalaureate  sermon  of  1886  was 
delivered  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  WiUiam  M.  Taylor 
of  the  Broadway  Tabernacle.  The  Commence- 
ment was  held  in  the  evening  instead  of  the 
forenoon.  The  young  men  spoke  several 
pieces  —  the  ancient  quasi-highschool  tradi- 
tion, rapidly  passing  away  at  the  present  time 
—  but  the  most  important  note  uttered  was  the 
Vice-Chancellor's  address.  He  had  taken  pains 
to  learn  of  the  earlier  history  of  the  College, 
and  his  happy  faculty  of  readily  discovering 
the  real  points  of  things  was  again  exemplified 
in  his  admirable  characterization  of  the  ancient 
"shareholder"  principle.  "The  first  founders 
of  this  Faculty  burdened  it,  it  may  be  for  years 
and  it  may  be  forever,  with  the  rendering  of 
tuition  to  a  large  number,  a  hundred  or  so,  of 
imdergraduates,  without  money  and  without 
price.  When  this  constituency  had  builded 
this  edifice  and  burdened  this  Faculty  with  the 
above  responsibility,  it  went  and  hid  its  talent 
in  the  earth."  —  "  The  future  of  this  University 
depends  upon  the  awaking  of  the  silent  partner 
who  has  put  in  so  far  a  mere  nothing  in  the 
way  of  capital,  and  it  de\olves  upon  you, 
gentlemen,  to  arouse  this  partner."  The  hand 
and  the  eye  of  the  real  and  perpetual  execu- 
tive —  I  am  speaking  relatively  in  comparison 
with  the  mere  fractional  or  periodical  character 
of  former  modes  of  administration  —  was 
shown  in  the  specific  and  concrete  enumera- 
tion of  actual  and  pressing  needs  :  the  Chair 
of  English,  books  of  reference,  current  reviews 
for  reading-room,  a  modest  g}mnasium,  a  few 
graduate  scholarships.  The  principle  of  free 
tuition  was  presented  as  an  obstacle.  "  If  we 
had  a  hundred  dollars  a  year  from  each  student, 
this  would  give  us  more  than  the  amount 
wanted."  Everywhere  the  College  and  its 
friends  could  feel  that  here  at  last  was  a  hand 
always  at  the  helm,  an  e}e  keenly  alive  to  every 
actual  or  potential,  present  or  future  resource. 
On  October  4,  1886,  the  resignation  of 
John  Taylor  Johnston,  offered  on  account  of 
failing  health,  was  laid  before  the  Council. 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK    UNIVERSITY 


'77 


On  December  13,  1886,  occurred  a  very 
uncommon  celebration, — something  compar- 
able to  a  golden  wedding,  — the  celebration  by 
the  authorities  of  New  York  University  of  the 
completion  by  Charles  Butler  of  fifty  years' 
service  as  a  member  of  the  Council  of  the 
Institution.  Very  many  notable  people  both 
from  University  circles  and  from  without, 
attended  the  celebration,  official  and  unofficial, 
ladies  and  gentlemen.  After  a  prayer  and 
introductory  remarks  by  Chancellor  I  lull, 
John  E.  Parsons  presented  on  behalf  of  the 
Council  a  formal  address,  Vice-Chancellor  Mac- 
Cracken  spoke  for  the  three  Faculties,  Mr. 
Wheelock  for  the  Alumni,  Rev.  Dr.  Hitchcock 
for  Union  Seminary,  Whitelaw  Reid  for  the 
Board  of  Regents  of  the  State  of  New  York  ; 
after  which  the  venerable  gentleman  himself 
uttered  his  thanks.  Dr.  Crosby  made  the  clos- 
ing address,  and  with  admirable  candor  empha- 
sized the  palpable  improvement  that  had  been 
making  in  the  last  years.  From  the  address 
read  by  Mr.  Parsons  we  select  a  few  para- 
graphs which  seem  to  be  particularly  approjjri- 
ate  in  a  historical  sketch  of  the  University  : 

"  You  were  elected  a  member  of  the  Council 
on  the  14th  day  of  December,  1836,  within  si.K 
years  after  the  first  selection  of  the  Council 
and  the  organization  of  the  Uni\ersity.  No 
one  of  your  associates  of  that  day  survives. 
The  service  of  no  one  of  your  present  asso- 
ciates reaches  back  so  far.  The  venerable 
and  the  honorable  men  who  were  then  the 
founders  of  the  University  have  passed  from 
the  personal  recollection  of  most  of  those  who 
now  surround  you.  They  and  their  noble 
deeds  are  not  forgotten,  and  we  are  thankful 
that  God  has  brought  you  down  to  represent 
them  to  us  this  day.  You  belong  to  a  family 
eminent  in  the  history  of  the  University.  Your 
brother,  Benjamin  F.  Butler,  was  a  distin- 
guished lawyer  of  his  era  and  was  Attorney- 
General  of  the  United  States.  He  founded 
the  Law  School  of  the  University,  and  in  his 
address  on  its  organization  laid  the  foundation 
of  legal  education  in  this  country.  His  son 
stands,    with    but    one   intervening,    next    to 


yourself  in  length  of  service  in  the  Council  — 
William  Allen  IJutler,  LL.D.,  our  honored 
associate,  eminent  in  literature  as  in  law,  and 
first  in  honors  in  his  professicjn,  throughout 
the  land.  Your  own  son,  Abraham  Ogden 
Butler,  was  cut  off  untimely  in  his  youth,  but 
nt)t  until  he  had  distinguished  himself  here  as 
a  student  and  as  a  benefactor  of  his  Alma 
Mater.  It  is  to  your  great  honor,  that  you 
are  not  alone  of  your  family  in  reflecting  luster 
on  the  University." 

It  was  reported  November  i,  1886,  that  the 
sum  of  §1000  had  been  contributed  towards  the 
permanent  fund  of  the  American  School  at 
Athens  by  twelve  members  of  the  Council. 
The  task  of  securing  these  gifts  was  performed 
by  Dr.  Crosby.  Dr.  Charles  Butler  was  elected 
President  of  the  Council,  which  position  he 
continued  to  hold  for  eleven  year.s,  to  his  death, 
in  December  1897. 

On  May  2,  1887,  Rev.  Abram  S.  Isaacs,  an 
alumnus  of  the  College,  was  elected  Professor 
of  the  Hebrew  Language  and  Literature.  In 
June  1887,  Professor  Richard  H.  Bull,  Pro- 
fessor Emeritus  of  Ci\-il  Engineering,  estab- 
lished a  Scholarship  in  the  Graduate  School 
with  $1000.  On  the  same  date  Dr.  F.  F. 
Ellinwood  was  elected  Profes.sor  of  Compara- 
tive Religion  in  the  Graduate  School.  The 
Rev.  Dr.  George  Alexander  entered  the  Coun- 
cil. The  Rev.  Dr.  Deems,  whose  "  Church  of 
the  Strangers"  had  begun  its  life  in  the  Uni- 
versity Chapel,  established  a  University  Loan 
Fund  in  memory  of  a  son  who  died  before  the 
Civil  War  and  of  whose  grave  a  battle  de- 
stroyed all  traces.  The  Philomathean  Liter- 
ary Society  was  successful  in  a  debate  with  the 
Peithessophia  of  Rutgers  College,  held  in  the 
Kirkpatrick  Chapel  of  that  institution.  The 
victorious  champions  of  the  University  College 
in  this  competition  in  the  field  of  dialectic  and 
rhetoric  were  these  three  students  :  W.  Francis 
Campbell,  '87 ;  F.  Lincoln  Davis,  '88 ;  and 
Austin  D.  Wolfe,  'Zj. 

On  February  24-25,  1887,  the  Delta 
Chapter  of  the  *  Y  Fraternity  celebrated  its 
semi-centennial  anniversary  with  public  literary 


178 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR    SONS 


exercises  at  the  Metropolitan  Opera  House, 
every  part  of  the  great  house  being  crowded 
with  the  friends  of  Psi  Upsilon.  Among  the 
audience  were  James  Russell  Lowell,  Henry 
Villard,  Charles  Butler,  Vice-Chancellor  Mac- 
Cracken,  W.  S.  Opdyke,  Francis  S.  Bangs, 
Thomas  Stokes  and  others  ;  among  the  speak- 
ers were  Charles  Kendall  Adams,  Andrew  D. 
White,  Chauncey  M.  Depew.  The  festivities 
extended  over  two  da}s.  The  Convention 
Committee  consisted  of  \V.  jVI.  Kingsley  '83, 
E.  F.  Pearce  '81,  James  Abbott  '87,  W.  B. 
Adams  '87,  and  G.  B.  Townsend  '89.  In  the 
spring  of  1887  the  La  Crosse  team  of  New 
York  University  lost  to  Princeton  and  Harvard, 
but  defeated  Brooklyn,  Lehigh  and  Princeton. 
The  Commencement  was  held  on  June  16,  at 
the  Academy  of  Music. 

The  annual  report  of  November  7,  1887, 
was  prepared  and  submitted  by  the  Vice- 
Chancellor.  After  clearly  sifting  the  educa- 
tional data  of  the  current  autumn,  he  called 
attention  to  the  desirability  of  gradually  and 
with  certain  modifications,  largely  in  the  form 
of  prize  scholarships,  re-establishing  tuition, 
of  these  prize-scholarships  a  certain  number  to 
be  each  year  placed  in  the  gift  of  certain 
approved  preparatory  schot)ls  ;  the  surrender  of 
the  old  foundation  scholarships  to  be  sought  by 
proper  methods.  This  autumn  (1887),  besides 
Dr.  Kllinwood's  Graduate  Course  in  Compara- 
tive Religion,  Dr.  Jerome  Allen  began  courses 
in  Pedagogics.  Elliott  I^".  Shepard  prom- 
ised a  $100  Senior  Scholarship  in  the  Law 
School  for  five  years.  This  foundation  has 
been  maintained  since  his  death  by  Mrs. 
Shepard.  In  this  winter  ample  and  valuable 
additions  to  the  Law  Library  were  made  by 
Commodore  David  Banks,  being  the  beginning 
of  a  long  series  of  similar  acts  which  have 
strengthened  the  resources  of  the  Law  Library  ; 
liberal  gifts  were  made  also  by  Elliott  F. 
Shepard.  On  May  7  it  was  announced  that 
a  gentleman  who  desired  his  name  withheld  at 
the  time  — it  was  George  Munro  of  the  Coun- 
cil —  was  prepared  to  give  $3 500  annually  for 
five  years,  or  $2500  for  seven  years,  towards 


the  establishing  of  a  Chair  of  the  English  Lan- 
guage and  Literature.  —  That  year  was  the  one 
in  which  the  University  of  Bologna  was  to 
celebrate  its  eight  hundredth  anniversary,  and 
Rev.  Dr.  Philip  Schaff  was  designated  to  rep- 
resent New  York  University  on  that  occasion. 

A  most  noteworthy  anniversary  of  the  semi- 
centennial order  was  that  in  honor  of  Professor 
E.  A.  Johnson's  fifty  years  of  service  in  the 
University  College,  from  1838  to  1888,  this 
anniversary  being  made  the  chief  feature  of 
the  Alumni  Dinner  at  Delmonico's,  January 
25,  1888,  at  which  eighty-six  alumni  attended. 
Professor  Johnson  was  seventy-five  years  of 
age,  and  was  honored  by  addresses  delivered 
by  Judge  Van  Hoesen,  Dr.  Crosby,  Charles 
Butler  and  Dr.  MacCrackcn.  The  last  named 
spoke  of  the  future  more  than  of  the  past, 
saying  among  other  things  :  "  Let  us  have  ten 
additional  Graduate  Courses,  ten  Scholarships, 
and  ten  Fellowships,  and  in  less  than  ten  years 
I  pledge  you  that  the  Graduate  students  shall 
equal  the  Undergraduate."  After  Professor 
Johnson  had  given  utterance  to  his  acknowl- 
edgment of  the  honors  of  that  evening  and 
spoken  in  a  reminiscent  mood,  Professor  Charles 
B.  Brush  spoke  for  the  Engineering  School. 
He  told  the  Alumni  of  the  extended  fields  of 
activity  and  professional  usefulness  enjo}ed  by 
New  York  University  civil  engineers  :  e.g.  on 
the  Croton  Aqueduct  ;  in  the  great  rock-salt 
beds  near  Piffard,  New  York  ;  the  West  Shore 
Railroad  Tunnel  ;  the  Ludington  Mine  in  Iron 
Mountain,  Michigan ;  the  Brooklyn  Elevated 
Railroad  ;  the  Washington  Bridge  across  the 
Harlem,  and  water-works  of  Mobile  and  Pensa- 
cola.  In  the  fall  of  this  year  Professor  ¥.  H. 
Stoddard  came  from  the  University  of  Cali- 
fornia to  occupy  the  Chair  of  English. 

In  January  1889,  Professor  Robert  W.  Hall, 
a  son  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  John  Hall,  an  alumnus 
of  Princeton  and  a  former  student  of  Chemistry 
at  the  School  of  Mines,  was  designated  as 
Instructor,  to  give  instruction  particularly  in 
Assaying,  Professor  Stevenson's  work  being 
confined  more  specifically  to  Geology  and 
Natural  History. 


HISTORV   OF  NEW   YORK    UNIVERSITY 


179 


The  general  aim  of  the  new  administration 
in  the  spring  of  1SS9  was  to  raise  $200,000 
for  general  endowment,  and  $150,000  to  pay 
the  mortgage  upon  the  property  of  the  Medical 
Faculty.  For  the  former  purjwse  gifts  from 
Charles  Butler  and  from  George  Munro  of 
$20,000  each  were  announced.  —  The  more 
important  changes  in  tlie  teaching  staff  at  the 
heginning  of  1889-1890  were  as  follows:  Pro- 
fessor Carroll  having  died,  William  Kendall 
Gillett  of  1880,  recently  an  Instructor  at 
Lehigh,  who  had  sojourned  long  in  France, 
Spain  and  Germany  in  the  pursuit  of  modern 
languages,  was  named  for  the  work  in  l-'rench 
and  Spanish,  and  Professor  A.  S.  Isaacs  was 
designated  as  acting  Professor  of  German. 
Professor  Johnson's  work  was  to  be  confined 
to  the  Seniors  and  to  Graduate  work,  the  rest 
of  the  Latin  work  being  entrusted  to  Professor 
William  A.  Houghton,  with  the  title  of  Acting 
Associate-Professor  of  Latin.  In  March  1889 
a  portrait  of  the  Hon.  B.  Franklin  Butler  was 
presented  by  his  son,  William  Allen  Butler. 

In  the  spring  of  1 889,  on  April  1 8,  Founders' 
Day  was  for  the  first  time  celebrated,  a  step 
towards  kindling  interest  in,  and  a  conscious- 
ness of  relation  to,  the  beginnings  and  earlier 
history  of  the  foundation.  There  were  exer- 
cises in  the  Chapel,  by  members  of  the  Senior 
Class,  and  then  the  classes  planted  violets  — 
on  selected  grassplots  near  the  University 
walls  —  a  faint  aspiration  after  a  campus,  des- 
tined soon  to  be  realized  elsewhere.  We  may 
say  that  the  most  productive  memorial  of  the  day 
was  a  fund  of  $2,500  given  by  Colonel  Klliott 
F.  Shepard  for  permanent  use  in  providing  the 
higher  grade  of  periodical  publications.  The 
Law  School  was  more  closeh'  connected  with 
the  administration  of  the  University,  a  certain 
proportion  of  its  fees  being  retained  by  the 
University  for  incidental  expenses  as  well  as 
for  the  two  $100  prizes,  diplomas,  etc. — 
About  the  same  time,  in  May  1889,  there 
was  presented  to  the  University  a  bust  of 
Charles  Butler,  carved  in  Carrara  marble,  in 
Italy,  from  a  clay  model  prepared  by  Mrs. 
Ann  Lynch  Botta. 


On  March  17,  1890,  the  venerable  and 
munificent  friend  of  New  York  University 
announced  the  addition  of  $80,000  to  his  pre- 
vious gift  of  $20,000,  thus  completing  the  sum 
of  $100,000,  in  memory  of  his  son  A.  Ogden 
Butler,  of  the  Class  of  1853,  and  of  his  brother 
the  late  Hon.  Benjamin  Franklin  Butler, 
founder  of  the  University  Law  School  and 
its  first  Professor.  At  the  same  time  Mr. 
Butler  desired  to  effect  an  alliance  between 
New  York  University  and  the  Union  Theo- 
logical Seminary,  he  having  been  identified 
with  both  institutions  for  more  than  fifty  years. 
He  said  in  the  c(«i elusion  of  this  act  of  endow- 
ment :  "  Under  a  deep  conviction  that  there  is 
no  more  privileged  use  to  which  we  can  devote 
our  energies,  our  time,  our  money,  than  to  the 
strengthening  of  such  forces  for  the  mental 
and  spiritual  elevation  of  men  who  are  to 
become  citizens  and  so  control  the  destiny  of 
our  land,  it  is  with  a  thankful  heart  that  I  now 
ask  you  to  cooperate  with  me  in  the  consum- 
mation of  this  plan."  And  it  is  right  that  the 
present  chronicler  should  state  that  if  the  times 
and  amounts  of  opportune  aid  and  sul^stance 
given  to  New  York  University  by  Mr.  Butler 
for  many  decades  on  innumerable  occasions, 
aside  from  this  last  and  many  other  specific 
benefactions,  were  recorded  in  one  continuous 
list,  it  would  be  a  \  ery  formidable  table  indeed. 

In  October  1890  the  "  W.  H.  Inman  Scholar- 
ship fund"  of  $2500,  the  gift  of  Miss  Inman, 
was  reported.  The  Alumni  endowment  fund 
then  had  reached  $13,800,  —  being  devoted  to 
the  Chair  of  Hi.story  and  Political  Science. 
In  the  fall  of  1890  William  Kendall  Gillett 
entered  upon  his  work  as  Professor  of  French 
and  Spanish,  while  the  work  in  Mathematics 
was  committed  to  Daniel  Murray,  late  a  Fellow 
in   Mathematics  at  Johns  Hopkins  University. 

In  his  report  of  November  1890  the  Vice- 
Chancellor  first  called  attention  to  certain  lim- 
itations of  the  Undergraduate  College  in  its 
actual  site.  For  half  a  decade  the  labors  of 
the  Vice-Chancellor  had  been  brought  to  bear 
and  they  had  wrought  great  and  encouraging 
changes ;   many  new   or   dormant    centers   of 


i8o 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR    SONS 


academic  or  alumni  force  had  been  stirred  into 
life,  much  new  substance  added  to  permanent 
strength,  the  teaching  diversified,  graduate 
instruction  begun,  a  closer  relation  of  the  pro- 
fessional schools  to  the  central  administration 
begun.  Still  it  was  clear  that  a  real  future 
there  was  none  for  the  College  where  it  was  ; 
carts  and  drays  and  all  the  paraphernalia  of 
Mercury  crowding  closely  on  the  circumscribed 
domain  of  Minerva.  Why  and  how  was  the 
Undergraduate  College  handicapped  .''  To  Dr. 
MacCracken's  mind  there  seemed  to  be  a  six- 
fold answer :  i .  The  great  attraction  which 
Colleges  with  facilities  for  athletics  have  for 
city  youth.  2.  The  lucrative  scholarships  else- 
where, which  pay  all  the  expenses  of  needy  and 
worthy  students.  3.  The  provision  of  dormi- 
tories for  students  from  a  distance,  which  are 
offered  by  other  Colleges.  4.  The  denomina- 
tional backing  g^ven  various  Colleges,  which  is 
lacking  here.  5.  The  extensive  efforts  of  other 
Colleges  by  means  of  advertisements,  local 
committees,  and  the  like,  to  obtain  Freshmen. 
No  such  efforts  are  made  by  us.  6.  The  mis- 
taken but  popular  view  that  the  larger  Colleges 
offer  better  education  than  the  smaller  ones. 
To  this  there  might  pcrhajis  have  been  added 
the  fact  that  with  the  growing  average  age  of 
Freshmen  throughout  the  land,  the  free  choice 
by  the  young  men  themselves  was  bound  to 
approve  of  foundations  which  offered  a  greater 
measure  of  those  things  which  men  love  in 
didci  invcnta,  refusing  to  take  their  College 
like  a  medicine  or  a  health  diet,  but,  in  certain 
limits,  as  a  pleasure,  at  least  in  so  far  as 
a  maximum  of  associations  keenly  enjoyed 
through  the  quadricnniinn,  and  even  more 
cherished  in  the  retrospect  of  advancing  life, 
were  available  and  thus  in  a  measure  un-aging, 
as  Homer  would  sa}'  :  scenes  of  youth,  endowed 
ever  after  with  the  sorcerer's  wand  to  bring 
back,  as  with  a  flash,  the  springtime  of  life. 

The  Vice-Chancellor  thought  at  first  only  of 
a  moderate  sphere  for  the  new  Undergraduate 
College,  five  or  six  acres  up  town,  away  from 
the  crowding  of  business.  In  the  subsequent 
winter,  1 890-1 891,  he  began  to  devote  his  ener- 


gies to  this  northward  movement.  On  Feb- 
ruary 26,  1 89 1,  at  the  residence  of  Mrs.  R.  L. 
Stuart,  871  Fifth  Avenue,  there  was  held  an 
important  meeting  in  furtherance  of  the  new 
movement,  which  was  presented  by  the  Vice- 
Chancellor.  Addresses  were  made  also  by 
Chancellor  Hall,  Rev.  Dr.  George  Alexander 
and  Dr.  Alfred  L.  Loomis,  who  in  his  address 
uttered  this  remarkable  statement  :  "  I  am 
quite  sure  that  I  to-night  could  name  to  you 
one  hundred  generous-hearted  men  and  women 
in  this  city  who,  if  they  knew  the  needs,  if 
they  knew  the  noble  work  that  is  done  by  the 
University,  if  they  could  once  become  inter- 
ested in  it,  by  a  stroke  of  their  pen,  which  they 
never  would  feel,  could  place  it  on  a  position 
where  it  could  meet  —  fully  meet  —  the  educa- 
tional demands  of  the  nineteenth  century.  " 
Dr.  A.  F.  Schauffler  said  :  "  Every  city  and 
every  solicitor  of  money  begs  of  New  York, 
but  of  whom  can  New  York  beg .'  Of  no  one  ! 
Then  .she  must  nourish  her  own  life  or  she 
must  die !  " 

While  this  movement  was  going  actively  for- 
ward, the  whole  land  was  profoundly  stirred  by 
the  death  of  Howard  Crosby,  which  occurred 
on  Easter  Sunday,  March  29.  The  present 
writer  must  refer  the  reader  to  the  biographi- 
cal part  of  this  volume,  where  an  earnest  effort 
will  be  made  to  adequately  portray  this  rare 
man.  The  Council  in  a  body  —  even  the  ven- 
erable President  of  the  Corporation  joining  in 
this  mark  of  respect  in  spite  of  the  inclement 
season  —  attended  the  funeral  services  at  the 
Fourth  Avenue  Presbyterian  Church  on  Tues- 
day afternoon,  March  31,  1891.  The  last  Uni- 
versity labor  accomplished  by  Howard  Crosby 
was  his  presiding  in  the  absence  of  President 
Butler  over  the  Council  of  March  1891. 

On  May  4  a  legacy  of  $20,000  was  reported 
as  willed  to  the  University  by  Mrs.  William  H. 
Fogg.  The  Council  decided  to  add  this  sum 
to  the  endowment  fund  of  the  School  of  Peda- 
gogy. The  Woman's  Advisory  Committee 
pledged  itself  to  use  its  best  efforts  to  provide 
an  amount  equal  to  the  interest  upon  said  leg- 
acy, namely  $  1 200  each  year,  for  three  years. 


HISTORT  OF  NEW  TORK    UNIFERSITT 


i8i 


The  Medical  I'aculty  on  April  15,  1891,  adopted 
changes  in  their  curriculum  proxidin^"  for  a 
graded  course  of  time  years   Medical  study. 

On  June  i,  1891,  there  was  laid  before  the 
Council  the  letter  of  resignation  of  Chancellor 
Hall,  which  we  append  : 

712  FiF'i'ii  AvF.NUE,  N.  v.,  ist  June  1891. 

ClIARI.KS  Hini.KR  1,I..D. 
President  of  the  C'ouncil  : 

My  I)i:\R  Sir  :  As  you  renieniher,  I  was  given  the  honor 
of  the  Chancellorship  of  the  University  when  its  needs  were 
peculiar  and  exceptional.  I  have  repeatedly  said  to  you 
that  I  meant  to  surrender  the  position  whenever  it  seemed 
for  the  good  of  the  noble  institution.  I  tendered  my  resig- 
nation at  the  last  meeting  of  the  Council,  but  —  in  the  cour- 
teous and  kindly  spirit  in  which  the  members  of  the  Council 


have  always  dealt  with  me,  and  which  I  shall  always  remem- 
ber gratefully  —  it  was  declined.  I  have  now  to  offer  it  by 
this  letter,  to  you  the  President,  and  I  need  hardly  add  that 
any  service  that  I  can  render  in  the  Council,  as  a  member 
of  it,  1  shall  gladly  attempt  as  heretofore. 
1  am,  my  dear  I'resident, 

Most  truly  yours, 

J.  IlAI.I.. 

On  Wedne.sday,  June  11,  1891,  the  Rev. 
Henry  Mitchell  MacCracken,  l).l).,  was  unan- 
imously elected  Chancellor  of  the  University, 
on  the  date  of  the  Annual  Commencement  of 
the  University,  held  in  this  year  at  the  Metro- 
politan Opera  House,  and  the  change  of 
administration  was  announced  on  that  academic 
occasion. 


CHAPTER    Vni 


Chancellor  MacCracken  and  University  Heights. — -Perfecting  of  the  University 
System. — The  Ottendorf  Germanic  Library. — School  of  Commerce  and  Finance. 
—  The  Sandham  Prize. 


UPON  July  I,  1 89 1,  the  University 
secured  an  option  on  the  Mali  estate 
above  East  179th  Street,  between  the 
Croton  Aqueduct  and  the  Harlem  River,  thus 
taking  the  first  definite  step  northward  in  the 
movement  which   was   consummated  in  1894. 

In  the  fall  of  1891,  Dr.  Morris  Loeb,  trained 
at  Harvard  and  at  the  University  of  Berlin, 
entered  the  service  of  New  York  University, 
the  rooms  opposite  the  Laboratory  of  Analyti- 
cal Chemistry  being  placed  at  his  dispo.sal,  the 
work  of  the  Drapers  being  thus  again  entrusted 
to  two  professional  chemists,  and  consequently 
the  chair  of  Dr.  Stevenson  was  designated  as 
that  of  Geology  and  Biology.  Charles  Henry 
Snow  '86,  began  his  work  in  the  Engineering 
School.  The  schism  in  the  Columbia  Law 
School  resulted  in  the  setting  up  of  a  private 
Law  School  in  the  midst  of  the  law  offices 
of  the  city.  Still  the  New  York  University 
Law  School  more  than  held  its  own.  Three 
lecture  rooms  were  furnished  the  University 
Law  School  in  the  University  building. 

Early  in  January  1892,  a  gift  of  $5000  from 
Elliott   F.    Shepard  toward  the  endowment  of 


the  work  in  Analytical  Chemistry  was  received. 
Steps  were  taken  to  secure  an  important  aid 
towards  facilitating  the  current  operations  of 
the  Univ'ersity  by  creating  the  office  of 
Assistant-Treasurer  and  Librarian,  a  plan 
which  proved  of  great  and  steadily-growing 
usefulness  and  importance,  which  was  filled 
by  the  appointment  of  Leslie  J.  Tom]:)kins, 
who  has  held  the  ofifice  since  1892.  Miss 
Millie  Lee  Liman  added  $2500  to  her  previous 
gift  and  the  $5000  of  the  total  donation  were 
devoted  to  establish  the  William  H.  Inman 
Fellowship  in  the  Scientific  Department  of 
graduates  of  the  University  College.  Professor 
William  A.  Houghton,  who  had  held  the  posi- 
tion of  Acting  Professor  of  Latin  for  the  pre- 
ceding three  years,  resigned  this  place  and 
subsequently  accepted  the  Chair  of  Latin  at 
Bowdoin  College.  In  his  place  was  called  Dr. 
Ernest  G.  Sihler,  the  present  incumbent  of  the 
Chair  of  Latin,  then  at  Concordia  College,  Mil- 
waukee, who  had  some  time  before  held  a  Fel- 
lowship in  Greek  at  Johns  Hopkins,  from  1876 
to  1879,  and  also  spent  five  semesters  in  the 
study  of  Classical  Philolog)-  at  Berlin  and  Leip- 


l82 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


zig.  He  held  that  the  opprobrium  of  "  dead 
languages"  is  mainly  due  to  a  lack  of  vitalizing 
energ)'  on  the  part  of  those  entrusted  with  the 
presenting  of  the  life  and  literature  of  classical 
antiquity.  A  most  important  step  toward 
taking  the  University  College  out  of  the  false 
position  in  which  it  had  been  since  1871  was 
the  re-establishing  of  tuition  fees,  of  $100,  this 
measure  to  take  effect  on  and  after  January 
1893.  At  the  same  time  it  was  enacted  that 
one  prize  scholarship  was  to  be  in  the  gift  of 
each  of  the  ten  preparatory  schools  which  had 
sent  the  largest  number  of  men  to  the  Uni- 
versity Freshman  Class  in  the  ten  years  from 
1 88 1  to  1 89 1.  These  provisions  were  subse- 
quently even  extended. 

In  May  1892  the  sum  of  $200,000  in  sub- 
scriptions towards  the  acquisition  of  twenty 
acres  of  the  Mali  property  was  considered  as 
fairly  secured  ;  and  it  was  determined  that 
when  this  amount  be  completely  and  definitely 
secured,  the  Committee  on  "  Needs  and  En- 
dowments "  be  empowered  to  close  the  pur- 
chase of  twenty  acres  of  the  Mali  property. 
To  assist  this  important  acquisition  the  Ohio 
Society  of  New  York  City,  with  Colonel  William 
L.  Strong  as  President,  appointed  a  Committee 
to  aid  the  Chancellor  in  securing  funds  to 
provide  a  particular  parcel  of  ground  for  an 
athletic  field.  This  effort  secured  the  establish- 
ment of  the  0/iio  Field,  on  which  the  youths 
of  the  new  University  College  perform  their 
deeds  of  physical  skill  and  endurance.  The 
principal  members  of  this  distinguished  society 
who  thus  contributed  an  important  educational 
benefaction  and  brought  together  in  a  pleas- 
ant association  the  names  of  Ohio  and  New 
York,  deserve  to  be  recorded  :  Colonel  William 
L.  Strong,  since  deceased,  General  Wager 
Swayne,  A.  D.  Juilliard,  Professor  S.  S.  Pack- 
ard, J.  D.  Archbold,  C.  N.  Hoagland,  Edward 
S.  Bodman  and  J.  0.  A.  Ward,  gentlemen  of 
whom  many  had  reflected  credit  not  only  on 
their  particular  native  state  alone  but  upon 
our  common  country. 

The  news  which  now  began  more  actively  to 
pervade  the  community,  not  only  that  the  Uni- 


versity College  would  at  not  a  distant  day 
move  to  its  uptown  site  but  that  Columbia 
contemplated  a  migration  to  Morningside 
Heights,  proved  a  leaven  in  some  quarters,  the 
question  being  raised  :  why  after  all  shall  not 
the  two  foundations  be  united,  or  if  not,  why 
may  they  not  be  federated  .-"  A  matter  sure  to 
prove  of  interest  as  a  subject  of  quasi-civic  dis- 
cussion, as  the  sequel  showed  in  the  earnest 
interest  devoted  to  the  matter  by  the  press  of 
the  day.  A  citizen  of  New  York  offered 
$50,000  if  a  union  were  effected.  The  Council 
of  New  York  University  under  date  of  Febru- 
ary 2,  1892,  in  a  communication  to  the  Board 
of  Trustees  of  Columbia  College,  named  as  its 
representatives  Chancellor  MacCracken,  Wil- 
liam Allen  Butler,  George  Munro,  Elbert  B. 
Monroe  and  William  S.  Opdyke.  The  older 
foundation  named  as  its  conferees  President 
Low  and  Messrs.  Rives,  Nash,  Brown  and  Dr. 
Wheelock  "  to  consider  the  question  of  securing 
a  higher  degree  of  unity  in  the  University 
work  of  the  two  corporations." 

The  discussion  between  the  authorities  of 
the  two  foundations  however  did  not  pass 
beyond  the  epistolary  stage.  The  utterances 
issuing  from  Columbia  menXxontd  federation  and 
eonsolidatioti.  It  was  urged  on  that  side,  that 
federation  was  less  desirable  or  feasible  than 
consolidation.  In  case  of  the  former,  it  was 
clear  "that  no  new  degree  would  carry  the 
authority  and  weight  which  attaches  histori- 
cally to  the  degrees  either  of  Columbia  or  of 
the  University,  while  all  the  disadvantages  of 
the  existing  situation  would  remain  unchanged." 
"What  New  York  wants,"  Columbia  said, 
"as  we  interpret  the  aspirations  of  the  city,  is 
one  University  instead  of  two  ;  and  if  there  are 
to  be  two,  we  are  inclined  to  think  that  both 
will  do  better  work  by  being  wholly  untram- 
melled in  their  operation  and  development." 
This  was  the  most  important  point,  the  point, 
perhaps,  of  the  Columbia  note.  And  the 
reply  of  New  York  University  as  bearing  on 
this  very  point  is  pertinent  in  this  historical 
recital  :  "  Whether  New  York  wants  or  aspires 
to  '  one  University  instead  of  two,'  as  suggested 


/iixro/o'  (ji-  NEir  roRK  unh^eksiii 


■83 


by  your  letter,  we  have  no  certain  means  of 
deterniinin^.  New  York,  as  a  body  politic,  has 
within  recent  years  added  to  the  older  founda- 
tions the  two  city  Colleges,  to  be  supported  by 
the  public  treasury,  both  granting  Bachelor's 
degrees.  Thus  she  has  helped  to  disintegrate 
rather  tlian  to  unify  tlie  work  of  higher  educa- 
tion. If,  instead  of  the  body  politic,  we  regard 
individual  citizens,  we  find,  indeed,  frequent  ex- 
pressions in  favor  of  unity  in  University  work 
in  New  York,  but  they  seem  to  us  very  much 
like  similar  e.\i)ressi()ns  in  favor  of  the  unity  of 
religious  denominations.  They  mean  little 
beyond  a  kindly  desire  for  unit}'  in  spirit  and 
in  aim.  When  we  have  .sought  for  practical 
expressions  respecting  union,  we  have  foimd 
citizens  in  general  more  ready  to  give  their 
means  to  strengthen  one  or  other  of  the  ex- 
isting foundations  than  to  contribute  toward 
consolidation,- — -"we  do  not  believe  that  a 
consolidation  is  i)ossible.  Any  study  of  the 
history  of  the  two  corporations  and  their 
endowments  would  develop  very  serious,  and, 
we  believe,  fatal  difficulties  in  the  way  of  their 
consolidation.  Each  has  received  endowments 
for  its  own  work,  and  different  and  repugnant 
conditions  are  attached  to  the  holding  of  these 
endowments  in  the  cases  of  the  two  bodies. 
These  conditions  must  be  sacredly  observed. 
As  we  have  said,  each  institution  has,  under 
its  endowment,  not  only  a  College,  but  also 
professional  and  graduate  schools.  Therefore 
it  does  not  seem  to  us  possible  to  consolidate 
either  the  collegiate  or  the  University  branches 
of  the  two  bodies. 

Our  Committee  have  been  inclined  to  believe 
that  a  federation  of  the  two  Universities  miirht 
be  advantageously  made  under  a  scheme  which 
would  entrust  all  examinations  for  degrees  to 
a  body  in  which  both  institutions  should  be 
represented.  We  have  also  conceived  that 
there  were  advantages  to  both  Universities  in 
the  formation  of  a  representative  body  which 
might  represent  and  defend  common  interests. 
The  terms  of  your  letter  do  not,  however,  now 
permit  us  to  present  the  whole  scheme  in  the 
shape  in  which  it  has  been  originally  suggested, 


because  it  embodied  ])lansas  to  which  you  have 
already  reached  an  adverse  decision."  It  would 
have  been  difficult  to  effect  a  consolidation  when 
one  considers  that  the  finst  great  endowment 
of  Columbia,  of  May  1755,  exhibits  this  salient 
and  essential  feature:  the  first  deed  of  gift  by 
Trinity  ("lunch  was  cancelled  by  one  executed 
on  the  subsequent  day  ;  this  second  amendatory 
enactment  containing  the  ]>rovision  that  the 
President  of  the  Institution  must  be  a  member 
of  the  Protestant  P^piscopal  Church,  and  that  in 
the  morning  and  evening  services  of  the  College 
ChajK'l  the  litin-gy  of  the  Church  of  ]'-ngland 
must  be  used.  .  .  .  These  ])rovisions  are  bind- 
ing on  Columbia  to-day.  True,  that  summer, 
1892,  might  have  been  called  a  critical  one, 
although  in  a  much  slighter  degree  than  in 
1830.  Both  foundations  had  cut  loose  from 
their  older  moorings  ;  both  destined  to  go 
northward,  but  in  the  end  the  agreement  to 
disagree  was  the  only  solution  of  the  problem. 
The  negotiation  closed  ])\  an  exchange  of  un- 
official letters  between  the  two  Chairmen,  in 
which  Chancellor  MacCracken  expressed  his 
readiness  to  recommend,  in  case  the  above 
denominational  restriction  could  be  removed, 
the  relating  of  the  various  schools  of  New  York 
University  to  the  corporation  of  Columbia 
somewhat  as  the  Colleges  at  Cambridge  and 
Oxford  are  related  to  their  Universities.  In 
reply  President  Low  declared  that  to  ask  the 
release  of  the  condition  imposed  by  Trinity 
was  impracticable  under  existing  circumstances. 
In  the  summer  of  1892,  Dr.  MacCracken, 
at  his  country  seat  in  the  Catskill  Mountains, 
at  Pine  Hill  (in  August)  with  Professors 
Baird,  Stevenson,  Hering,  Stoddard  and  Loeb, 
elaborated  the  Group  System  of  t^lectives  to 
be  pursued  by  the  University  College  after 
its  removal  to  its  new  home,  which  pro\ed  to 
be  the  fall  of  1894.  We  desire  to  postpone 
this  important  matter  to  that  point,  a  little 
further  below  in  our  narrative.  When  I 
rapidly  survey  the  features  of  the  last  two 
years  of  the  ancient  structure  of  \\  ashington 
Square  and  the  work  done  there,  I  am  im- 
pressed   with    the    disadvantageous    triad    of 


i84 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


segments  of  the  academic  year  :  a  hurry  of 
courses  and  didactic  matter  which  then  fortu- 
nately was  marked  for  but  a  brief  prolongation 
of  existence :  hardly  had  a  course  of  work 
attained  a  certain  momentum,  interest  and 
facility,  when  the  curtain  fell  and  term  exami- 
nations were  in  order.  Then,  the  academic 
year  being  short  enough  as  it  was,  the  Seniors, 
on  account  of  the  ancient  custom  of  rehearsing 
the  speaking  of  pieces,  were  excused  pretty 
nearly  a  full  month  before  the  rest  of  the 
College.  Again  the  absolute  absence  of  oppor- 
tunities for  physical  exercise  and  recreations 
postulated  by  the  very  stage  of  youth  in  the 
growth  of  life  and  faculties  —  this  absence,  we 
say,  was  most  painful.  When  Comanche-like 
whoops  in  the  general  corridor,  with  all  too 
slender  recognition  of  recitations,  were  a  daily 
feature  ;  the  chiaroscuro  in  the  halls  rendered 
identification  of  malefactors  difficult  ;  the  tran- 
soms over  some  of  the  recitation-room  doors 
presented  famous  temptations  for  occasional 
firecrackers ;  cramj^ed  youthfulness  sought 
refuge  in  various  forms  of  horseplay  and  prac- 
tical jokes.  The  gloom  of  the  Chapel,  the 
prehistoric  character  of  ventilation,  heating 
and  acoustics,  the  close  vicinage  of  the  rattle 
and  roar  of  the  great  commercial  artery  of 
Broadway,  the  neighborhood  of  South  Fifth 
Avenue  with  French  feathers,Parmesan  cheese 
and  macaroni,  the  valiant  pose  of  their  cham- 
pion Garibaldi,  and  the  Washington  Arch  at 
the  entrance  to  Fifth  Avenue  north,  with  the 
distinctly  rising  tide  of  the  Law  School  contin- 
gent and  the  gentler  auditoria  of  Law  courses 
for  ladies,  all  this  constituted  an  academic 
locality  incongruous  and  odd  beyond  descrip- 
tion. Athena  had  b\it  a  precarious  abode  with 
Hermes  dominating  the  environment. 

Li  the  fall  of  1892,  Professor  Prince,  a 
recent  fellow  and  Ph.D.  of  Johns  Hopkins, 
entered  the  Faculty  as  Professor  of  Oriental 
Languages,  and  he  signalized  his  entrance  by 
securing  for  New  York  University  through 
subscriptions  obtained  by  him  from  many 
citizens  the  Oriental  library  of  the  late  Pro- 
fessor Lagarde  of  Goettingen,  some  five  thou- 


sand volumes  with  some  two  thousand  bound 
pamphlets.  We  shall  speak  of  this  famous 
special  library  further  on.  In  the  fall  of  1 892, 
also,  Dr.  John  P.  Munn  accepted  a  seat  in  the 
Council  of  the  University.  In  the  winter  of 
1 892-1 893,  the  Legislature  exempted  from 
taxation  the  real  estate  which  is  now  and  has 
been  for  over  fifty  years  last  past,  occupied  by 
said  University  as  a  site,  to  continue  "  so  long 
as  the  entire  University  instruction  in  the  Law 
School,  the  entire  instruction  in  the  School  of 
Pedagogy,  and  the  administrative  office  of  the 
L^niversity  shall  be  continued  there.  Such 
real  estate  as  may  be  used  as  a  new  site  for 
the  enlargement  of  the  work  of  the  University 
shall  be  exempt  front  taxation,  but  only  so  long 
as  it  may  continue  to  be  used  for  educational 
purposes."  There  was  a  transitor}'  plan  of  using 
the  stones  of  the  Washington  Square  building 
in  erecting  a  new  main  building  at  University 
Heights,  but  the  very  great  expense  of  this 
project  and  the  lack  of  practical  sentiment  sup- 
porting this  jjroposal  caused  its  abandonment. 

On  May  i,  1893,  the  Chancellor,  on  behalf 
of  the  Treasurer,  reported  the  receipt  of  the 
amount  of  the  legacy  of  Mrs.  R.  L.  Stuart, 
$75,000,  —  which  constituted  Mrs.  Stuart  the 
third  on  the  list  of  large  benefactors  up  to 
that  time,  by  the  side  of  Loring  Andrews  and 
Dr.  Charles  Butler.  Of  the  money  given  to 
purchase  University  Heights  the  largest  gift 
had  been  that  of  Jay  Gould,  viz.,  $25,000  ; 
those  of  Messrs.  Munro  and  Havcmcyer  com- 
ing next.  James  Gordon  Bennett  under  date 
of  May  1 1,  1893,  established  a  prize,  to  consist 
in  the  annual  income  of  $1000,  to  be  given  to 
a  Senior  student  or  special  student  of  two 
years'  standing  for  the  best  essay  in  English 
Prose  upon  some  subject  of  American  govern- 
mental domestic  or  foreign  policy  of  contem- 
poraneous interest ;  the  prize  has  been  known 
in  the  College  annals  as  the  James  Gordon 
Bennett  Prize.  A  legacy  of  $10,000  was  re- 
ceived from  the  estate  of  John  Taylor  Johnston, 
late  President  of  the  Council,  an  alumnus  of 
'39.  In  the  fall  of  1893  Addison  Ballard, 
D.D.,  was  appointed  Professor  of  Logic. 


HISTORT  OF   NEW  YORK   UNIVERSHT 


.85 


Charles  Butler's  ninety-second  birthday, 
February  15,  1894,  was  rendered  memorable 
for  the  University  College  which  he  had  so 
long  and  so  faithfully  befriended,  by  giving  to 
the  mansion  at  University  Heights,  which  was 
to  be  fitted  up  as  a  dormitory,  the  name  of 
Charles  Butler  Hall.  The  fact  that  the  ven- 
erable patron  and  benefactor  of  New  York 
University  had  actually  entered  the  Council 
before  President  Antlrcw  Jackson  retired  after 


of  their  prospective  home,  and  the  Class  of 
1894,  John  Henry  MacCracken,  President,  laid 
the  cornerstone  where  the  gymnasium  was 
to  be  placed.  The  stone  was  a  block  taken 
from  the  building  at  Washington  Square, 
carried  to  the  Heights  in  fine  style  by  the 
class,  who  had  chartered  tally-ho  coaches  for  the 
occasion.  The  spirit  and  the  sentiment  which 
at  that  time  filled  the  breast  and  engaged  the 
thoughts  and    hopes   of    the    Academic   youth 


CHARLES    BUTLER    HALL 


his  second  term,  had  been  in  1825  on  Com- 
mittee to  receive  Lafayette,  that  he  viewed 
with  the  mature  powers  of  manhood  the  entire 
movement  of  Washington  Square  and  that  he 
lived  to  see  the  establishment  of  University 
Heights,  for  much  more  than  a  half-century, 
supporting,  guiding  and  strengthening  the 
work,  all  this  was  justly  noted  as  extraordinary. 
The  1 8th  of  April  was  celebrated  as  Founders' 
Day.  The  students  of  the  Undergraduate 
College  and    the   Faculty  Nisited   the  campus 


in  1894,  when  looking  forward  to  the  beauti- 
ful campus  on  the  northern  heights  is  best 
evidenced  by  a  poem  inserted  in  the  College 
annual,  The  Violet,  of  1894.  Indeed  their 
expectation  of  an  actual  palpable,  real,  perma- 
nent campus  was  felt  with  a  zest  the  more 
sharpened  because  the  athletic  aspirations  had 
to  be  satisfied,  if  satisfied  at  all,  in  a  very  — 
shall  we  say  distant  manner  :  travelling  to  the 
battery,  sailing  over  the  bay  of  New  York  and 
moving   into    the    interior    of     Staten    Island. 


i86 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


May  such  journeys  in  search  of  an  athletic 
field  be  called  an  equivalent  of  having  a 
campus  ? 

But  to  return  to  the  last  days  and  months 
of  the  cramped  urban  home  of  the  under- 
graduate ;  he  looked  northward,  and  to  him 
the  Chancellor  was  surely  a  veritable  Moses 
to  lead  him  out  of  Egypt  into  the  promised 
land.  The  poem  in  The  Violet  of  the  Class  of 
'94  (though  actually  issued  in  May  1893)  thus 


An'  de'll  wear  deir  robes  of  puqsle,  wid   de  hoods  of  violet 

hue, 
An'  de  city's  population  will  be  takin'  in  de  view. 
So    we'll    sing    an    blow    de    trumpets    as  we  march  along 

Broadway, 
Shoutin'  loud  de  praise  an'  glory  ob  de  beauteous  breakin' 

day. 
Den  when  we's  'bove  de  Harlem,  oh  de  fun  dat's  sure  to  be, 
Wid  de  campus  broad  an'  spacious,  an'  its  frolics  wild  and 

free; 
When  de  boys  get  out   de  baseball  or  de  football  fo'  to 

play  — 
Jes'  de  idee  sets  me  itchin'  fo'  de  comin'  ob  dat  day." 


HALL    OF    CHEMISTRY 


runs,  in  the  plantation  style  of  native  poetry. 
We  quote  the  first  eighteen  lines  of  this 

ODE   TO   THE    PROMISED    LAND. 

Whe'fo  hang  yo'  harps  on  willows?     Sing  de  song  of  jubi- 
lee— 
Massa  'Cracken,  he  hab  promise  fo'  to  set  his  people  free. 
Mine  eyes  is  old  an'  feeble,  but  dey  tells  me  what  is  true, 
A  vision  strange  an'  mighty,  ob  de  joy  ob  NVU. 
De  changes  an'  contrivin's,  which  de  \nse  men  all  hab  plan 
Fo'  we's  gwine  across  de  ribber  to  possess  de  promis'  Ian'. 
We's  g\vine  to  march  in  orders,  each  one  prouder  dan  de  res'. 
All  de  'fessers  will  be  handy,  eb'ry  one  rigged  up  his  bes' ; 
Massa  Pardee  wid  de  Medics  an'  de  bearers  ob  de  saw, 
Massa  Russell  all  a  smilin'  wid  de  ladies  ob  de  law, 


The  labors  of  the  spring,  summer  and  au- 
tumn in  1894  exacted  from  the  executive  head 
of  the  University  an  amount  of  work  and  effort 
rarely  if  ever  paralleled  in  the  history  of  this 
foundation.  To  plan,  to  carry  out,  to  find  new 
resources  and  to  utilize  those  extant — all  this 
fell  to  the  lot  of  the  Chancellor.  The  building 
of  Language  Hall  ;  the  caring  for  the  Chem- 
ical Laboratory,  a  noble  donation  to  University 
Heights  by  William  F.  Havemeyer  of  the 
Council  ;  the  utilization  of  some  extant  wooden 
structures  to  be  worked  up  into  the  new  gym- 


\ 


/    ^N     0     ^  /  1/ 


mill  .f?  ■  ^. '-  ■} 


s:i^i 


i88 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


nasium  60  X  100  feet ;  the  moving  over  to  the 
northern  edge  of  the  campus,  of  three  wooden 
pavilions  to  be  connected  and  fitted  up  to  serve 
the  needs  of  Biology  and  of  Geology,  with  sep- 
arate laboratories  and  a  large  lecture  room  ;  the 
erection  of  a  further  temporary  structure  to 
hold  the  work  in  Engineering  and  in  Physics  ; 
a  structure  with  a  bell-tower  to  serve  for  tem- 
porary Chapel ;  Young  Men's  Christian  Asso- 
ciation rooms,  Reading    Room,  Eucleian,  and 


up  as  a  dormitory,  the  first  dormitory  in  a 
typical  American  College  in  New  York  City  — 
i.e.  in  the  limits  of  the  corporation  but  other- 
wise in  the  country.  To  be  at  University 
Heights  in  the  golden  peace  of  fine  days  in 
early  October  1894,  no  matter  how  incomplete 
many  things  were,  —  unavoidably  so,  —  to  look 
out  on  the  wide  expanse  of  exquisite  landscape, 
to  sweep  the  eyes  over  the  ample  and  spacious 
campus,   to  watch  white  fleecy    clouds  slowly 


LOOKING    SOUTH     ^  Ku.M     UNIVERSITY    HKKiHTS 


some  accommodations  for  part  of  the  Library, 
together  with  telegraph  office  established  at 
University  Heights  by  the  Western  Union. 

The  first  fall  and  winter  was  in  many  ways 
a  pioneer  season.  For  the  work  of  getting 
ready  prevailed  everywhere ;  the  grading  of 
the  new  oval,  the  Ohio  Field,  occupied  scores 
of  carts  and  hundreds  of  men  ;  the  Hall  of 
Languages  being  ready  for  occupation  in  De- 
cember only,  recitations  were  to  a  great  extent 
held  in  the  small  rooms  on  the  south  side  of 
the  Gymnasium.   Charles  Butler  Hall  was  fitted 


passing  eastward  over  the  vast  basaltic  cliffs 
of  the  Palisades,  or  to  observe  the  new  work 
in  Biology  with  Professor  Bristol  with  the  lower 
slants  of  the  autumnal  sun  passing  through 
trees  and  arbors  and  perfect  peace,  no  clatter 
of  commerce,  no  clang  of  car  bells,  no  restless 
roar  of  the  mighty  economic  engine  of  a  great 
commercial  city  benumbing  and  smothering 
and  engulfing  the  hapless  College  —  happy 
change  !  blessed  metamorphosis  !  These  were 
the  reverberations  of  sentiment  and  utterance 
of  those  who  had  labored  at  Washington  Square 


HISrORT  OF  NEW   YORK    UNIVERSITY 


189 


and  come  out  to  our  "  bcatcv  aires.  "  Ikit  it  is 
proper  to  more  fully  descrilie  the  site  of  C'/ii- 
versity  Heights  —  winged  word,  destined  soon 
to  become  a  definite  item  in  the  topographical 
nomenclature  of  New  York. 

University  Heights,  on  its  southern  side  [at 
the  point  where  the  lawn  begins  rapidly  to  de- 
scend towards  Sedgwick.  Avenue  and  the  Har- 
lem river  ],  possesses  a  particular  elevation, 
where,  from  the  fall  of   1776  to  November  20, 


paternal  hcjme  being  immediately  south  of  the 
point  in  question,  and  immediately  s(julh  ol 
University  Heights. 

The  average  elevation  of  University  Heights 
is  some  168  feet  above  the  Harlem  River. 
Immediately  .south  of  Charles  Butler  Hall, 
where  in  the  shade  of  fine  trees  is  the  older 
tennis  court,  is  one  of  the  best  view-points  on 
the  campus.  At  almost  all  seasons  of  the 
year,  given  a  clear  atmo.sphere,  a  westerly  or 


LOOKING    NORTH    KROM     HAI.L    OF    FAME 


1782,  there  was  a  redoubt  of  the  British,  called 
by  them  Fort  Number  8.  Across  the  valley 
of  the  Harlem  rise  heights  on  the  top  of  which 
was  the  American  redoubt  called  Fort  George, 
the  lines  of  the  old  earthworks  having  remained 
distinctly  traceable  as  late  as  1890  and  often 
visited  in  the  years  preceding  that  date  by  the 
present  writer.  See  the  careful  monograph, 
"The  Revolutionary  History  of  Fort  Number 
Eight"  1897,  by  Professor  John  Christopher 
Schwab  of  Yale,  a  grandson  of  the  German 
author  Gustav  Schwab  ;  —  Professor  Schwab's 


northwesterly  wind,  the  view  westward  from 
this  point  is  one  of  great  beauty,  a  view  that  is 
apt  to  possess  the  spectator  and  hold  him 
charmed.  Beyond  the  Harlem,  which  is  far 
below  and  half  concealed  by  fine  trees,  the  eye 
sweeps  across  the  low  expanse  of  In  wood,  on 
which  to  the  south  abut  the  sharply  rising  ridges 
of  Fort  George.  Still  further  away  the  softly 
rounded  height  of  Fort  Washington,  and  be- 
tween the  heights  a  goodly  piece  of  the  mighty 
Hudson.  The  superb  flanks  of  the  vast  Pali- 
sades close    the   western   view,   a   castellated 


190 


HISrORT  OF  NEW  YORK    UNIVERSITY 


mansion  often,  i.e.  according  to  state  of  atmos- 
phere, marking  tlie  skyline  with  its  pleasing 
contours. 

The  prospect  from  the  northerly  side  of  the 
Memorial  Library  is  still  finer :  whether  the 
hand  of  Indian  Summer  has  tinted  the  hills  on 
the  Hudson  with  the  exquisitely  variegated 
colors    of    the  dying   year,  whether   the    bris- 


truly  beautiful  scenery  raised  far  above  the 
fleet  and  transitory  charm  of  mere  prettiness 
and  is  an  ever  recurring  joy  to  the  beholder. 
Directly  north  lies  the  upper  stretch  of  the 
Harlem  to  Kingsbridge.  The  sheet  of  water 
pleasantly  framed  on  the  east  and  north  by 
hills  and  uplands,  with  the  water-tower  of 
Yonkers  a  prominent  landmark  on  the  northern 


UNIVERSITY    FUII.niXr,.    WASHINGTON    SQUARE 


tling  gray  and  black  of  these  leafless  elevations 
in  bleaker  January  arrest  the  eye,  or  whether 
in  May  the  vernal  beauty  of  virgin  verdure 
intermingled  with  the  dogwood's  white  masses 
of  blossoms  entrances  the  beholder.  The  domi- 
nating clement  in  the  landscape  is  the  bold 
majestic  ridge  of  the  Palisades,  extending  far 
away  to  the  distant  north  until  it  tapers  away 
far  to-  the  north    of    Yonkers.     It   is  like  all 


skvline,  and,  many  miles  away,  the  diocesan 
St.  Joseph's  Seminary  on  the  heights  of  Dun- 
woodie,  on  the  high  plateau  between  Yonkers 
and  Mount  Vernon.  Again  if,  from  the  upper 
windows  of  Language  Hall  the  eye  sweeps 
across  the  wide  expanse  of  the  Bronx  district, 
in  the  distance  the  ridge  of  hills  that  constitute 
the  backbone  of  Long  Island  forms  the  far  away 
skyline,  which  the  eye  may  pursue  for  a  dis- 


HISTORY   OF   NEW   YORK    UNIVERSITY 


191 


tance  of  some  fifteen  miles  from  southwest 
towards  northeast,  with  tints  hUie  or  grayish 
blue,  sometimes  purple  or  violet.  With  such 
vistas  and  with  such  charminj;-  beauty  of  set- 
ting and  scenery  to  pursue  the  drift  of  Plato's 
dialectics,  to  laugh  with  Aristophanes,  to  sympa- 
thetically follow  the  stern  and  lofty  seriousness 
of  Tacitus,  or  to  ponder  over  problems  of 
Science,    Mathematics    or    History  —  no  spot 


ing  having  been  held  on  May  18,  1894,  at  the 
old  structure  on  Washington  Square,  when 
men  of  distinction  in  various  walks  of  life  and 
avocation  pleasantly  related  reminiscences. 
On  the  old  site  there  was  erected  a  modern 
structure  of  ten  stories,  with  a  partial  eleventh 
story,  the  basement  and  the  first  seven  stories 
being  leased  by  the  American  Book  Company, 
while  the    tenth    floor   was    set  apart  for  the 


COUNCIL    ROOM,    WASHINGTON    SQUARE    BUILDINO 


known  to  the  writer  will  excel  this  plateau  of 
University  Heights  in  its  fitness  to  be  the 
home  and  the  scene  of  an  American  College. 
Language  Hall  was  equipped  with  studies 
placed  at  the  service  of  the  Professors,  where 
some  of  them  as  far  as  their  best  lines  of  effort 
are  concerned,  have  placed  their  academic 
lairs  and  penates. 

Here  then  the  University  College  began  its 
work  in  October  1894,  the  last  alumni  meet- 


work  of  the  Law  School,  many  parts  of  the 
Graduate  School  and  the  School  of  Pedagogy, 
together  with  administration  rooms  for  Council, 
Chancellor  and  Assistant-Treasurer.  But  on 
account  of  the  growth  of  the  work  and  num- 
bers it  was  deemed  advisable  to  fit  out  on  the 
ninth  floor  lecture  rooms  and  library  room, 
together  with  laboratory  of  the  Department 
of  Experimental  Psychology,  in  1899,  for  the 
School  of  Pedagogy.     A  way  was  found  in  the 


192 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


winter  of  1894- 1895  to  have  the  work  in  Law 
go  on  at  Washington  Square,  for  while  the  upper 
stories  were  building,  a  wooden  shell  was  con- 
structed on  the  ground  floor  with  sections, 
halls  and  apartments,  heated,  so  that,  in  spite 
of  the  tremendous  changes  going  on  over  their 
heads.  Professors  and  students  at  Washington 
Square  were  not  for  a  day  interrupted  in  their 
regular  work,  an  achievement  in  energy  and 
persistence  which  will  always  be  quotable  for 


of  the  Committee  upon  needs  and  endowment, 
consisting  of  Messrs.  George  Munro,  David 
Banks  and  William  F.  Havemeyer,  with  Presi- 
dent Charles  Butler  and  the  Chancellor  as  ex 
officio  members.  Chancellor  MacCracken  him- 
self was  fully  prepared  for  a  temporary  decline 
in  numbers.  He  said,  November  30,  1892, 
"  We  may  at  first  have  no  more  than  eighty 
Undergraduate  Students  at  the  new  site."  The 
sixth    year    is    now    passing  since    University 


the  sixth   administration    of   New  York   Uni- 
versity. 

Chancellor  MacCracken  acquired  in  1894 
for  a  residence  an  ancient  stone  mansion  im- 
mediately north  of  the  campus,  an  earnest  of 
his  own  faith  in  the  migration.  It  should  be 
stated  at  this  point  that  many  of  the  most 
loyal  friends  of  New  York  University  were, 
immediately  before  the  decisive  steps  were 
taken,  very  dubious  as  to  the  wisdom  of  the 
movement.  Among  the  earliest  and  heartiest 
supporters  of  the  movement  were  the  members 


chancellor's  residence 

Heights  was  begim  as  an  Undergraduate  Col- 
lege, and  the  figures  for  some  years  before  the 
movement  and  since  are  as  follows  :  — 


At  Washington  Square, 
The  last  year  of  free  tuition  for  1 
those  entering,  ' 


iSgi-'gj  ;  Undergraduate  College,  12S 


Last  year  at  Washington  Square,     i893-'q4 ; 
„    -.  ,,_: :...  "eights,  i8<)4-'95  ■ 


i-ast  year  at  wasmngton  aqu; 
First  year  at  University  Hei 
Second  year "  "  ' 


Third  year 
Fourth  year 
Fifth  year 
Sixth  year 


i8g5-'96  ; 
i8g6-'97 ; 
>8g7-'98 ; 
iSgS-'gg ; 
iSqg-igoo; 


161 

166 
171 
181 
■75 
177 
200 
230 


of 


The  year  1 894-1 895  marked  a  new  departure 
decisive  importance  in  another  way.     This 


IIISTORT   OF   NEW    YORK    UNIVERSITY 


193 


was  the  introduction  of  the  elective  group 
system  after  the  h'reshman  )  car.  The  system 
takes  account  of  actual  conditions  in  consider- 
ing the  advance  in  age  of  College  students 
from  the  time  when  all  studies  were  prescribed, 
and  when  the  average  graduate  of  a  College 
was  about  as  old  as  is  now  the  average  fresh- 
man at  entrance.  Greater  age,  while  not  dis- 
pensing from  the  necessity  of  training  the 
fundamental  and  general  faculties  of  mind  and 


nected  with  the  Johns  Hopkins  University  in 
1876.  A  young  man  of  twenty  who  does  not 
look  forward  to  divinity  or  to  a  literary  career, 
or  to  professional  study  of  classics,  should  ncjt 
be  compelled  to  study  Greek,  or  go  on  study- 
ing Greek,  and  so  forth.  An  attempt  is  made 
to  avoid  the  evils  of  indiscriminate  choos- 
ing without  any  succession  whatever  of  regu- 
lated effort  or  kindred  study  prevalent  at  the 
oldest  and  largest  foundation  of  America  ;  the 


BIOLOGICAL    LABORATORIES 


character,  still  makes  it  imperative  to  afford  to 
young  men  forms  of  training  and  fields  of  cul- 
ture which  are  related  and  kindred  to  the 
professional  courses  ultimately  chosen,  but 
which,  at  the  same  time,  contain  such  an 
amount  of  general  and  liberal  culture  as  to 
remain  consistently  faithful  to  the  truest  pos- 
tulates of  a  liberal  education. 

President  Gilman,  we  believe,  first  introduced 
this  principle  of  blending  in  a  manner  freedom 
of  choice  with  regulation  of  successive  .steps,  in 
his  arrangement  of  the  undergraduate  work  con- 


" freedom  of  learning"  which  in  Germany  at 
the  University  ensues  upon  the  severe  training 
of  the  gymnasium  is  decidedly  more  apparent 
than  real,  no  matter  though  a  student  may  do 
some  browsing  and  sauntering  for  a  while,  the 
"  Staatsexamen "  looms  up  at  a  definite  dis- 
tance on  the  threshold  of  breadwinning  and 
exacts  adherence  to  distinct  and  well  regu- 
lated courses  of  study. 

Dr.  MacCracken  with  his  counselors  in  their 
conferences  at  Pine  Hill  in  1892  formulated 
the  following  groups  actually  adopted  at  Uni- 


194 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


versity  Heights  from  1894  onward  :  For  Soph- 
omore, Junior  and  Senior  years,  the  Classical 
group,  that  of  Modern  Languages,  the  Semitic 
Group,  the  English-Latin,  the  Historical- 
Political,  the  Philosophical-Historical,  the 
Chemical-Biological,  the  Physical-Chemical,  the 
Mathematical-Physical,  and  Civil  Engineer- 
ing. The  positive  and  vigorous  advancement 
of  academic  work  at  the  Heights,  particularly 
from  the  autumn  of  1895  onward,  as  it  was 
realized  by  those  who  had  taught  at  Washing- 
ton Square  also,  made  clear  what  handicaps 
there  had  been  endured  in  the  urban  College 
by  both  Pro- 
fessors and 
students  as 
well  ;  and 
how  impossi- 
ble it  would 
have  been  for 
the  "  Chrysa- 
lis College  " 
(of  Theodore 
Winthrop's 
phrase)  ever 
to  have  burst 
its  bonds  and 
freely  to  have 
winged  its 
own  organs 
of  flight  in 
the  city.  To 
teach,  on  the  whole,  but  few  unwilling  students, 
and  to  be  placed  in  an  environment  where 
example  and  guidance  and  persistent  enthusi- 
asm could  and  did  transform  many  an  unwilling 
into  a  willing  student ;  to  see  before  oneself 
definite  and  palpable  progress  aided  by  the 
well-regulated  progression  of  study ;  to  step 
from  classroom  into  study  and  from  study  into 
classroom,  and  from  either  into  the  open  sky 
presenting  vistas  of  delightful  scenery,  all  this 
truly  was  a  vita  nnova  for  the  academic  staff. 
For  let  it  be  definitely  understood,  and  let  it 
not  be  overlooked,  there  is  a  definite  correlation 
between  pursuit  and  environment  ;  ideal  pur- 
suits and  liberal  studies  thrive  best  where  the 


SCHOOL    OF    SCIENCE    LABORATORIES 


very  scenery  of  life  seems  to  expand  and  uplift 
the  soul,  whether  through  those  things  which 
ever  physically  and  directly  present  an  associ- 
ation with  nobler  and  less  transitory  things,  as 
museums  or  monuments  or  books  of  the  more 
permanent  sort,  or  through  the  play  between 
outward  nature  and  inward  emotion,  so  fruit- 
fully fostered  and  sustained  by  contact  and 
environment  of  noble  landscape,  and  by  the 
definite  absence  of  those  things  which  distract, 
annoy,  irritate  and  oppress. 

With  the  more  complete  organization  of  in- 
struction new  men  came  into  the  Faculty.     Dr. 

Daniel  Mur- 
ray went  to 
Cornell,  and 
Pomeroy  La- 
due,  an  In- 
structor in 
Mathematics 
at  the  Uni- 
versity of 
M  i  c  h  i  g  a  n 
(whose  first 
President  had 
been  a  former 
Professor  in 
the  earliest 
Faculty  of 
New  York 
University), 
assumed  the 
Professorship  in  Mathematics,  while  History 
was  intrusted  to  another  instructor  of  Ann 
Arbor,  Marshall  Brown,  an  alumnus  of  Brown 
University.  Biology  was  placed  in  the  care  of 
Charles  Lawrence  Bristol,  an  alumnus  of  New 
York  University  of  '83,  who  had  been  for  three 
years  associated  with  the  distinguished  biologist 
Whitman  as  holder  of  a  fellowship  both  at 
Worcester  and  at  the  University  of  Chicago. 
Charles  B.  Bliss  came  from  the  special  school 
of  Professor  Ladd  at  Yale  University  to  teach 
Psychology'  in  the  Undergraduate  College  as 
well  as  in  the  School  of  Pedagogy. 

At     the     Heights     too,     in     the     Hall     of 
Languages,  the  Lagarde   Library  of  Oriental 


HISTORT   OF  NEIV   YORK    UNIVERSITY 


195 


Learning  was  so  placed  as  to  make  it  available. 
In  Hebrew,  Chaldean,  Assyrian,  Arabic,  Syriac, 
Ethiopian,  and  Exegesis  and  Anticpiities  of  the 
Old  Testament,  this  collection  is  perhaps  with- 
out a  peer  in  America.  The  benefactions  also 
which  came  to  the  slender  resources  of  Classical 
lore  through  this  Library  secured  by  Professor 
Prince  were  noteworthy  and  substantial,  par- 
ticularly in  works  of  the  highest  grade  of  emi- 
nence which  have  a  place  among  the  ajiparatus 


larly  well  selected  in  the  domain  of  Cicero,  of 
Latin  Grammar  and  of  Roman  antiquities. 

Through  Professor  A.  S.  Isaacs  the  Uni\er- 
sity  was  informed  that  Mr.  Hermann  Ridder 
had  established  a  prize  of  fifty  dollars  yearly 
for  excellence  in  German,  and  through  the 
initiative  of  the  same  Professor  in  November 
1H94  the  fourth  centennial  anniversary  of  the 
birth  of  Hans  .Sachs  was  celebrated  under  the 
auspices  of  New   York    University  and  under 


LABORATORY    OF    TESTS,    SCHOOL    OF    SCIENCES 


of  any  collection  for  classical  work  at  first 
hand ;  e.g.  the  Theasaurus  of  Stephanus,  the 
Concordance  to  Aristotle  by  Ronitz,  the  Pla- 
tonic Lexicon  by  Ast,  works  of  Joseph  Scaliger, 
of  Casaubon,  Salmasius,  Hugo  Grotius,  Gott- 
fried Hermann,  Boeckh  and  Ducange  with  a 
nucleus  of  Dante  books  and  works  on  Romance 
Philology,  works  which  the  present  writer  trusts 
will  be  but  the  vanguard  of  the  main  army  of 
a  proper  classical  library.  The  family  of  the 
late  Professor  Johnson  had  presented  to  the 
University  the  books  of  that  Professor,  particu- 


the  Presidency  of  Dr.  Charlton  T.  Lewis,  by 
a  special  meeting  of  specialists  in  German 
Literature  who  came  to  New  York  from  Johns 
Hopkins,  Cornell,  Yale  and  other  seats  of 
learning,  and  presented  commemorative  studies 
and  addresses. 

Both  the  Medical  College  and  L'niversity 
Heights  experienced  a  severe  blow  through 
the  death  from  pneumonia,  in  January  1895, 
of  Dr.  Alfred  L.  Loomis,  who  had  been  par- 
ticularly active  and  generous  in  the  work  of 
jn-oviding  Language   Hall  and  who  had   been 


I  96 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR   SONS 


among  the  foremost  in  the  work  on  behalf  of 
University  Heights.  It  was  justly  felt  as  a 
calamity  to  the  whole  University,  and  the 
eloquent  tributes  of  appreciative  remembrance 
spoken  in  memory  of  the  eminent  physician 
at  the  Academy  of  Medicine  in  April  1895,  by 
distinguished  men  in  public  life,  in  medicine 
and  education,  found  a  true  and  lively  reso- 
nance in  the  hearts  of  all  friends  of  New  York 
University. 

David    Banks    exerted   himself    during    this 


Miss  Helen  M.  Gould,  Mrs.  Hitchcock  and 
Mrs.  Dr.  John  P.  Munn.  Professor  John 
Dynely  Prince  succeeded  the  Chancellor  as 
Dean  of  the  Graduate  Seminary,  whose  name 
was  subsequently  changed  to  Graduate  School. 
Frank  Cann  of  Bridgeport,  Connecticut,  was 
invited  to  accept  the  post  of  Director  of 
the  Gymnasium. 

Steps  were  taken  to  erect  an  "Alumni 
Memorial,"  a  monument  in  the  Gothic  style, 
constructed  of  stones   preserved  from  the  old 


HALL    OF    LANGUAGES 


winter  and  spring  in  the  furni-shing  of  the 
new  gymnasium,  in  the  establishing  of  a 
Government  Postoffice,  called  the  University 
Heights  Postoffice,  and  procuring  the  regular 
remission  of  Government  publications  from 
Washington,  while  Dr.  John  P.  Munn  aided  in 
the  establishing  of  a  Western  Union  Telegraph 
Station  on  the  campus.  Mr.  Banks  continued 
to  amply  furnish  the  Law  Library  with  books  of 
his  own  donation.  Gifts  of  scholarships  in  the 
School    cf     Pedagogy   were    announced   from 


Washington  Square  Building.  An  agreement 
was  made  between  the  Institute  of  Christian 
Philosophy  to  have  established  under  the  aus- 
pices of  New  York  University  a  lectureship  in 
memory  of  the  late  Rev.  Dr.  Charles  F.  Deems, 
the  University  to  agree  to  maintain  and  conduct 
this  academic  work  by  choosing  and  securing 
for  each  )'ear  or  each  alternate  year  a  lecturer 
eminent  in  Science  and  Philosophy  and  subse- 
quently to  publish  these  lectures  in  book -form, 
provided  this   could   be  done  without  further 


MEMORIAL   MONUMENT 


< 


198 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR    SONS 


expense  than  could  be  met  by  the  accumulation 
of  income  over  and  above  the  expense  of  main- 
taining the  annual  or  biennial  series  of  lectures, 
and  any  profits  arising  from  the  sale  of  such  lec- 
tures, printed  in  book-form,  was  to  be  counted 
as,  or  added  to,  the  income  of  the  Institute. 

The  month  of  May  1895  was  memorable  for 
University  Heights  for  the  gift  of  the  Memorial 
Library,  the  generous  giver's  name  to  be  with- 
held from  publication  until  consent  be  obtained 
for  its  announcement.  And  the  authorities  of 
the  University  in  accepting  this  munificent  gift, 
the  greatest  single  benefaction  ever  received 
by  New  York  University,  expressed  in  their 
acknowledgment  of  this  superb  donation  their 
sense  of  "  the  timeliness  with  which  it  places  the 
New  York  University  by  the  side  of  sister 
Universities  in  promising  to  us  that  essential 
factor  in  higher  education,  a  great  Librar}- ;  we 
appreciate  the  immediate  value  of  the  building 
to  us,  not  only  as  a  repository  of  our  present 
library  and  museum  collections,  an  auditorium 
and  administration  office,  but  also  a  beautiful 
architectural  monument.  Finally  we  recognize 
the  filial  and  generous  feelings  which  are 
prompting  'the  donor,'  in  this  gift."  The 
outer  wall  of  the  museum,  a  ponderous  peri- 
phery built  of  granite,  of  a  little  more  than  a 
semi-circle,  was  first  undertaken  according  to 
the  plans  of  Stanford  White  ;  this  structure  is 
the  most  westerly  part  of  the  general  building 
on  the  slope  descending  towards  Sedgwick 
Avenue.  During  the  summer  of  1 896  the  exca- 
vation for  the  main  building  was  made  in  the 
rock.  In  April  1897  the  beginning  of  the 
Library  proper  was  made.  The  central  hall 
of  the  Museum  was  in  a  certain  way  inaugu- 
rated by  the  annual  sessions  for  1899,  of  the 
American  Philological  Association,  on  July  6-8, 
the  members  being  in  the  main  quartered  at 
University  Height.s.  On  December  5,  1899, 
the  auditorium  with  its  fine  organ  was  opened 
for  the  daily  use  of  Faculty  and  Students  of 
the  Undergraduate  College.  At  the  present 
writing  [December  1900]  the  Library  proper 
is  looking  forward  to  completion  by  the  close 
of    the    calendar    year.      As    this    University 


Library  bids  fair  to  assume  a  prominent  place 
not  only  among  the  academic  buildings  of  the 
United  States  but  among  the  notable  architec- 
tural monuments  of  the  Greater  New  York, 
some  lines  of  description  may  be  pertinent. 

The  "  Museum  of  the  Hall  of  Fame  "  may 
be  first  named.  Its  full  description  will  be 
given  below.  Within  its  granite  periphery 
there  is  now  temporarily  housed  the  geological 
collection  of  some  twelve  thousand  specimens 
made  by  Professor  John  James  Stevenson  and 
presented  by  that  scientist  to  New  York  Uni- 
versity ;  galleries  add  much  to  the  available 
space.  A  lecture-room  of  geology  and  a  geo- 
logical laboratory  of  the  Professor  of  Geology 
are  here  provided.  The  large  central  room 
contains  the  portraits  of  the  first  six  Chancel- 
lors, of  several  noted  Professors,  and  two 
landscapes  from  the  Botta  bequest.  Further 
there  are  here  preserved  a  fine  oil  painting  of 
the  Koi'tiigssce  in  the  Bavarian  Alps,  and  a 
marble  statue  of  Judith,  gifts  of  John  R.  Ford. 
Further  there  are  memorials  of  the  brothers  of 
Mrs.  R.  L.  Stuart,  a  benefactor  of  New  York 
University  ;  busts  of  Professor  Botta  and  of 
Professor  Henry  Draper,  the  original  patent 
of  Stephenson's  first  street  car,  bearing  the 
autographs  of  Andrew  Jackson  and  Roger  B. 
Tane}',  a  gigantic  coral  from  the  Bermudas 
secured  by  Professor  Bristol,  and  other  souve- 
nirs of  the  past,  including  a  lithograph  of  the 
first  Medical  P'aculty  of  New  York  L^niversity. 
From  this  Chancellors'  Hall  the  Faculty, 
headed  by  the  Chancellor,  pass  each  morning 
into  the  auditorium  for  College  prayers.  To 
the  north  of  this  noble  apartment  we  pass  to 
a  series  of  four  halls  with  galleries,  containing 
several  thousand  framed  engra\'ings,  a  notable 
collection  made  by  Dr.  Wallace  Wood,  Lecturer 
on  Art  in  the  L^niversity.  This  collection  is 
arranged  chronologically,  and  apart  from  the 
artistic  and  resthetical  value  has  many  features 
of  didactic  opportunity  to  illustrate  important 
epochs  in  the  history  of  human  civilization 
from  the  Attic  Parthenon,  the  ruins  of  Pompeii, 
to  Florentine  renaissance  and  so  down  to  Eliza- 
bethan interiors,  the  dress  and  habits  of   the 


200 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


Stuarts,  to  Hogarth  and  the  rococo  of  Louis 
XV.  and  of  Marie  Antoinette.  The  last  hall 
contains  matter  which  eventually  will  find  a 
place  in  some  technological  building  at  Uni- 
versity Heights,  the  most  notable  being  a 
fine  model  of  the  switch  and  block  system  of 
railway  practice,  a  gift  of  Frank  Jay  Gould, 
who  for  several  seasons  pursued  technological 
studies  at   University   Heights.      In  truth  all 


eight  hundred  fi.xed  seats.  Space  remains 
for  seven  hundred  folding  chairs,  so  that  fif- 
teen hundred  persons  can  be  accommodated 
in  this  aula,  which  apart  from  the  noble  use 
for  morning  chapel  service  when  Faculty  and 
students  are  daily  brought  together,  affords  rare 
accommodation  for  academic  functions,  celebra- 
tions and  entertainments,  as  College  concerts, 
oratorical    contests,   commencement    functions 


AUDITORIUM,    UNI 

these  halls  together  with  the  corridors,  form  the 
ground  floor  to  the  "  Hall  of  Fame  "  and  must 
be  devoted  finally  and  exclusively  to  memorials 
of  the  Great  Americans  whose  names  shall  be 
inscribed  in  the  colonnade  above.  But  some 
years  are  likely  to  pass  before  more  than  a  single 
hall  will  be  needed  for  patriotic  memorials. 

The  auditorium  has  over  six  hundred  chairs, 
inside  the  circle  of  pillars,  with  some  seventy 
chairs  on  the  stage.  The  first  row  in  the 
gallery  adds  about  one  hundred,  making  near 


VERSITV    LIBRARY 

and  the  like.  The  organ,  built  by  Hook  & 
Hastings  of  Boston,  has  three  manuals,  the 
combination  of  sweetness  and  characteristic 
individual  purity  of  tone  as  well  as  strength 
and  power,  in  the  range  of  stops,  being  notable, 
from  sixteen  feet  bourdon  to  the  vox  angelica 
of  the  echo  organ.  Lewis  C.  Haynes,  New 
York  University,  1900,  was  the  first  organist 
appointed  for  the  new  auditorium. 

The  auditorium  proper  is  a  circular    struc- 
ture, the  outer   walls   being   octagon    and   the 


HISTORT  OF   NEW   YORK    UNIFERSITT 


20 1 


lighting  from  sun  antl  clay  is  most  effectively 
complete.  Sixteen  pillars  carried  a  flex  vaulted 
ceiling,  the  tcstitdo  of  the  Romans.  Immedi- 
ately above  the  auditorium  is  the  great 
Rotunda  of  the  library,  on  the  general  lines  of 
the  Pantheon.  Sixteen  columns  of  green 
marble  from  Connemara  County,  Ireland, 
carry  a  deeply-vaulted  dome,  with   entablature 


access  to  the  upper  seminar-rooms.  With  the 
most  substantial  metal  casings  and  facades 
for  eventual  alcoves,  the  library  is  designed 
to  be  fire-proof.  Eighteen  .seminar-rooms  will 
be  devoted,  one  each,  to  the  different  chairs 
of  University  work  and  their  particular 
collections. 

The  present  luicleus  of  books  at  the  Heights 


ROTUNDA,    UNIVERSITY    LIRRARV 


of  squares  and  rosettes  in  the  classic  manner 
decorated  in  a  gold-bronze  effect.  Likewise 
the  vestibule  is  adorned  both  in  its  wings  and 
above  the  great  central  staircase  with  a  barrel- 
vaulted  ceiling  of  decoration  and  architecture 
coordinate  with  the  central  dome.  The  floors 
of  vestibule  and  rotunda  are  prepared  of 
mosaic,  or  of  marble  in  regular  patterns.  A 
gallery    runs    around    the    rotunda,    affording 


is  about  forty  thousand  volumes,  largely  ac- 
quired in  the  last  eight  years.  The  collec- 
tions at  Washington  Square  raise  the  total  to 
fifty-five  thousand  volumes.  Thus,  at  the 
time  of  writing,  December  1900,  this  col- 
lection is  exceeded  by  those  of  Amherst 
College,  seventy  thousand  volumes,  Bowdoin 
sixty-four  thousand.  Brown  University  one 
hundred    thousand,  Columbia    University    two 


202 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


hundred  and  seventy-five  thousand,  Cornell 
two  hundred  and  twenty-five  thousand,  Dart- 
mouth eighty-five  thousand,  Harvard  five  hun- 
dred and  twenty-five  thousand,  Johns  Hopkins 
ninety  thousand,  Lehigh  one  hundred  thousand, 
Marietta  sixty-five  thousand,  Oberlin  fifty-two 
thousand,  Princeton  University  one  hundred 
and  forty  thousand,  University  of  California 
seventy-nine  thousand.  University  of  Chicago 
three  hundred  and  forty  thousand,  University 
of  Michigan  one  hundred  and  thirty-three 
thousand,  University  of  Pennsylvania  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  thousand.  University  of  Vermont 
fifty-five  thousand.  University  of  Wisconsin 
fifty-five  thousand,  Wesleyan  fifty-five  thou- 
sand, Western  Reserve  fifty-two  thousand, 
Yale  three  hundred  thousand. 

The  facade  proper  of  the  Memorial  Library 
is  that  of  the  Greek  Corinthian  order,  with  six 
columns  of  Indiana  sandstone  and  Corinthian 
capitals.  On  both  sides  of  the  entrance 
proper,  stairs  descend  leading  to  a  corridor 
opening  into  the  auditorium.  On  six  marble 
slabs  on  both  sides  of  this  lower  hall  are  en- 
graved the  words  "The  Fear  of  the  Lord  is  the 
Beginning  of  Wisdom,"  in  the  Hebrew,  Greek, 
Latin,  English,  German  and  French  languages. 
In  the  front  part  of  the  Library,  i.e.  the 
administration  building,  are  the  offices  of  the 
Chancellor,  and  rooms  for  Librarian  and  assist- 
ants. On  the  outer  verge  of  the  roof  of  the 
Museum  is  the  ambulatory  affording  exquisite 
vistas  to  south,  to  west  and  to  north.  On  the 
western  granite  wall  of  the  museum  is  a  foun- 
tain of  lions'  heads,  with  a  wide  bassin  below, 
and  the  new  coat  of  arms  of  the  University, 
ancient  runners  striving  for  the  goal,  and  the 
present  motto  "  Perstarc  ct  Praestarc,"  with 
the  raised  hand  and  arm  of  Liberty  with  the 
torch,  in  the  upper  half  of  the  medallion,  em- 
blem of  the  City  of  New  York.  Below  upon 
the  Avenue  is  a  second  Fountain,  the  gift  of 
the  University  to  the  city.  At  both  the  north 
and  the  south  end  of  the  granite  wall  of 
ambulatory  and  museum  there  is  a  ponderous 
arch  under  which  pass  the  driveways  leading  up 
from  Sedgwick  Avenue  to  the  level  of  Library 


Facade,  Hall  of  Languages  and  of  the  campus 
in  general.  A  vaulted  passage  leads  from  the 
Hall  of  Languages  to  the  southern  arch  en- 
trance leading  to  the  auditorium,  thus  afford- 
ing a  sheltered  communication  in  all  weathers 
and  seasons.  A  similar  passage  from  the 
north  arch  will  lead  to  the  Hall  of  Philosophy 
and  Applied  Science. 

For  a  monumental  building  the  Library 
enjoys  a  particularly  felicitous  site,  not  only 
presenting  a  vast  panorama  from  its  dome, 
or  from  the  ambulatory,  but  being  for  many 
miles  the  most  conspicuous  and  dominating 
object  in  the  landscape,  whether  viewed  from 
Washington  Bridge,  from  Fort  George,  from 
the  Speedway,  from  Inwood  and  the  wooded 
defiles  leading  to  the  Hudson,  from  Spuyten 
Duyvil,  from  Marble  Hill  and  from  Kings- 
bridge.  The  total  cost  will  reach  one  million 
dollars. 

Among  those  who  have  generously  aided 
the  gathering  and  preservation  of  books  at 
University  Heights  we  must  name  particularly 
William  F.  Havemeyer,  donor  of  the  Have- 
meyer  Laboratory  of  Chemistry  ;  Leveridge  ; 
William  Allen  Butler,  LL.D.  ;  Commodore 
David  Banks;  the  Rev.  Dr.  Rand,  from  whose 
gift  the  Department  of  Philosophy  received  a 
much  needed  equipment ;  the  Rev.  Dr.  Samuel 
Macauley  Jackson,  Professor  of  Church  His- 
tory, has  given  many  hundred  volumes  of  value 
and  importance.  The  Professor  of  Latin  has 
aided  the  Classical  Department  according  to 
the  measure  of  his  own  resources  as  well  as 
through  the  aid  of  friends  such  as  James 
Loeb.  Similar  contributions  have  been  made 
by  the  Professors  of  History  and  Political 
Science,  by  the  Professor  of  Semitic  Lan- 
guages and  others.  More  recently  William  F. 
Havemeyer  has  taken  steps  for  collection  of 
books  on  American  History.  A  wide  field 
remains  open  to  the  alumni.  The  steady 
growth  of  the  Graduate  School  renders  im- 
perative an  early  expansion.  The  autonomy  of 
an  academic  foundation  should  be  emphasized 
preeminently  in  its  library  and  its  scientific 
apparatus. 


204 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR   SONS 


The  College  Commencement  of  1895  was 
held  on  a  fair  day  in  June,  a  day  of  exquisite 
beauty,  in  the  Gymnasium  at  University 
Heights.  The  graduates  of  the  Under- 
graduate College  and  Science  School  num- 
bered twelve  Bachelors  of  Arts,  five  Bachelors 
of  Science,  seven  Bachelors  of  Philosophy  and 
six  Civil  Engineers.      Among  the  honorary  de- 


resources  of  the  University  at  University 
Heights  by  his  lyrics,  a  noble  element  of 
social  life,  particularly  when  sung  as  the  free- 
dom of  the  Heights  invites  song.  One  of  the 
most  familiar  smaller  lyrics  of  Goethe  cele- 
brates the  violet,  beginning  thus  : 

"  Ein  Veilchen  auf  der  Wiese  stand, 
Gebiickt  in  sich  und  unbekannt." 


DOME    OF    ROTUND.\,     LIBRARY 


grees  of  1895  was  that  of  Doctor  of  Laws 
bestowed  upon  the  distinguished  publicist  and 
philanthropist  Oswald  Ottendorfer,  that  of 
Master  of  Laws  on  Vice-Dean  Clarence  D. 
Ashley  and  Professor  Frank  A.  Erwin  of  the 
Law  School.  Willis  Fletcher  Johnson  of  '79, 
who  received  the  Master  of  Literature,  a 
most  loyal  son  of  New  York  University,  and 
one  favored    by  the    muse,    has    enriched  the 


"  A  violet  there  grew  upon  the  mead,  alone, 
Bent  in  itself  and  all  unknown." 

Willis  Fletcher  Johnson's  Ode  to  the  Violet 
of  New  York  University  is  more  robust  and 
full  of  loyal  aspiration  :  it  is  the  most  popular 
of  New  York  University  lyrics  ;  its  fine  lines 
have  given  vigor  and  energy'  to  the  student 
life  at  the  Heights,  and  they  well  deserve  a 
permanent  place  in  this  recital.     And  may  we 


HISTORY  OF   NEIV    YORK    UNIVERSITY 


205 


—  as  we  are  spcakinji^  of  the  particular  emblem 
of  New  York  University  —  make  a  remark 
upon  the  symbolism  of  the  College  color? 
Vio/ft  is  a  compound  tint  made  up  of  red  and 
blue  :  red,  the  symbol  of  strong  love  and  affec- 
tion ;  b/iic,  the  calm  and  unvarying  emblem  of 
fidelity  and  unswerving  devotion.  But  here  is 
Mr.  Johnson's  poem  : 

THE    VIOLET. 

(.\IR,  "  Die  VVacht  am  Rhein  ")  : 

The  Violet  blooms  in  springtime  fair, 
And  perfume  sheds  upon  the  air, 


The  Violet  —  we  sing  its  praise  I 

The  Violet  —  our  voices  raise  I 

With  steadfast  faith  and  loyal  manhood  true, 

We  pledge  the  Violet  of  N.  V.  U. 

The  Violet  blooms  within  each  heart. 
Safe  cherishwl  there  with  wisdom's  art. 
Its  sweet  perfume  in  life  to  shed. 
On  all  the  paths  our  feet  may  tread. 

The  Violet  —  we  sing  iis  praise  1 

The  Violet  —  our  voices  raise  ! 

With  steadfa.st  faith  and  loyal  manhood  true. 

We  pledge  the  Violet  of  N.  V.  U. 

In  the  autimin   of    1895  the  University  Col- 
letre  was  strenuthencd  tiirouLih  the  endowment 


ANTE-ROOM    TO    CHANCELLORS    OFFICE,    UNIVERSITY    LIBRARY 


To  vie  with  lily  and  with  rose 

The  sweetest  flower  the  garden  knows. 

The  Violet  —  we  sing  its  praise  ! 

The  Violet  —  our  voices  raise  ! 

With  steadfast  faith  and  loyal  manhood  true. 

We  pledge  the  Violet  of  N.  V.  U. 

The  Violet  blooms  when  life  is  new. 
The  world  just  breaking  on  our  view. 
Beside  the  garden-gate  of  youth. 
To  bid  God-speed  in  ways  of  truth  1 


of  seven  scholarships,  given  by  Miss  Helen 
Miller  Gould,  at  first  S5000,  but  later  enlarged 
to  $6000  each  ;  three  Jay  Gould  scholarships, 
the  nomination  to  these  to  be  in  the  gift  of  the 
founder  ;  further,  a  Delaware  County  Scholar- 
ship, a  Ro.xbury  Scholarship,  a  Western 
Scholarship,  and  a  Southwestern  Scholarship, 
these  four  to  be  competitive.  The  candidate 
for  either  the  Delaware  County  Scholarship  or 


2o6 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


the  Roxbury  Scholarship  to  be  a  resident  of 
Delaware  county,  New  York,  and  candidates 
for  the  Western  Scholarship  must  be  residents 
upon  the  line  of  the  Missouri  Pacific  Railway 
system  ;  the  candidate  for  the  Southwestern 
Scholarship  must  be  a  resident  upon  the  line  of 
the  Texas  Pacific,  the  St.  Louis  Southwestern, 
or  the  International  Great  Northern  Railway ; 
a  certain  preference  among  candidates  to  be 
shown  to  sons  of  persons  connected  with  the 
railways  above  named. 

Also  Miss  Helen  Miller  Gould  strength- 
ened the  School  of  Pedagogy  by  increasing 
to  $5000  the  scholarship  founded  in  1894,  in 
memory  of  Jay  Gould,  and  added  four  fur- 
ther scholarships  in  Pedagogy,  two  in  memory 
of  her  mother,  to  be  known  as  the  Helen  Day 
Gould  scholarships ;  the  third,  to  be  called 
the  Western  Scholarship,  was  to  be  open  to 
teachers  residing  along  the  line  of  the  Missouri 
Pacific  and  Iron  Mountain  railways,  while  the 
Southwestern  Scholarship  was  to  be  given  to 
teachers  residing  along  the  line  of  the  Texas 
and  Pacific,  St.  Louis  Southwestern  and  the 
International  Great  Northern  railways.  At 
the  same  time  Miss  Ida  Northrop  endowed 
one  Scholarship  in  Pedagogy  with  $4000,  and 
one  in  the  University  College  with  S5000,  the 
nomination  to  be  in  the  gift  of  the  founder. 
Similar  benefactions  for  the  School  of  Peda- 
gogy were  made  by  Mrs.  Dr.  John  P.   Munn. 

Dr.  Samuel  Weir  was  appointed  in  this  fall 
of  1895  to  teach  the  History  of  Education  and 
Ethics  in  the  School  of  Pedagogy,  also  to 
assist  in  the  instruction  in  Philosophy  in  the 
Graduate  School.  In  this  autumn  also  there 
began  his  work  as  Professor  of  German,  Law- 
rence McLouth,  lately  an  Instructor  at  the 
University  of  Michigan.  This  incumbent  of 
the  German  chair  succeeded  subsequently  in 
securing  from  an  eminent  gentleman  of  Ger- 
man ancestry  and  earlier  training,  Oswald 
Ottendorfer,  the  foundation  of  a  special  library 
which  is  known  as  the  New  York  University 
Germanic  Library.  This  collection,  which 
even  at  this  writing  is  without  a  peer  or 
parallel    in    America,   is    still    making.     Even 


now  it  contains  some  9000  to  10,000  vol- 
umes. Its  comprehensiveness  is  very  remark- 
able :  it  contains  more  than  sixty  sets  of 
periodicals  specifically  devoted  to  the  philol- 
ogy or  literary  history  of  Germanic  tongues, 
many  of  these  sets  being  completed  and  termi- 
nated. It  embraces  lexical  works  which 
deal  not  only  with  Anglo-Saxon,  Gothic, 
and  the  various  stages  of  German  proper, 
but  also  Netherlandish  and  the  Scandinavian 
tongues,  also  the  dialects  of  the  various  sec- 
tions of  Germany.  It  contains  furthermore 
the  vast  and  costly  collection  of  mediaeval 
records  known  as  the  Monumenta  Germaniae 
Historica.  A  full  collection  of  literature  in 
German,  dealing  with  art  and  its  history  as 
well  as  with  the  vast  field  of  philosophy,  is 
added,  as  well  as  the  publications  of  some  of 
the  foremost  academies  of  Germany,  so  that 
for  the  purpose  of  research  we  may  well  look 
forward  to  the  time  when  University  Heights 
will  be  one  of  the  central  points  of  resort  for 
these  studies. 

The  official  "opening  "  of  University  Heights 
was  celebrated  on  October  19,  1895,  being  fa- 
vored by  exquisite  skies,  when  addresses  were 
made  by  Chancellor  Upson  of  the  State  Board 
of  Regents,  by  Presidents  Gates  of  Amherst 
and  Hill  of  Rochester,  by  Dr.  Charles  Butler, 
Mayor  William  L.  Strong,  William  Allen  But- 
ler, LL.D.,  and  by  the  Chancellor,  who  said 
at  the  conclusion  of  his  address  :  "  By  request 
of  the  founder  of  the  Library,  the  Chancellor 
will  proceed  to  break  ground  for  that  edifice. 
It  promises  to  be  a  memorial  worthy  every 
way  of  its  giver,  its  position,  its  purpose  and 
its  architect.  I  recite  the  words  which  I  shall 
repeat  upon  breaking  the  sod  :  We  begin  this 
Library  to  the  glory  of  God,  trusting  that,  as 
to-day  we  have  marked  its  site  by  flags  of  all 
nations,  so  that  they  shall  bring  the  glory  and 
the  honor  of  the  nations  into  it ;  and  that  the 
prophet's  further  word  shall  also  be  true,  that 
'  there  shall  enter  into  it  nothing  that  defileth 
or  worketh  abomination,  and  may  the  blessing 
of  Almighty  God,  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Spirit 
rest  upon  this  work." 


HISTORY   OF   NEW    YORK    UNIVERSITY 


207 


A  special  report  of  the  entire  celebration 
was  publislietl  throuj^h  the  jjjeiierosity  of  Com- 
modore Banks.  In  the  fall  of  this  year  John 
E.  Brodsky  gave  a  Latin  Prize  of  $50  annually 
for  five  years  :  the  work  set  being  in  Suetonius 
(1896),  in  autobiography  and  mythological  and 
geographical  range  of  Horace,  in  an  elaborate 
Latin  biography  of  the  J"21der  Cato,  in  the  six 
plays  of  Terence,  and  in  the  Odes  and  Lpodes 
of  Horace,  with  Commentary  of  Porphyrio. 
The  winners  of  the  prize  were :  in  1 896,  Lugene 
Mills  of  that  year  ;  in  1 897,  divided  between 
\V.  J.  Tompkins  and  Isaacs  of  1897  ;  in  1898, 
divided  between  Leslie  Shear  of  1900  and 
Thomas  McClelland  of  1899,  also  in  1899  to 
the  latter  in  1900  by  J.  Leslie  Shear.  On 
November  1 1,  1895,  it  was  reported  that  Frank 
Russak,  1875,  would  give  Si 00  annually  for 
five  years  as  a  scholarship  in  the  School  of 
Engineering. 

Early  in  1896  the  name  of  this  University 
was  changed  to  New  York  University  from 
"  University  of  the  City  of  New  York "  — 
with  the  immediate  result  of  shortening  the 
title  by  nearly  one-half,  and  of  making  the 
legal  title  correspond  with  the  popular  designa- 
tion of  the  University,  and  further  with  some 
fair  hopes  of  reducing  the  amount  of  confusion 
with  the  "  College  of  the  City  of  New  York," 
and  the  "University  of  the  State  of  New 
York."  In  the  session  of  the  Legislature  of 
1897  there  was  also  passed  a  law  protecting 
the  property  at  University  Heights  against  the 
cutting  of  any  street  or  other  public  thorough- 
fare through  the  campus.  Commodore  David 
Banks  and  Senator  Jacob  Cantor  rendered 
valuable  services  in  this  matter. 

Chancellor  MacCracken,  whose  vacations 
for  the  past  two  years  had  been  nominal,  and 
whose  labors  had  been  excessive  and  exhaust- 
ing, took  a  much  needed  rest  in  the  second 
half  of  February  1896,  by  sailing  to  Naples, 
whence  he  returned  by  way  of  France  in  April 
of  the  same  year. 

Georges  Cante,  of  Paris,  was  appointed  a 
Professor  of  French  Literature  in  the  Grad- 
uate School. 


On  February  3,  1896,  the  proposed  exten- 
sion of  the  Medical  Course  to  four  years  was 
for  the  first  time  officially  brought  to  the 
attention  of  the  Council.  Almost  immediately 
upon  his  return  from  Italy  in  April  the  Chan- 
cellor was  called  upon  to  aid  those  who  offi- 
ciated at  the  funeral  services  of  Dean  Austin 
Abbott,  of  the  Law  School,  at  the  Broadway 
Tabernacle,  the  distinguished  Jurist  having  in 
the  preceding  winter  with  his  zeal  to  promote 
right  understanding  of  great  public  questions 
(as,  e.g.  that  of  international  arbitration  sug- 
gested by  the  Venezuela  dispute)  greatly  ex- 
posed his  health  by  excessive  exertions. 

In  May  1896  it  was  reported  that  R.  G. 
Remsen  had  given  $2000  for  a  scholarship 
in  the  School  of  Engineering,  as  well  as  a 
Graduate  School  Scholarship.  The  Rev.  Dr. 
Samuel  Macauley  Jackson  was  appointed  Pro- 
fessor of  Church  History.  The  Class  of  1896 
in  the  Undergraduate  College  graduated  thirty- 
three  students. 

Professor  Frank  M.  Colby  was  chosen  to 
begin  instruction  in  Economics  in  the  sub- 
sequent autumn.  In  October  a  gift  of  $2000 
for  general  purposes  from  Robert  Schell  was 
announced.  In  this  same  year,  in  October 
1896,  Clarence  D.  Ashley  began  his  important 
work  as  Dean  of  the  Law  School. 

The  University  during  this  fall  very  much 
desired  to  make  the  work  of  its  day-division 
of  students  in  the  Law  School  a  course  of 
three  years,  but  it  could  not  very  well  take 
this  step  as  long  as  this  had  not  been  made 
obligatory  upon  all  law  schools  in  the  state 
by  the  enactment  of  a  specific  statute  at 
Albany,  by  the  Board  of  Regents.  The 
statute  has  not  yet  been  enacted,  but  when 
we  consider  the  requirements  of  medical  edu- 
cation now  in  force  we  are  sure  that  increased 
demands  for  Law  as  well,  will  be  ultimately 
enacted.  In  December  1896  a  gift  of  S3000 
from  Frank  Jay  Gould  was  announced,  to 
be  devoted  to  a  scholarship  in  Engineering 
for  students  coming  from  the  Union  High 
School  of  Roxbury,  Delaware  county.  New 
York. 


2o8 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR   SONS 


The  most  notable  occurrence  of  the  academic 
annals  of  1896  was  the  inauguration  of  the 
fine  residence  hall,  on  Thanksgiving  Day. 
This  beautiful  College  building  was  at  first 
called  East  Hall,  but  in  course  of  time  the 
generous  donor,  Miss  Helen  Miller  Gould,  gave 
permission  to  have  it  assume  the  name  it  now 
bears,  "  Gould  Hall,"  in  memory  of  her  parents. 
It  is  built  of  Stat  en  Island  light  brick  and 
.sandstone,   in  the   Renaissance  style  of   archi- 


The  view  from  the  upper  stories  across  the 
Bronx  borough,  largely  a  sylvan  prospect,  takes 
in  also  the  silvery  streak  of  the  Sound  and  the 
distant  blue  line  of  the  ridge  of  hills  marking 
the  backbone  of  Long  Island.  The  cost  of 
Gould  Hall,  besides  furniture,  has  been  some 
$175,000. 

In  March  1897  Professor  Charles  H.  Snow 
was  appointed  Dean  of  the  Engineering  School, 
Professor  Brush  being  made  Professor  Emer- 


GOLLD    H.\LL 


tecture,  in  lines  both  restful  and  pleasing,  the 
roof  of  Spanish  tiles,  the  long  facade  pleasantly 
varied  by  pilasters  setting  off  the  north  and 
south  entrance.  This  building,  of  basement 
and  four  stories,  fireproof  within  and  equipped 
with  both  gas  and  electric  light,  can  accom- 
modate one  hundred  and  twelve  students,  and 
is  particularly  well  equipped,  inter  alia,  with 
fine  showerbaths.  A  fine  music  room  is 
provided  for  the  work  of  the  Glee  Club  and 
was  furnished  with  a  superb  Steinway  grand 
piano  by  the  giver  of  this  beautiful  structure. 


itus.  During  the  summer  of  1897  Professor 
J.  J.  Stevenson  visited  the  Scientific  World's 
Congress  at  Moscow,  Russia,  and  Professor 
Sihler  made  a  professional  visit  to  Naples, 
Pompeii,  Rome,  the  Villa  Hadriana  near  Tibur 
and  other  points  of  antiquarian  interest. 

During  1 898  and  1 899  the  work  at  Univer- 
sity Heights  steadily  ad\-anced  in  efficiency  and 
success,  the  superior  environment  of  that  rare 
site  being  most  distinct  and  palpable  in  all 
seasons,  including  the  summer,  as  was  clearly 
shown  by  the  summer  schools  of  1895,  1896, 


lIlSTORr  OF   NEW  YORK    UNIVERSITY 


209 


1897,  1898,  I  899  and  1900.  This  enterprise,  in 
which  Professor  Robert  \V.  Hall  of  the  Chemi- 
cal Department  was  parlicukuiy  active,  was 
inaugurated  in  1895,  some  thirty-five  teachers 
being  quartered  at  Charles  Butler  Hall.  The 
work  increased  steadily.  The  enrollment  of 
1898  was  abnormally  increased  by  new  require- 
ments made  of  city  teachers,  for  which  this 
school  offered  preparation.  These  require- 
ments were  relaxed  after  one  year.  The  mem- 
bers of  1899  were  about  one  hinulred.  The 
attendance  of  those  eminently  qualified  to  utilize 
such  opportunities  of  special  training  as  well 
as  expansion 
of  general 
culture,  has 
grown  stead- 
ily. Courses 
in  certain 
lines  of  Peda- 
gogy have 
always  been 
given,  besides 
Biology, 
American 
History,  Ger- 
man Lan- 
guage and 
L  iterature, 
Mathematics, 
Physics  and 
Latin,  with  a  ^'"^'^  ^''^^^ 

course  of  Lectures  on  Roman  History.  To 
how  great  an  extent  such  work  may  quicken 
and  inspire  the  souls  of  teachers  often  jaded 
and  worn,  none  but  those  can  full}-  realize  who 
have  had  the  felicity  of  active  furtherance  of 
this  particular  work.  Teachers  after  all  work 
with  and  work  upon  teachers  whose  higher 
faculties  of  judgment  and  perception  are  whole- 
somely kindled  or  rekindled,  and  who  are 
brought  into  close  contact  with  personal  re- 
sources ever  enlarged  by  constant  professional 
accumulation  along  definite  lines  of  scholar- 
ship and  scientific  investigation.  The  fact 
that  mature  men  take  charge  of  this  work  at 
University  Heights  is  important  :  for  he  who 


has  accumulated  much  can  best  adjust  his 
didactic  giving  to  the  particular  needs  of  his 
pupils,  particularly  if  these  i)e  themselves 
teachers ;  and  furthermore,  such  a  one  can 
best  feel  and  maintain  that  sympathy  and  tact 
which  mu.st  inform  and  enliven  every  didactic 
effort.  The  pro.spect  of  the  approaching  open- 
ing of  the  Memorial  Library  adds  vastly  to  the 
assets  of  the  .Summer  School. 

Among  the  institutions  where  the  teacher- 
students  of  the  New  York  University  Summer 
Schofjl  were  originally  trained  or  prepared 
before  they  took  up  teaching  as  a  profession, 

we  may  men- 
tion the  New 
York  Normal 
College  ;  the 
College  of  the 
City  of  New 
York  ;  New 
York  Univer- 
sity ;  South 
Carolina  Col- 
lege ;  Magno- 
lia Classical 
and  Normal 
College,  Ala- 
bama ;  Cor- 
n  e  1  1  ;  St. 
Francis  Xa- 
vier  ;  Bridge- 
water  Normal 
School  ;  Colby ;  Union  ;  New  Jersey  State 
Normal  School ;  Albany  Normal  College ; 
Rockport  State  Normal  School,  New  York ; 
Keystone  State  Normal  School,  Penn.sylvania  ; 
Kutztown  State  Normal  School,  Pennsylvania  ; 
Rutgers  ;  Colorado  State  University  ;  Cooper 
Union  ;  Syracuse  ;  Smith  ;  Ursinus ;  Illinois 
Wesleyan  ;  Shippensburg  Normal  School,  Penn- 
sylvania ;  Oneonta  Normal,  New  York,  and 
other  institutions. 

In  1896  Professor  Bristol  began  to  make  a 
special  study  of  the  marine  fauna  of  Bermuda, 
and  being  aided  by  some  friends  of  New  York 
University  he  has  established  a  Summer  School 
of  Biology  there,  the  conditions  for  such  work 


OOUI.n    HALT, 


2IO 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


being  there  exceptionally  favorable,  and  he  has 
furnished  many  of  the  raider  fishes  now  found 
in  the  public  Aquarium  of  the  City  of  New 
York. 

The  School  of  Engineering  was  much  im- 
proved and  strengthened  in  1898  through  new 
endowments  for  technological  work,  some 
$200,000  being  particularly  given  for  this  end 
by  Miss  Helen  Miller  Gould.  The  name  of 
the  school  was  changed  to  the  New  York 
University  School  of  Applied  Science,  in  order 
that  it  might  more  truly  designate  its  enlarged 
scope.  It  offers  courses  partly  for  technical 
training,  partly  for  personal  culture.  Of  the 
former  are  Mechanical  Drawing,  Mathematics, 
Surveying,  Chemistry,  Shop  Work,  Railway 
Engineering,  Physics,  Theoretical  and  Applied 
Mechanics,  Geology,  Highway  Engineering, 
Strength  of  Materials,  Graphical  Statics, 
Hydraulics,  Waterworks,  Boilers  and  Elngincs, 
Thermodynamics,  Kinematics,  etc.,  while  for 
personal  culture  and  general  training  these 
serve  :  French  and  German  (indirectly  of  tech- 
nological use  also  of  course),  English,  liter- 
ature and  rhetorical  e.xercises,  Philosophy  ;  the 
technological  work  gaining  steadily  in  propor- 
tion as  the  courses  proceed.  There  are  now 
grouped  in  the  School  of  Applied  Science,  in 
four  chief  departments  in  each  of  which  a  degree 
may  be  attained,  namely,  Civil  Engineering, 
Mechanical  Engineering,  Chemical  Engineer- 
ing, Applied  and  Industrial  Chemistry. 

Meanwhile  the  noble  work  of  the  Woman's 
Advisory  Committee  has  never  lagged.  This 
great  and  decisive  aid  New  York  University 
has  enjoyed  from  its  first  establishment  in 
1890,  throughout  the  decade  now  closing  and 
terminating  the  century.  Miss  Emily  Butler 
was  first  President,  and  associated  with  her 
were  Mrs.  Mary  J.  Field,  Vice-President  ; 
Mrs.  Alfred  L.  Loomis,  Treasurer ;  further 
Mrs.  Alexander,  Mrs.  G.  A.  Herter,  Miss 
A.  B.  Jennings,  Mrs.  Eugene  Smith,  Secretary, 
Mrs.  Benjamin  Williamson,  Mrs.  Richard  M. 
Hoe,  Mrs.  Frederick  W.  Downer,  Mrs.  Henry 
Draper,  Mrs.  Edward  C.  Bodman,  Mrs.  W^illiam 
F.    Cochrane,   Mrs.   Benjamin  S.   Church.     In 


1 893-1 894  there  were  added  Miss  Helen 
Miller  Gould,  Mrs.  John  P.  Munn  and  Miss 
Stimson.  In  subsequent  years  there  entered 
the  committee  Miss  Ida  M.  Northrop,  Mrs. 
I.  Lowrie  Bell,  Miss  Frances  E.  Lake  and 
Mrs.  Welcome  G.  Hitchcock.  In  1 895-1 896 
Mrs.  Henry  Draper  became  President,  Mrs. 
F".  W.  Downer  Vice-President,  and  Mrs.  C.  A. 
Herter  Treasurer.  In  1 896-1 897  Mrs.  Russell 
Sage  and  Mrs.  Jefferson  Hogan  entered  the 
Committee.  In  1897- 1898  Mrs.  Joseph  East- 
man joined.  In  1 898-1 899  Mrs.  Lewis  Lapham 
came  in.  The  School  of  Pedagogy,  in  which 
so  many  women  students  are  found,  was  more 
particularly  the  object  which  owes  to  these 
ladies  very  much  of  its  substance  and  support, 
as  well  as  much  care  and  help  bestowed  on 
such  students  as  came  from  a  distance. 

The  Woman's  Legal  Education  Society,  as 
we  briefly  adverted  to  its  beginnings  in  the 
7th  chapter  of  this  recital,  founded  early  in 
the  nineties,  lectures  called  "  Lectures  on  Law 
for  Non-Matriculants,  and  in  particular  for 
Business  Women,"  Emily  Kempin,  LL.D., 
being  the  Lecturer,  Mrs.  Leonard  Weber  being 
President  of  the  Society,  and  Dr.  Mary  Put- 
nam Jacobi  Treasurer.  The  next  year,  1891- 
1892,  Professor  Christopher  G.  Tiedeman  was 
Lecturer.  In  1892- 1893  Professor  Isaac  F. 
Russell  became  the  Lecturer,  and  an  examina- 
tion to  be  held  in  April  was  placed  at  the 
disposal  of  those  members  or  auditors  who  had 
gone  through  the  whole  course.  In  1 894-1 895 
the  Chancellors'  Certificate  was  announced  as 
to  be  awarded  only  to  those  students  who 
pas.sed  a  strict  final  examination.  A  prize 
scholarship,  valued  at  $200,  in  the  form  of 
two  years'  free  tuition  in  the  University  Law 
School,  was  to  be  awarded  to  the  student  who 
passed  the  best  examination.  An  Association 
of  Alumnae  was  formed.  Twenty-nine  stu- 
dents received  the  Chancellor's  Certificate  for 
1894.  The  next  year  the  Chancellor's  Cer- 
tificate was  awarded  to  almost  fifty  students 
among  whom  was  Mrs.  Martha  Buell  Munn 
and  Miss  Helen  Miller  Gould.  The  former 
of   these  ladies   has   since  that  time  held   the 


HISTORT  OF  NEIV   YORK   UNIVERSITY 


21  I 


office  of  President  of  the  Woman's  Legal 
Education  Society,  and  the  latter  that  of  Vice- 
I'resident.  Miss  Isabelle  Mary  I'ettus,  who 
graduated  at  the  same  time,  has  since  proven 
herself  particularly  efficient  as  Assistant  Lec- 
turer of  the  Society.  On  April  29,  1896,  the 
Chancellor's  Certificate  was  awarded  to  forty- 
seven  students,  and  on  many  more  in  the 
closing  years  of  the  centur\-,  the  nineteenth 
after  the  Birth  of  our  Lord,  and  the  Fourteenth 
after  Justinian,  who  took  important  steps  to 
ameliorate  the  position  of  woman  in  the  Roman 
Civil  Law. 

In  August  1899,  and  in  August  1900,  two 
new  departments  were  grafted  upon  the  grow- 
ing organism  of  the  New  York  Universit}'. 
The  fir.st  is  the  New  York  American  Veter- 
inary College,  the  other  the  New  York  Uni- 
versity School  of  Commerce  and  Finance. 

THE    SCHOOL    OF    COMMERCE    AND    FINANCE. 

The  School  of  Commerce,  Accounts  and 
Finance  has  begun  its  first  year's  work  in  the 
University  Building  on  Washington  Square,  a 
location  ideally  fitted.  The  legal  portion  of 
this  training  —  in  Contracts,  Trusts,  Bills  and 
Notes,  International  Law,  Sales  and  Agency 
Partnership  —  is  furnished  by  the  regular  Pro- 
fessors of  Law  in  their  several  courses  ;  but 
besides  this,  instruction  is  given  in  Auditing 
and  the  History  of  Accountancy,  Theory  of 
Accounts,  Public  Finance  and  Banking,  For- 
eign Commercial  Relations  and  Consular  Ser- 
vice, Domestic  Commercial  Relations  and 
Transportation,  Practical  Accounting,  Insur- 
ance, Economic  Geography  and  Statistics  by 
Messrs.  Charles  Waldo  Haskins,  C.P.A.  ; 
Charles  E.  Sprague,  M.A.,  Ph.D.,  C.P.A.  ; 
Ferdinand  William  Lafrentz,  C.P.A. ;  Anson 
O.  Kittredge,  C.P.A.;  Leon  Brummer,  C.P.A., 
and  Francis  W.  AjTnar,  LL.M.,  and  others, 
yet  to  be  named.  We  append  the  official  words 
of  the  Central  Administration  of  New  York 
University : 

"The  School  of  Commerce,  Accounts  and 
Finance  of  New  York  University  is  a  result  of 
the  present  general  movement  in  Europe  and 


the  I'liitcd  States  in  l)ehalf  of  the  higher 
commercial  education.  Its  establishment  is 
immediately  due  to  enthusiastic  action  on  the 
part  of  the  j)rofessional  accountants  of  the 
State  of  New  York.  Accountancy  was  raised 
to  the  dignity  of  a  legally  recognized  and 
safeguarded  profession  in  New  York  by  the 
Certified  Public  Accountants  Act  of  1896 'to 
regulate  the  profession  of  public  accountants  ; ' 
and  under  this  act  certificates  of  qualification 
to  practice  as  certified  public  accountants,  with 
exclusive  right  to  use  the  initials  C.P.A.  as  a 
professional  designation,  are  granted  to  those 
only  who,  having  had  three  years'  satisfactory 
e.xperience  in  the  practice  of  accounting, 
including  one  year  in  the  office  of  an  expert 
public  accountant,  pass  an  examination  in  the 
theory  of  accounts,  in  practical  accounting,  in 
auditing,  and  in  commercial  law.  The  Board 
of  Examiners  appointed  by  the  Regents  early 
resolved,  in  the  spirit  of  the  legislative  enact- 
ment, to  place  the  requirements  of  the  exami- 
nation upon  such  an  educational  basis  as  would 
insure  to  the  profession  of  certified  public 
accountancy  the  confidence  and  respect. of  the 
commercial  and  financial  world  ;  and  thus  was 
created  the  necessity  for  a  new  institution 
for  professional  instruction.  Experience  had 
shown  that  professional  education  in  the  higher 
accountancy,  as  in  law  and  medicine,  must  be 
placed,  for  the  public  welfare,  under  State 
care  and  University  control.  Accordingly, 
application  was  made  to  New  York  Univer- 
sity, looking  to  the  establishment  of  a  school 
or  college  of  accountancy ;  and  on  July  28, 
1900,  after  mature  deliberation  of  the  matter 
by  the  Council,  the  Chancellor  of  the  Univer- 
sity announced  to  the  New  York  State  Society 
of  Certified  Public  Accountants  the  official 
approval  legalizing  the  foundation  of  the 
institution. 

"Coincident  with  the  imperative  and  in- 
creasingly urgent  demand  for  adequate  educa- 
tion in  all  branches  of  the  higher  accountancy, 
there  is  being  developed,  by  the  multiplying 
exigencies  of  modern  business,  an  important 
calling  coming  to  be  known  as  the  profession 


21  2 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


of  administration  ;  a  profession  represented  by 
men  of  affairs  whose  bent  of  mind  and  wiiose 
studies  and  experience  fit  them  to  grasp,  in  all 
its  fullness  and  in  all  its  parts  and  ramifica- 
tions, any  enterprise,  of  whatsoever  kind,  in 
the  world  of  trade  and  commerce,  and  to  take 
full  charge  of  the  venture  and  carry  it  forward 
to  a  successful  issue.  The  administrator,  the 
man  of  signal  executive  ability,  handles  the 
reins  of  a  multifarious  business  on  comprehen- 
sive principles  ;  principles  which  are  to  him 
of  more  importance  than  the  knowledge  of 
technical  details  possessed  by  his  subordinates, 
however  valuable  this  knowledge  may  also 
be  to  him  as  accessory  to  his  administrative 
capacity.  From  these  leaders  of  affairs  in  the 
world  of  commerce  and  finance  —  for  them- 
selves as  proprietors  and  managers,  and  for 
their  assistants  who  are  to  succeed  them  in 
control  of  business  —  has  come  the  present 
universal  ajjpeal  to  professional  educators  for 
university  instruction  in  the  sciences  imme- 
diately connected  with  practical  life."  To 
meet,  therefore,  this  twofold  demand  for  the 
higher  commercial  education  and  for  a  school 
or  college  of  accountancy,  the  Council  of  the 
University  decided  to  establish  the  school  on 
a  broad  basis  of  advanced  instruction  in  ac- 
counting, commercial  law,  and  economic  sci- 
ence, and  to  name  the  institution  The  New 
York  University  School  of  Commerce,  Ac- 
counts and   Finance. 

"  This  school  differs  from  the  several 
schools  of  finance  or  commerce  recently 
established  by  prominent  Universities  in 
America  in  that  its  entire  instruction  is 
intended  to  be  professional  in  character.  It  is 
in  no  way  to  be  confounded  with  or  substituted 
for  the  course  of  liberal  culture  in  a  College 
of  Arts  and  Science,  but  it  may  be  advantage- 
ously connected  therewith.  The  School  of 
Commerce,  Accounts  and  Finance  is  founded 
in  the  firm  belief  that  business  education, 
adequately  to  meet  existing  and  future  con- 
ditions of  civilization,  must  be  placed  upon  a 
scientific  basis  ;  that  traditional  methods,  office 
routine,   and    procedure    of    control    must    be 


traced  to  their  underlying  principles ;  that 
native  genius  for  trade  and  finance  must  be 
reinforced  by  a  well-grounded  knowledge  of 
economics,  accountancy  and  commercial  law ; 
that  not  only  administrators  of  affairs,  but,  in 
due  proportion,  their  assistants,  ought  each  to 
understand  the  philosophy  as  well  as  the  art 
of  his  calling  and  be  able  intelligently  to  adapt 
himself  and  his  work  to  the  exigencies  of  the 
commercial  and  financial  world. 

"  The  school  is  twofold  in  its  aim  :  to  ele- 
vate the  standard  of  business  education,  and 
to  furnish  a  complete  and  thorough  course  of 
instruction  in  the  higher  professional  account- 
ancy. In  accountancy,  the  Act  of  1896  and 
the  rules  of  the  Regents,  substantially  mark 
out  the  course  of  study  ;  which,  however, 
includes  the  historical  as  well  as  the  legal, 
practical  and  theoretical  aspects  of  the  sub- 
ject. In  the  more  general  higher  commercial 
education,  the  plan  of  the  school  is  elastic  ; 
and  the  courses  in  economics  and  commercial 
law  will  be  enlarged,  and  other  studies  will  be 
added,  as  circumstances  require.  This  plan  of 
study  is  broad  enough  in  scope,  it  is  believed, 
not  only  to  meet  the  wants  of  the  prospective 
professional  accountant,  for  whom  it  is  primarily 
intended,  but  also  for  those  who  are  to  be 
administrators  of  affairs,  and  to  whom  a  work- 
ing knowledge  of  accountancy,  commercial  law 
and  economics  is  of  the  first  importance. 

"The  w'ork  of  the  school  is  carried  on  at 
the  new  University  Building,  Washington 
Square,  New  York  City.  In  this  building  are 
located  also  the  Administration  Offices  and 
three  other  schools  of  the  University :  the 
Graduate  School,  the  School  of  Pedagogy,  and 
the  Law  School.  The  position  of  the  school 
in  New  York  enables  it  to  secure  the  services 
of  practical  business  men  and  public  account- 
ants as  instructors  and  lecturers  along  lines  in 
which  they  have  arrived  at  eminence.  The 
Library  of  the  school  contains  the  best  w^orks 
in  English  and  the  Continental  languages  — 
especially  the  French  —  on  the  Higher  Account- 
ancy ;  and  others  will  be  added  as  the  present 
meagre  bibliography  of    the  subject  may  per- 


ENTRANCE,    WASHINGTON    SQUARE    BUILDING 


214 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


mit.  The  Law  Library,  containing  about 
14,000  volumes,  including  all  the  standard 
works  on  Commercial  Law,  and  to  which  the 
students  of  the  school  have  access,  is  located 
in  the  University  Building;  and  the  Astor 
Library  of  283,000  volumes,  and  especially 
rich  in  works  on  Commerce  and  Finance,  is 
within  three  minutes'  walk  of  the  School." 

THE    SAXDHAM    PRIZE. 

In    1899   Miss  Anna  M.  Sandham,  in   com- 
memoration of  her  brother,  the  late  Augustus 


Sandham,  Esq.,  endowed  two  prizes  in  Oratory, 
with  a  fund  of  $2500  ;  one  prize  of  $75,  and 
one  of  $2C,.  The  first  public  contest  of  this 
highly  valued  foundation  was  held  in  the  Audi- 
torium at  University  Heights  on  the  Monday 
of  Commencement  week,  1900.  Months  of 
preliminary  trials  and  a  severe  process  of  grad- 
ual elimination  of  weaker  condidates  had 
preceded  this  final  test.  Distinguished  gentle- 
men not  connected  with  the  Faculty  of  New 
York  University  acted  as  judges. 

E.  G.  s. 


CHAPTER    IX 


The  Reorganization  of  the  Medical  School.  —  The  Veterinary  College. 


IN  1885  the  only  school  of  New  York  Uni- 
versity under  the  immediate  direction  of 
the  Corporation  was  the  College  of  Arts 
and  Science.  The  three  professional  schools, 
Medicine,  Law  and  Engineering,  were  permitted 
to  exist  in  many  respects  as  if  the  private  enter- 
prises of  Professors.  In  each  of  the  two  last 
named  a  single  Professor,  as  late  as  1888,  had 
the  entire  management,  collected  the  fees, 
paid  his  assistants  what  he  deemed  expedient, 
and  reserved  the  remainder,  usually  a  meagre 
sum,  for  his  own  compensation.  It  need  not 
be  said  that  either  school  was  a  lilliputian  when 
judged  from  a  University  point  of  vision. 

This  state  of  affairs  in  these  two  schools  was 
brought  to  an  end  about  1890,  by  the  new 
advance  movement  of  the  University.  But  it 
continued  in  the  Medical  School  and  that  in  a 
very  objectionable  fashion.  In  this  College 
instead  of  a  single  Professor,  some  half-dozen 
Professors  were  the  virtual  proprietors.  This 
proprietorship  had  been  authorized  by  the 
Council  in  1841  at  the  organization  of  the 
school,  as  a  temporary  expedient.  At  that 
time  the  control  of  the  finances  of  the  school 
and  of  the  nomination  of  Professors  was  given 
the  governing  Professors,  but  under  the  fol- 
lowing proviso  offered  by  Charles  Butler : 
"  And    the   Council    hereby   also  expressly  re- 


serve the  power  of  repealing  and  amending  the 
plan  of  organization  of  the  Medical  Faculty." 

When  in  1870  certain  moneys  were  collected 
from  the  friends  of  the  University,  on  behalf 
of  a  medical  building,  it  was  proposed  to  vest 
the  title  of  the  property  in  the  corporation. 
Certain  Professors  had  solicited  funds  in  the 
name  of  the  University  and  of  its  Faculty.  The 
President  of  the  Council  and  many  of  the 
members  had  made  subscriptions.  Also  funds 
were  raised  from  outside  the  Council.  Thus 
the  first  nucleus,  amounting  to  about  $20,000, 
was  secured.  The  following  agreement  re- 
corded March  27,  1870,  contemplated  the 
assumption  by  the  Council  of  all  liabilities  upon 
the  property  :  "The  Council  shall  assume  the 
entire  indebtedness  of  the  Faculty  in  said  prop- 
erty, the  transfer  to  be  made  when  the  sum  of 
$40,000  shall  have  been  paid  to  the  Treasurer 
of  the  Council  from  subscriptions  or  donations 
made  for  the  liquidation  of  such  indebtedness." 

The  subscriptions  did  not  reach  the  amount 
named.  The  title  of  the  property  remained  in 
the  Professors,  who  paid  for  it  partly  by  the 
above  named  $20,000,  partly  by  a  first  mort- 
gage, and  partly  by  moneys  loaned  by  the 
Professors  for  which  they  issued  to  themselves 
certificates  of  stock.  In  order  to  perfect  this 
arrangement,  the  governing  Professors  became 


flfSrORT   OF    NKli'    YORK    VNIVRRSITT 


215 


incorporated  as  the  Medical  College  Lal)<)rat()ry. 
The  Council  acquiesced  in  the  action  of  these 
Professors  as  in  accord  with  the  agreement  of 
1 84 1,  by  which  the  Governing  Faculty  had 
become  the  business  agents  of  the  University 
in  the  matter  of  the  College  of  Medicine. 

Down  to  the  year  1886,  no  outside  element 
had  come  in  between  tlie  Council  and  the  Med- 
ical Faculty.  In  that  year  a  third  party  was 
introduced,  an  intrusion  which  was  effected 
without  any  consultation  with  the  Council,  • — 
and  wliich  became  the  root  of  the  schism  of 
1898.  A  giver  of  moneys  appeared,  who  in- 
tended well,  yet  failed  to  see  that  he  ought  to 
repose  trust  in  New  York  University  if  he 
purposed  to  concern  himself  with  its  affairs. 
This  was  O.  H.  Payne,  a  patient  of  Dr.  Loomis, 
who  decided  to  build  the  Loomis  Laboratory, 
for  the  exclusive  use,  as  Dr.  Loomis  declared 
at  the  time  in  writing,  of  the  Medical  Depart- 
ment of  New  York  University.  Its  Trus- 
tees, by  the  special  desire  of  the  giv'er,  were 
to  be  Dr.  Loomis  and  his  son,  and  three 
business  men  who  were  none  of  them  related 
to  the  University.  Such  a  laboratory  would, 
however,  be  of  no  consequence  standing  by  it- 
self. Therefore,  it  was  to  be  joined  to  the  Uni- 
versity Medical  College.  Dr.  Loomis,  who  was 
the  senior  Professor  of  the  Medical  Faculty, 
appeared  before  his  associates  with  the  pro- 
posal to  place  this  laboratory  under  its  control. 
He  put  on  file  a  paper  which  declared  that  he 
did  this  according  to  the  expressed  wish  of  his 
friend,  the  giver.  Dr.  Loomis  said  of  the 
giver :  "  He  designated  that  it  should  be 
known  as  the  Loomis  Laboratory  of  the  Medi- 
cal Department  of  the  New  York  University; 
that  w^hen  completed  it  should  be  handed  over 
to  a  Board  of  Trustees  who  should  hold  it  in 
trust  for  the  use  of  the  Faculty  and  students. 
It  was  to  be  for  'the  exclusive  use  of  the 
Faculty  and  students  of  the  Medical  Depart- 
ment of  the  New  York  University.'  " 

On  the  strength  of  this  agreement.  Dr. 
Loomis,  as  the  agent  of  the  giver,  secured  the 
announcement  by  the  University  and  its  Fac- 
ulty   of    the    new  laboratory  as    a  University 


Lai)onitory.  Wide  fame  was  given  it.  Further, 
the  University  on  motion  of  the  Faculty 
bestowed  upon  Dr.  Loomis's  son  the  Professor- 
ship of  Pathology.  How  these  written  decla- 
rations of  Dr.  Loomis  were  declared  by  his 
friend,  Mr.  Payne,  on  oath  twelve  years  after- 
wards to  be  utterly  void  of  foundation,  will 
appear  further  on.  A  .sad  want  of  educational 
vision  was  here  shown  in  bringing  in  a  third 
corporation  between  the  Medical  T'aculty  and 
the  University  Council,  and  between  one  por- 
tion of  the  Medical  l-'acully  and  another  portion. 

This  lack  of  vision  was  further  manifest 
when  in  1892  this  same  patient  of  Dr.  Loomis 
gave,  for  the  sake  of  his  physician,  a  second 
sum  of  money.  The  state  requirement  of  three 
years'  study  for  a  medical  degree,  made  the 
proprietary  school  wholly  unprofitable.  The 
medical  property  was  heavily  indebted,  espe- 
cially to  Dr.  Loomis.  Mr.  Pa}ne  agreed  to 
pay  this  debt,  but  instead  of  placing  the 
property  under  University  ownership,  he  ar- 
ranged that  it  should  remain  in  the  hands  of 
the  Medical  College  Laboratory  ;  and  that  the 
three  business  men  who  were  Trustees  of  the 
Loomis  Laboratory  should  become  Trustees  of 
this  corporation  also.  They,  with  two  Profes- 
sors, easily  made  a  working  majority.  Thus 
the  Faculty,  which  under  the  agreement  of 
1 841  was  appointed  the  agent  of  the  Univer- 
sity Corporation,  was  virtually  crowded  out  of 
this  office  by  the  intrusion  of  outsiders,  at  the 
dictation  of  a  giver  of  moneys. 

This  intrusion  was  effected  entirely  without 
the  knowledge  or  consent  of  the  University 
Council.  The  collecting  and  expending  of  the 
revenues  of  the  Medical  College  were  assumed 
by  this  hybrid  corporation  which  was  in  part 
made  up  of  Professors,  and  in  part  of  an  out- 
side element  which  at  no  time  professed  to 
have  any  regard  for  New  York  L'niversity. 

The  Medical  College  did  not  prosper  as 
expected.  In  1896,  when  the  other  University 
schools  were  going  forward  with  new  life,  the 
Medical  School  was  falling  back.  The  death 
of  Dr.  Loomis,  in  1895,  contributed  to  the 
decline   of   the  Faculty  and   its   work.     They 


2l6 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


were  hopelessly  behind  the  great  schools  of 
Harvard  and  Pennsylvania  Universities,  which 
had  placed  themselves  unreservedly  upon  the 
University  system. 

The  University  Council,  including  the  Chan- 
cellor, had  been  able  to  do  little  for  them, 
albeit  the  latter  had  responded  more  than  once 
to  calls  from  the  Medical  Faculty  for  his  help. 
In  1 88 1,  when  a  serious  condition  of  affairs 
was  created  among  the  students  by  a  certain 
decision  of  the  Professors,  he  had  been  asked 
to  preside  over  the  Faculty,  and  had  received 
their  thanks  for  his  assistance.  He  had  se- 
cured subscriptions  of  money  also  for  the  aid 
of  the  medical  work.  Neither  Chancellor  nor 
Council  had  ever  requested  from  the  governing 
Faculty  any  return  except  that  they  would  so 
labor  as  to  advance  the  name  of  the  University. 
They  had  scrupulously  fulfilled  the  agreement 
of  1 84 1.  They  had  kept  silent  at  the  viola- 
tion of  this  agreement  by  the  bringing  in  of 
outsiders  to  take  the  place  of  Professors. 

The  condition  of  the  Medical  College  grew 
rapidly  worse.  This  was  made  public  in  a 
form  very  trying  to  the  other  Faculties  of  the 
University,  and  to  the  Chancellor.  For  half 
a  dozen  years  the  State  Regents  had  examined 
medical  graduates  applying  for  license  to  prac- 
tice in  the  State  of  New  York.  They  published 
the  results  broadcast.  Out  of  twelve  schools 
they  placed  the  University  Medical  College 
next  the  lowest,  or  number  eleven  for  the 
whole  period  from  1891  to  1895.  For  the 
year  1 895-1 896  they  placed  it  the  very  lowest. 
Among  the  Regents  who  authorized  this  report 
was  Dr.  Stimson,  an  active  member  both  of 
the  Medical  Faculty  and  of  each  of  the  Boards 
of  Trustees  who  had  possession  of  the  medical 
property.  It  was  not,  however,  the  low  edu- 
cational condition  of  the  school  which  mo.st- 
threatened  the  future  of  the  school  ;  it  was 
dissension  between  the  Professors.  After  the 
death  of  Dr.  Loomis,  the  next  in  age  was  Dr. 
William  H.  Thomson.  He  became  the  suc- 
cessor to  his  Professorship,  and  the  object  of 
severe  assault  upon  the  part  of  one  of  his 
associates. 


In  the  autumn  of  1896,  Dr.  Stimson  called 
upon  the  Chancellor  with  the  one  object,  as  he 
testified  in  Court,  to  secure  "  the  removal  of 
one  member  of  the  Faculty."  "We  dis- 
cussed," he  said,  "the  possibility  of  removing 
him  by  the  action  of  the  Council."  This  con- 
ference was  described  by  the  Chancellor,  testi- 
fying in  the  same  case  in  the  Supreme  Court. 
He  said,  "Dr.  Stimson  stated  as  the  main 
object  for  which  he  had  come  to  see  me, 
whether  the  University  Council  would  not 
take  measures  that  would  result  in  the  chanjre 
of  the  persoimel  of  the  Medical  Faculty  to  the 
extent  at  least  of  one  member.  He  suggested 
as  a  possible  way  of  securing  the  removal  of 
this  Professor,  the  establishing  an  age  limit 
for  Professors  of  the  University  in  all  of  the 
Faculties."  "I  told  him  that  the  Council 
would,  I  thought,  be  utterly  unwilling  to  en- 
ter on  the  making  of  a  statute  of  that  kind, 
when  it  would  be  plain  that  it  was  intended  to 
affect  that  particular  individual."  "  I  further 
said  that  a  precedent  of  fifty  }ears  was  opposed 
to  the  Council  touching  the  Medical  College 
except  upon  the  request  of  the  Medical  Fac- 
ulty. He  then  asked  me  whether  there  was 
not  any  way  that  we  could  get  at  this  matter 
of  making  a  change  in  the  personnel  of  the 
Medical  Faculty.  I  said  that  no  way  pre- 
sented itself  to  me  save  by  their  ])lacing  them- 
selves on  the  same  platform  with  the  other 
schools  of  the  University,  namely,  by  the  old 
arrangement  of  more  than  fifty  years'  standing 
from  1 84 1  being  dissolved  by  their  turning 
over  the  entire  administration  and  also  the  pos- 
sessions that  were  used  for  medical  instruction 
to  the  Cor])oration  of  the  University." 

This  suggestion  of  substituting  Unixersity 
for  outside  control  was  not  new.  It  had  been 
seen  by  Dr.  Loomis  that  New  York  University 
needed  to  follow  Harvard  and  Pennsylvania  in 
this  direction.  He  had  caused  to  be  inserted 
in  the  charters  of  both  the  Medical  College 
Laboratory  and  the  Loomis  Laboratory  a  clause 
empowering  them  to  transfer  their  property 
to  New  York  University.  He  had  become  a 
member  of    the  Council  and  had    brouirht   in 


o 
o 


2l8 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


Mr.  Payne  as  a  member,  in  the  interests  of 
medicine.  They  had  taken  places  on  the 
Medical  College  Committee,  which  however 
did  no  work  because  the  outside  control  left 
no  work  to  be  done.  Dr.  Loomis's  death  left 
Mr.  Payne  the  nominal  head  of  this  Committee. 
Now  that  there  was  promise  of  direct  Univer- 
sity control  of  the  College,  two  new  members 
were  added  to  the  Council  and  to  the  Medical 
Committee,  upon  the  endorsement  of  Mr. 
Payne.  One  of  them,  Mr.  Dimock,  became 
Chairman  of  the  Medical  College  Committee. 

Upon  March  i,  1897,  upon  the  recommen- 
dation of  this  Committee,  the  Council  assumed 
the  direct  charge  of  the  Medical  College  and 
accepted  the  transfer  of  the  property  of  the 
Medical  College  Laboratory.  As  to  the 
Loomis  Laboratory,  the  Committee  declared 
"  Dr.  Loomis's  statement  shows  the  precise 
relation  which  the  Trustees  of  the  Loomis 
Laboratory  sustain  to  the  University  Medical 
College."  At  this  date  it  seemed  that  the 
Medical  College  was  at  last  placed  upon  a 
University  footing.  An  impartial  Council  of 
thirty-two  men  were  to  be  the  arbiters  of  its 
affairs.  A  Medical  College  Committee  were 
to  interest  themselves  especially  in  Medical 
Education.  This  Committee  at  once  found 
themselves  face  to  face  with  the  dissension 
between  members  of  the  Faculty.  They  dis- 
liked the  task  of  displacing  one  or  other  of  the 
eight  governing  Professors. 

At  this  juncture  occurred  the  partial  de- 
struction by  fire  of  the  property  of  the  Bellevue 
Hospital  Medical  College,  for  near  fifty  years 
a  competitor  of  the  University  College,  and 
situated  across  the  way.  The  Chancellor  at 
once  requested  a  member  of  the  Committee, 
Dr.  John  P.  Munn,  an  alumnus  of  Bellevue,  to 
consult  its  Faculty  upon  the  question  of  uniting 
themselves  with  the  University.  Upon  his  re- 
porting them  favorably  disposed,  the  Chancellor 
brought  the  matter  before  the  Chairman  of  the 
Medical  College  Committee  and  before  Mr. 
Payne,  both  of  whom  at  once  endorsed  the 
plan  as  a  happy  solution  of  the  problem  of 
directing  the  medical  work  of  the  University. 


The  probable  attitude  of  the  Medical  Faculty 
was  also  ascertained  and  found  to  be  favorable. 
Thereupon  the  Council,  March  18,  1897,  in- 
vited the  Bellevue  College  to  join  the  Univer- 
sity. The  invitation  was  unanimously  accepted 
by  both  the  Corporation  and  the  Faculty  of 
that  College. 

To  an  educator,  the  prospects  of  the  Medical 
School  of  New  York  University  now  seemed 
ideal.  The  University  Council  was  in  control. 
The  Medical  School  Committee  was  believed 
to  be  devoted  to  the  building  up  of  a  great 
^Medical  School  under  New  York  University. 
All  the  Professors  by  resigning  their  places, 
at  the  request  of  the  Council,  professed  their 
willingness  to  submit  to  the  decisions  of  that 
body.  All  went  smoothly  till  the  time  came 
for  the  distribution  of  appointments.  In  order 
to  secure  data  for  this,  the  Chancellor  had 
invited  and  received  opinions  from  every  Pro- 
fessor of  either  school,  to  be  held  in  confi- 
dence by  the  Medical  College  Committee.  The 
Committee  declined  to  consider  these  opinions, 
and  adopted  a  roll  of  appointments  framed  by 
its  Chairman  from  the  recommendations  of  one 
or  two  former  University  Professors.  The 
Medical  College  Committee  adopted  this  "slate" 
of  its  Chairman  against  the  Chancellor's  plan 
of  an  impartial  and  extended  inquiry  into  the 
merits  of  Professors.  The  Chancellor  asked 
the  consent  of  the  Chairman  to  a  minority 
report.  He  replied  by  threatening  to  resign 
should  a  minority  report  be  presented.  Fur-, 
ther,  he  and  the  Committee  refused  to  give  a 
hearing  to  the  accredited  representative  of  the 
University  to  the  Faculty  of  Bellevue.  The 
Chancellor,  hoping  that  the  Committee's  as- 
signment of  Professors  might  be  successful, 
refrained  from  a  minority  report. 

The  majority  report  was  adopted  May  14, 
1897.  A  memorial  came  back  to  the  Council 
May  24,  from  the  Professors-elect  from  the 
Bellevue  side,  asking  the  Council  to  revise 
the  assignments.  They  noted  that  of  the  first 
seven  chairs  the  University  professors  were 
given  four,  the  Bellevue  only  one,  while  two 
were  divided.     The  Council  thereupon  recon- 


IIISTOIO'   OF   NFJV    rORK    UNIVERSITY 


219 


sidcrrd  its  action  ami  recjuircd  a  new  report 
from  the  Medical  Committee,  which  was  made 
May  26  and  was  adopted,  excepting;  five  sup- 
plementary resolutions  upon  whicii  the  Council 
were  not  prepared  to  act  intellif;ently.  The 
Council  believed  that  they  had  accomplishetl 
an  equitable  assignment  of  appointments  for 
the  consoli- 
dated Fac- 
ulty. They 
set  so  high  a 
value  upon 
the  consolida- 
tion of  these 
two  impor- 
tant schools, 
that  they  pur- 
posed to  ar- 
rive at  the 
very  best 
plan,  if  it 
should  "  take 
all  summer." 
At  this 
juncture  the 
work  of  the 
Council  was 
interrupted 
by  an  extraor- 
dinary proce- 
dure of  a  ma- 
jority of  the 
former  Uni- 
versity Pro- 
fessors. 


CLINIC,     NEW    YORK.    UNIVERSITY    AND    BELLEVUE    HOSPITAL    MEDICAL 

COLLEGE 


The\  might  justly  have  been  left  out  of  office 
by  the  University,  for  the  two  rea.sons  that 
they  had  degraded  the  school  within  the  five 
years  preceding  to  the  lowest  rank  among  the 
twelve  schools  of  the  state,  as  shown  by  the 
Regents'  report,  and  that  they  had  wronged 
the  Council,  who  were  sitting  as   umpires   at 

great  cost  of 
time  and 
effort,  by 
d  r  i  \'  i  n  g  off, 
with  threats, 
the  Profes- 
sors-elect 
from  Belle- 
vue.  But  the 
Council  were 
very  forbear- 
ing. Here  is 
their  state- 
ment : 

They  mildly 
asked  the  Pro- 
fe.^sois  from  the 
University  side 
"to  go  on  by 
themselves  under 
the  statutes  and 
officers  that  had 
been  approved  by 
thtni." 


Neither 
the  disturb- 
ing Profes- 
sors nor  the 
Medical  Col- 
lege Commit- 
tee were  con- 
tent to  work 


"  Who,  instead 
of  patiently  wait- 
ing for  amend- 
ment by  us  of  our  decision  as  umpires,  if  such  should  prove  under  the   Council.     They  had  defeated    this 

best,  caused  the  withdrawal  of  the  sister  Faculty  from  the  •        1      1      •       4.1              *t           <•         „   ^1;  i„t;   „ 

,. ,    .      ,                                         ,     ,        ,       ,  superior  body  in  the  matter  of    consolidation. 

consolidation   by   private   communications,  both    oral    and  ^                      ■' 

written,  addressed  to  the  latter."  [See  statement  of  Council  They  now  made  the  demand  that  the  Council 
in  appendix.]  should  tum  back  the  direct  control  of  the 
The  procedure  of  the  Council  towards  the  Medical  School  to  the  same  outside  corpora- 
University  Professors  was  not  proportioned  to  tion  that  had  recently  conducted  it  so  unsuc- 
their  offence.  They  had  all  resigned  office,  as  cessfully.  The  minority  Professors  of  this 
above  noted,  at  the  University's  request,  in  outside  corporation  had  resigned  their  places 
order  to  prepare  the  way  for  the  consolidation,  by  reason  of  the  plan  of  consolidation.      This 


220 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


rendered  the  Medical  College  Laboratory,  so- 
called,  more  than  e\'er  an  unfit  party  to  repre- 
sent the  University,  yet  it  asked  to  be  put  in 
possession  once  more  both  of  the  medical 
property  and  the  medical  instruction.  In 
urging  their  request,  the  disturbing  Professors 
put  forth  the  theory  that  the  property  had  been 
transferred  to  the  University  under  a  contract 
made  by  the  Chairman  of  the  Medical  Com- 
mittee, and  that  this  contract  had  been  violated. 
This  claim  was  made  in  the  following  language  : 
"  That  the  transfer  was  made  with  the  under- 
standing that  the  control  and  management  of 
the  property  should  remain  with  the  Medical 
Department,  and  for  that  purpose  the  interests 
of  our  Faculty  should  be  represented  by  a 
Medical  Committee  of  your  institution,  com- 
posed of  gentlemen  selected  by  the  Faculty,  to 
whom  should  be  intrusted  the  entire  and  exclu- 
sive management  of  matters  appertaining  to  it." 
An  active  canvass  of  the  members  of  the 
Council  was  made  by  the  disturbing  Professors 
and  their  agents.  A  written  threat  was 
addressed  to  each  member  of  the  Council  that 
the  University  would  be  publicly  charged  with 
violation  of  a  trust.  It  was  hoped  that,  even 
though  no  member  of  the  Council  believed  the 
accusation,  the  majority  of  the  Council  would 
let  go  the  Medical  College  rather  than  make  a 
public  issue,  especially  when  the  giver  of  the 
largest  part  of  tlie  property  endorsed  the  dis- 
turbing Professors  in  their  urgent  demand.  A 
special  committee  of  the  Council  reported  in 
favor  of  a  partial  surrender.  According  to 
this,  the  direction  of  medical  education  and  of 
the  property  used  for  the  same  were  to  be 
returned  to  the  Medical  College  Laboratory 
for  fifteen  years.  This  breaking  up  of  the 
recently  established  L^niversity  system,  was 
opposed  unanimously  by  the  six  Deans  of  the 
si.x  Faculties,  who  presented  the  following 
paper  : 

"  The  undersigned  Deans  of  the  six  Schools  of  the  New 
York  University  beg  to  present  to  the  Council  the  follow- 
ing memorial  :  — 

"  We  have  been  appointed  by  your  body  to  be  permanent 
members  of  the  University  Senate.  This  body  is  designed 
to  have  an  educational  oversight  of  the  University,  also  it 


is  to  have  the  direction  of  certain  University  matters,  as  for 
example,  Commencements.  At  our  first  meeting  in  Decem- 
ber, on  motion  of  Professor  Polk  of  the  Medical  School,  we 
entered  upon  the  question  of  arranging  for  a  single  Univer- 
sity Commencement,  but  our  most  important  work  is  to 
present  recommendations  to  the  Council  respecting  the  uni- 
fying and  advancing  of  University  education. 

\Ve  now  learn  that  your  body  is  considering  the  turning 
over  of  the  Medical  School  to  other  than  University  con- 
trol. We  respectfully  ask  that  such  action  be  not  favored 
by  your  body,  because  it  will  cripple  if  not  disorganize  the 
University  Senate  and  its  entire  work.  We  further  request 
that  if  such  a  movement  is  seriously  considered  by  you,  we 
may  be  permitted  a  hearing  by  your  body  before  final  action 
is  taken." 

Also  the  entire  Faculty  of  Arts  and  Science 
entered  their  protest  as  follows  : 

"The  undersigned  Professors  of  the  New  York  Univer- 
sity College  Faculty  respectfully  represent  to  the  University 
Council  as  follows :  — 

"  We  are  informed  that  a  Committee  of  your  body  are 
moving  to  place  the  Medical  School  as  completely  outside 
University  control  as  it  was  a  year  ago.  Such  an  act  would 
seriously  affect  this  College.  We  have  the  present  year,  for 
the  first  time,  correlated  the  first  year  of  Medical  study 
with  the  fourth  year  of  College  study.  We  have  done  this 
with  the  hope  that  the  University  Council,  with  the  help  of 
the  University  Senate,  would  supervise  this  correlation  and 
make  it  eminently  helpful  to  both  the  undergraduate  Col- 
lege and  the  Medical  College.  This  system,  adopted  by  us 
with  your  approval,  will  be  seriou.sly  marred  if  you  should 
resign  control  of  the  Schoul  of  Medicine.  Therefore  we 
respectfully  petition  that  before  you  surrender  your  pres- 
ent control  of  that  school,  a  hearing  upon  this  question  may 
be  granted  to  representatives  of  the  College  P'aculty." 

The  issue,  after  extended  debate,  was 
decided  by  the  Council  adopting,  by  a  vote  of 
thirteen  to  eight,  the  following  action  : 

"Resolved,  that  justice  and  faithfulness  to 
its  trust  demand  that  New  York  University 
maintain  its  present  statute  relation  to  its 
School  of  Medicine." 

The  minority  with  one  or  two  exceptions 
resigned  at  various  dates  their  seats  in  the 
Council. 

The  disturbing  Professors  thereupon  entered 
into  a  negotiation  with  Cornell  University  in 
the  same  state,  to  transfer  themselves  and  as 
much  of  the  New  York  University  Medical 
College  as  they  could  carry  with  them  to  that 
corporation.  They  were  sustained  in  this  step 
by  Mr.  Payne  with  a  pledge  of  money  support. 
A    confidential    bare:ain    was     entered     into 


HISTORl"  OF  NEW  YORK   UNIVERSITY 


221 


between  these  parties  and  Cornell,  whose  terms 
have  never  been  fully  made  jniblic. 

On  the  announcement  of  this  combination, 
the  New  York  University  Council  resumed  its 
plan  of  consolidating  with  the  University 
School  its  ancient  neighbor,  the  Bellevue 
HosiJital  Medical  College.  At  the  Commence- 
ment, May  19,  1898,  at  the  Metropolitan  Opera 
House,  the  action  of  the  Council  was  read  by 
the  Chancellor  as  follows  : 


"The  Council  have  further  maintained  that  they  are  be- 
yond all  possible  question  the  rightful  successors  of  the 
Trustees  of  the  Medical  College  Laboratory,  and  are  the  only 
proper  persons  to  execute  that  trust.  Vet  they  have  offered, 
without  reserve,  to  submit  all  cpiestions  involving  our  equity 
in  the  entire  medical  property  used  by  us,  to  arbitration. 
This  offer  has  been  rejected. 

"  We  here  record  as  a  subject  of  equal  surprise  and  re- 
gret to  this  Council  that  a  sister  University  some  weeks  ago 
began  negotiations  looking  to  the  establishment  of  a  new- 
Medical  School  in  this  city,  with  what  was  plainly  a  combi- 
nation of  Professors  at  variance  with  their  own  University, 
and  this  without   any  consultation  with    this   University  and 


LECTURE    ROOM,    NEW    YORK.    UNIVERSITY    AND    BELLEVUE    HOSHIT.AL    MEDICAL    COLLEGE 


"The  following  action  was  unanimously  adopted  by  the 
New  York  University  Council  on  Monday,  May  i6th,  being 
presented  by  Mr.  William  A.  Wheelock  on  behalf  of  the 
committee  preparing  the  same  : 

"The  Council  of  New  York  University  regret  to  be 
obliged  to  announce  that  by  reason  of  the  failure  of  some 
of  our  Professors  of  Medicine  since  May  26,  1897,  to  observe 
the  duties  belonging  to  their  relation  to  us  under  the  Uni- 
versity system,  as  inteipreted  by  the  Council,  we  were 
constrained  to  condition  their  continuance  as  permanent 
Professors  upon  their  acceptance  of  existing  University  rules 
and  requirements.  The  six  Professors  who  belonged  to  the 
former  governing  Faculty  have  rejected  this  offer,  and,  ac- 
cordingly, will  cease  at  the  end  of  this  College  year  to  be 
connected  with  New  York  University. 


without  the  slight  delay  which  would  have  enabled  these 
Professors  decently  to  tender  their  resignations  of  their 
present  Professorships. 

"  The  Council  further  announces  that  the  Trustees  of  the 
Bellevue  Hospital  Medical  College  have  to-day  voted  to 
complete  the  consolidation  of  that  CoMege  with  New  York 
Univer.sity.  The  strength  of  these  two  venerable  founda- 
tions will  henceforth  be  given  to  a  single  Medical  School 
under  the  title  of  'The  University  and  the  Bellevue  Hospi- 
tal Medical  College.'  The  alumni  of  the  two  schools,  num- 
bering nearly  ten  thousand  graduates,  will  be  placed  on  the 
rolls  of  the  University.  The  two  properties,  together  oc- 
cupying 225  feet  front  in  East  26th  street,  near  First  Avenue, 
and  costing  about  5500,000,  will  be  owned  by  the  New  York 
University  and  used  by  the  united  school. 


222 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


"  The  Faculty  of  the  new  school  will  consist  of  Dr. 
Edward  G.  Janeway,  Dean,  and  seven  Professors  of  the 
former  University  Medical  Faculty  and  twenty-one  Profes- 
sors and  Adjunct  Professors  of  the  former  Bellevue  Medi- 
cal Faculty,  together  with  such  additional  Professors  as  may 
hereafter  be  appointed.  Besides  these  are  thirty  or  more 
lecturers,  instructors  and  assistants.  The  complete  roll  of 
the  Faculty  will  hereafter  be  announced." 

The  consolidated  College  was  opened  Octo- 
ber I,  1898,  and  has  been  notable  for  harmony, 
and  as  a  model  of  organization,  breadth  and 
thoroughness.  The  following  winter  the  for- 
mer Trustees  of  the  Medical  College  property 
brought  suit  against  the  University,  demanding 
its  return.  The  issue  was  based  chiefly  upon 
the  assertion  of  Mr.  Dimock,  former  Chairman 
of  the  Medical  Committee  of  the  Council,  that 
he  had  made  certain  promises  on  behalf  of  the 
University  in  consideration  of  the  transfer, 
which  promises  the  University  had  failed  to 
keep.  He  claimed  to  ha\e  made  this  bargain 
for  the  University  at  a  date,  December  19, 
1 896,  when  he  had  not  yet  attended  a  meeting 
of  the  University  Council.  F'urther,  he  ad- 
mitted that  he  had  not  made  any  report  of 
such  bargain  to  the  Council,  but  had  presented 
a  report  that  a.sserted  the  direct  opposite  of 
any  bargain  with  condition.s.  Mr.  Uimock  was 
sustained  in  this  assertion  by  the  disturbing 
Professors.  Yet  one  of  the  Professors,  under 
cross-examination,  acknowledged  in  Court  that 
he  had  written  a  "brief  historic  note"  to  be 
used  in  a  circular  of  the  consolidated  School, 
which  said,  "This  system  [that  is  the  Univer- 
sity system]  was,  in  March  1897,  perfected  by 
the  unconditional  transference  of  all  the  prop- 
erty of  the  Medical  College  to  the  parent 
University." 

The  University  resisted  this  suit.  George 
A.  Strong  in  his  reply  for  the  University, 
after  an  extended  review  of  the  testimony, 
spoke  as  follows  regarding  the  assertion  that 
the  property  had  been  deeded  to  the  University 
in  consideration  of  certain  promises :  "  For 
montlis  after  this  intcrviczv  of  December  igth, 
everybody,  on  both  sides,  was  saying  that  the 
promises,  nozv  alleged  to  have  been  made,  had 
not  been  made.'' 


Further,  the  University  brought  suit  against 
the  Trustees  of  the  Loomis  Laboratory,  to  com- 
pel them  to  employ  their  property  according  to 
the  terms  of  the  instrument  filed  by  Dr. 
Loomis.  Under  this  instrument,  the  Univer- 
sity Faculty  had  enjoyed  the  use  of  it  for  a 
decade  of  years.  The  issue  in  this  latter  suit 
turned  chiefly  upon  the  question  whether  Dr. 
Loomis's  statement  was  accurate  and  binding. 
The  counsel  for  the  University,  Mr  Strong, 
said  in  reference  to  this  :  "  Colonel  Payne  him- 
self, then,  did  once  fully  and  explicitly  endorse 
Dr.  Loomis's  version  of  the  terms  of  the  original 
gift.  In  the  face  of  this  fact,  which  conclusion 
is  necessary  —  that  the  great  mass  of  evidence 
collected  and  emphasized  under  our  first  point 
is  untrustworthy,  or  that  Colonel  Payne's  pres- 
ent memory  is  untrustworthy  .■•  We  submit 
that  the  evidence  cannot  be  weighed  without 
coming  to  the  conclusion  that  Dr.  Loomis's 
statement  contains  the  truth  in  regard  to  this 
trust,  for  every  fact  and  circumstance  in  the 
case  has  corroborated  Dr.  Loomis  in  this  and 
overthrown  Colonel  Payne." 

No  decision  has  as  yet  been  rendered  by  the 
Supreme  Court  in  either  of  these  cases.  Should 
they  be  carried  to  the  higher  courts,  and 
require  years  for  their  settlement,  the  chief 
benefit  to  New  York  University  will  accrue  to 
that  University  Faculty  which  educates  lawyers, 
and  subsists  chiefly  because  of  litigation. 

The  most  notable  features  of  the  University 
Medical  School  to-day  is  the  body  of  enthusi- 
astic young  scientists  devoted  to  the  work  of 
research  and  instruction.  An  Association  has 
been  formed  by  them  entitled  the  New  York 
University  Medical  Society,  which  will  be  a 
center  of  stimulus  through  conferences  and 
the  publication  of  papers.  Though  the  Society 
is  not  a  year  old,  it  has  made  large  plans 
and  entered  on  their  accomplishment.  Great 
watchfulness  and  zeal  are  shown  by  the  Fac- 
ulty in  the  perfecting  of  both  curriculum  and 
methods  of  instruction.  They  have  the  sym- 
pathy in  their  efforts  of  a  very  large  proportion 
of  the  active  alumni  of  either  of  the  former 
schools.     The  number  of  these  supposed  to  be 


IIISTORT   OF   NEir   1(JRK    UNlVEKSl'rT 


223 


slill  livini^and  \\\  practice  is  al^out  ten  thousand,  rooms  is  especially  designed  lor  clinical  teach- 

scattered  throuL;hout  the  entire  world.  ing    and    illustrative    lectures.       There   are   a 

Upon  the  material   side  abundant  room  and  number    of    recitation    rooms  in   which    small 

equipment  arc  provided.     First  of  all  the  Medi-  sections  of  the  classes  arc  instructed  by  te.xt- 


cal  schools  in 
this  region  it 
has  been  able 
to  set  apart 
(|uarters  for 
the  social  or- 
ganization of 
the  students. 
Three  build- 
ings are  at 
present  under 
the  control  of 
the  Faculty 
and  utilized 
for  teaching. 
This  does  not 
reckon  a 
property  on 
East  Twenty- 
fifth  Street  in 
the  immedi- 
ate rear  of 
the  East  Col- 
lege Building, 
of  one  hun- 
d  red  and 
twen  ty-f  ive 
feet  front, 
which  is  at 
present  held 
by  the  Uni- 
versity as  a 
pnxluctive  in- 
vestment. 
The  East 
College 


CARNEGIE     LABORATORY,     NEW     YORK     UNIVERSITY     AND     BELLEVUE 
HOSPriAL    MEDICAL    COLLEGE 


book  recita- 
tions. The 
top  floor  is 
occupied  by 
the  classes 
in  operative 
surgery,  and 
is  admirably 
lighted  and 
ventilated. 

The  New 
College  build- 
i  n  g  was 
planned  by 
the  F'aculty 
of  the  Belle- 
vue  Hospital 
Medical  Col- 
lege in  1897 
and  1 898  to 
meet  the 
demand  for 
the  larger 
classes  and 
the  increa.se 
in  the  curri- 
culum. It 
was  trans- 
ferred to  the 
New  York 
University  at 
the  time  of 
the  consolida- 
tion. S  i  t  u- 
ated  on  the 
corner  of 
First  Avenue 


building     is 

directly  opposite  the  entrance  of  Bellevue  and  Twenty-si.xth  Street,  it  adjoins  the  Carnegie 
Hospital  on  East  Twenty-si.xth  Street,  having  Laboratory  with  which  it  is  connected.  It  is 
a  frontage  of  one  hundred  feet  between  First  diagonally  opposite  the  grounds  of  Bellevue 
Avenue  and  I-last  River.  It  contains  two  large  Ho.spital,  and  convenient  to  the  Department 
lecture  rooms,  each  capable  of  seating  about  of  Charities  pier,  at  the  foot  of  East  Twenty- 
three  hundred  students.     One  of  the  lecture  si.xth    Street,  from  which    boats    connect    the 


224 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


city  with  the  large  institutions  on  Blackwell's, 
Ward's  and  Randall's  Islands.  The  building 
is  six  stories  high.  It  contains  on  the  ground 
floor  a  complete  clinic  for  the  outdoor  sick 
poor.  The  dispensary  is  open  at  hours  which 
are  best  suited  for  utilizing  cases  for  clinical 
instruction  to  small  sections  of  the  senior 
classes.  There  are  numerous  small  rooms  for 
the  various  departments.  This  building  also 
contains  two  large  and  splendidly  lighted  lec- 
ture rooms,  completely  equipped  physiological 
and  chemical  laboratories,  laboratories  for 
clinical  microscopy  used  in  connection  with 
the  dispensary,  and  a  large  general  laboratory 
used  by  the  Department  of  Pathology.  Work- 
ing libraries  form  portions  of  the  equipment 
in  the  Department  of  Physiolog)-  and  Path- 
olog)%  and  are  accessible  to  the  students. 

The  Carnegie  Laboratory,  the  generous  gift 
of  Andrew  Carnegie,  is  situated  upon  East 
Twenty-sixth  Street,  adjoining  and  commu- 
nicating with  the  New  College  Building.  It 
is  a  five  story  edifice  devoted  exclusively  to 
instruction  and  investigations  in  bacteriology, 
hygiene,  and  other  aflfiliated  subjects  con- 
nected with  medicine.  There  is  one  large 
auditorium  for  didactic  teaching  :  a  museum, 
well  stocked  with  excellent  specimens  illustra- 
tive of  disease  ;  three  large  and  well  lighted 
general  laboratories  for  classes  in  histolog)-, 
histological  technique  and  clinical  microscopy. 
The  upper  floors  furnish  commodious  quarters 
for  the  Department  of  Bacteriology. 

A  considerable  part  of  the  clinical  teaching 
is  given  in  Bellevue  Hospital.  The  members 
of  the  Faculty  who  are  Attending  Physicians 
and  Surgeons  to  the  Hospital  hold  regular 
clinics  in  the  large  amphitheatre,  and  small 
sections  of  the  class  are  taken  into  the  wards 
where  they  are  required  to  examine  and  study 
various  medical  and  surgical  diseases.  The 
Hospital  is  one  of  the  largest  in  the  world. 

With  its  record  of  three  score  years,  its 
situation  in  the  metropolis,  and  its  complete 
organization  upon  the  University  system,  the 
New  York  University  Medical  College  has 
the  promise  of  all  the  future. 


THE     NEW    YORK     AMERICAN     VETERINARY 
COLLEGE. 

Before  1850,  graduates  in  Veterinary  Med- 
icine were  almost  unknown  in  America.  In 
some  of  the  larger  cities  might  be  found  a  few 
veterinarians  who  had  received  their  training 
in  the  veterinary  schools  of  Europe.  Attempts 
were  made  at  schools  in  Philadelphia  and  in 
Boston  between  1850  and  1855,  but  both  of 
them  failed  after  a  short  trial.  The  first  of 
existing  schools  of  Veterinary  Medicine  was 
chartered  in  1857,  as  the  New  York  College 
of  \'eterinary  Surgery,  under  the  leadership  of 
Dr.  A.  F.  Liautard,  well-known  for  his  many 
works  upon  veterinary  surgery  which  in  more 
than  one  subject  are  still  accepted  as  standard. 
The  school  had  no  endowment  and  no  property. 
Like  the  majority  of  the  medical  schools  of 
that  day,  it  was  proprietary  in  character.  In 
1875,  Dr.  Liautard  severed  his  connection 
with  this  school  and  organized  the  American 
\'eterinary  College  upon  a  similar  pattern. 
These  schools  offered  a  course  of  study  which 
extended  through  two  winter  sessions  of  five 
or  six  months  each.  In  this  they  imitated 
some  of  the  leading  schools  of  medicine  which 
offered  as  late  as  1892  no  longer  course  than 
this. 

The  United  States  Veterinary  Medical  Asso- 
ciation, now  known  as  the  American  \'eterinary 
Medical  Association,  adopted  in  1 891,  as  a 
requirement  for  membership  in  its  body,  the 
fulfilment  of  two  conditions.  The  first  was 
the  completion  of  a  course  of  study  of  at  least 
three  years  of  six  months  each.  The  second 
was  that  this  diploma  must  be  fnim  a  recog- 
nized veterinary  school  with  a  Faculty  of  not 
less  than  four  \eterinarians.  P"our  years  later 
the  New  York  Legislature  enacted  a  law, 
which  is  now  in  force,  requiring  for  entrance 
upon  a  course  of  veterinary  study,  a  high 
school  education  or  its  equi\alent.  These 
advances  in  the  standard  of  veterinary  educa- 
tion were  practically  parallel  with  the  advanced 
requirements  established  by  law  for  Doctors  of 
Medicine.  They  were  very  much  in  advance 
of  the  requirements  in  most  of  the  states  in  the 


HISTORT  OF  NEW  YORK    UNIVKRSITT 


225 


NKW  YOHK  i 

AMERICAN  VETERINARY  COLLEGE 


Union.  The  conscciucnce  was  an  immediate 
falling  off  of  attendance  upon  the  two  schools 
in  New  York  City.  The  state  demanded 
everything  of  these  two  schools.  It  gave 
nothing,  not  even  a  recognition  of  the  very  im- 
portant and 
useful  work 
which  they 
had  been  per- 
forming for 
nominal  pecu- 
niar)- returns 
for  more  than 
a  generation. 
The  Ameri- 
can School 
was  able  to 
show  a  roll  of 
si.x  hundred 
and  twenty- 
si.x  graduates 
in  thirty-nine 
states  of  the 
Union.  A 
State  Secre- 
tary of  the 
Alumni  Asso- 
ciation  ex- 
isted in  no  less 
than  thirty- 
seven  states 
and  in  two 
territories, 
and  in  ten  for- 
eign  coun- 
tries. The 
graduates  of 
the  N  e  w 
York  School 
consisted  of 
twenty-nine 
classes  from  1867  to  1878  inclusive,  and  from 
1883  to  1899  inclusive. 

In  1899  the  Faculty  of  either  school  became 
thoroughly  convinced  that  the  new  conditions 
in  e.xistence  urgently  demanded  that  not  more 
than  one  Veterinary   College  should  be  sup- 


ported in  the  City  of  New  York.  Neither 
school  was  quite  ready  to  be  merged  in  the 
other.  Hoth  were  prepared  to  resign  their 
proprietary  character  and  become  united  in  a 
single  Faculty  under  the  care  and  the  charter 

of  New  York 


THE    VETERINARY    COLLEGE 


University. 
The  follow- 
ing was  the 
act  of  consoli- 
dation passed 
by  the  Corpo- 
ration of  the 
University, 
August  7, 
1899: 

Whereas, 
New  York  Uni- 
versity maintains 
the  Principles 
now  generally 
accepted  in 
America  that 
each  degree  giv- 
ing professional 
school  should  be 
part  of  a  Uni- 
versity, both  to 
promote  science 
and  to  enhance 
the  value  of  pro- 
fessional degrees, 
Therefore, 
this  University 
consolidates  with 
itself  the  New 
York  College  of 
Yeterinary  Sur- 
geons and  the 
American  Veter- 
inary College 
under  the  name 
of  the  New  York- 
American  Veter- 
inary College, 
this  school  to  be 
on  a  like  footing 
with  the  other  si.\  schools  of  the  University. 

The  Professors  of  either  Veterinarj-  College  having  re- 
signed their  positions  to  open  the  way  for  this  union  the 
University  hereby  appoints  the  following  Faculty  :  Henry 
M.  MacCracken,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Chancellor;  Alexander  F. 
Liautard,  M.D..  V.M.,  Dean,  Professor  of  Anatomy,  Clinical 
Surgery,  Veterinary  Jurisprudence  and  Sanitary  Medicine  ; 
James  L.  Robertson,  M.D.,  D.V.S.,  Professor  of  Principles 


226 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR   SONS 


and  Practice  of  Veterinary  Medicine  and  Clinical  Medicine ; 
Harry  D.  Gill,  V.S.,  Professor  of  Principles  and  Practice 
of  Veterinary  Surgery  and  Clinical  Surgery ;  William  J. 
Coates,  M.D.,  D.V.S.,  Professor  of  Anatomy,  Clinical  Sur- 
gery and  Medicine ;  Roscoe  R.  Bell,  D.V.S.,  Professor  of 
Materia  Medica  and  Therapeutics;  J.  Elmer  Ryder,  D.V.S., 
Professor  of  Obstetrics  and  Clinical  Medicine;  Richard  W. 
Hickman,  Ph.G.,  V  M.D.,  Professor  of  Cattle  Pathology 
and  Meat  Inspection;  J.  Bethune  Stein,  M.D.,  Professor  of 
Physiology  ;  Wilfried  l.ellman,  D.  V.M.,  Professor  of  Helmin- 
thology  and  Canine  Pathology;  John  A.  Mandel,  Professor 
of  Chemistry  and  Toxicology;  Edward  K.  Dunham,  M.D., 
Professor  of  Comparative  Pathology;  William  H.  Park, 
M.D.,  Professor  of  Bacteriology  ;  John  A.  Leighton,  D.V.S., 
Professor  of  Diseases  of  the  Foot  and  of  Horse  Shoeing ; 
Julius  Hulesen,  Jr.,  D.V.S.,  Professor  of  Sanitary  Medicine; 
Ernst  J.  Lederle,  Ph.D.,  Lecturer  on  Milk  Inspection ; 
Harry  D.  Hanson,  D.V.S.,  Associate  Professor  of  Theoi-y 
and  Practice  and  Clinical  Medicine;  George  G.  Van  Mater, 
M.D.,  D.V.S.,  Professor  of  Ophthalmology  ;  Charles  E. 
Clayton,  D.V.S.,  Associate  Professor  of  Clinical  Surgery 
and  Demonstrator  of  Anatomy;  Robert  W.  Ellis,  D.V.S., 
Lecturer  on  Zobtechnics  and  Veterinary  Jurisprudence;  W. 
V.  Bieser,  D.V.S.,  Demonstrator  of  Anatomy  and  Curator  of 
the  Museum  ;  Henry  Henning,  V.S.,  Assistant  in  Clinical 
Surgery. 

The  University  will  seek  to  place  this  school,  in  regard  to 
endowment,  on  a  level  with  the  Veterinary  School  of  Har- 
vard or  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania. 

At  a  subsequent  meeting  of  the  University 
Corporation,  all  the  graduates  of  either  of  the 
schools  were  adopted  as  alumni  of  New  York 
University,  and  placed  upon  the  roll  of  gradu- 
ates. The  new  Faculty  immediately  issued 
the  following  statement  to  the  public : 


thousand  veterinary  surgeons.  By  the  consolidation  the  new 
College  becomes  the  only  school  of  veterinaiy  medicine  in 
New  York  City.  Like  the  Veterinary  School  of  Harvard 
University  and  that  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  it  is 
placed  upon  a  strictly  University  footing.  Coordination  and 
cooperation  with  the  University  and  Bellevue  Hospital 
Medical  College  will  thus  be  secured  to  the  advantage  of 
both  schools  and  of  medical  science." 

The  University  promptly  made  application 
to  the  Legislature  of  the  state  for  aid  to  this 
school.  An  Act  was  introduced  by  which  the 
state  would  make  agreement  with  New  York 
University  respecting  veterinary  education  on 
lines  similar  to  those  embodied  in  the  agree- 
ment made  by  the  State  with  Cornell  Univer- 
sity. The  following  memorial  was  addressed 
by  the  University  Council  to  the  State  Legis- 
lature : 

"The  following  are  reasons  why  the  State  of  New  York 
should  adopt  the  New  York-American  Veterinary  College 
to  educate  veterinarians  for  this  portion  of  the  state. 

"  The  state  by  its  Regents,  has  recently  enacted  that  no 
man  can  enroll  as  a  candidate  for  the  degree  of  Doctor  of 
Veterinary  Medicine  unless  he  can  show  a  complete  high 
school  education.  Further  that  the  student  must  after- 
wards spend  three  full  years  in  study  in  order  to  obtain  the 
degree.  This  law  has  so  increased  the  time  and  expense 
required  for  becoming  a  veterinarian  that  it  has  diminished 
by  more  than  one-half  the  number  of  students  of  the  two 
Veterinary  Schools  in  New  York  City,  which  outrank  in 
age  all  others  in  the  United  States. 

"The  report  of  the  Regents  for  1898  published  early  in 
1899,  contains  the  following  statement, 


"  New  York  University  has  consolidated  with  itself  (Aug- 
ust 7,  1899)  the  New  York  College  of  Veterinary  Surgeons, 
chartered  1857,  and  the  American  Veterinary  College,  char- 
tered 1875,  all  the  Professors  in  either  Faculty  having 
voluntarily  resigned  their  positions  in  order  to  the  accom- 
plishment of  this  union.  The  united  school,  under  the  title 
of  the  New  York-American  Veterinary  College,  will  open  its 
ne.xt  term  Monday,  October  2,  1899,  at  8  I'.m.,  at  the  College 
building,  141  West  Fifty-fourth  Street,  between  Si.xth  and 
Seventh  Avenues,  under  the  Faculty  hereinafter  announced, 
with  Dr.  Alexander  F.  Liautard  as  Dean.  The  two  Veteri- 
nary Hospitals  formerly  used  by  the  respective  schools  will 
be  continued,  affording  abundant  material  for  clinical  in- 
struction. 

"  New  York  University  will  hereafter  grant  the  degree  of 
Doctor  of  Veterinary  Surgery  to  all  students  entering  this 
College  who  meet  the  Regents'  requirements  as  to  prelim- 
inary education  and  who  pursue  successfully  the  three 
years'  course  of  study.  The  fee  for  each  year's  course  of 
study  is  one  hundred  dollars. 

"  These  two  schools  outrank  in  age  all  other  veterinary 
schools  in  the  country  and  have  educated  more  than  one 


VETERINARY  STUDENTS  IN  NEW  YORK 
STATE. 


Name. 

1893 

1894 

1895 

1896 

1897 

1898 

College  of  Veterinary 
Surgeons    .... 

Am«rican  Veterinary 
College  .... 

N.  Y.  State  College  of 

75 
149 

109 
124 

107 
84 

60 
87 

46 
62 

23 
46 

Veterinary  Medicine 

II 

16 

224 

233 

191 

147 

119 

95 

"  The  continued  decrease  in  veterinary  students,  though 
due  in  a  measure  to  the  three-year  course  and  to  the  pre- 
liminary education  requirement,  calls  attention  emphatically 
to  the  necessity  of  a  reorganization  of  the  veterinary  schools 
in  New  York  City.  It  is  hoped  that  something  may  be 
done  this  year  in  that  direction,  as  New  York  City  should 
have  the  best  school  of  this  kind  in  the  w'orld.  Statistics 
for  1897,  the  latest    available,  show  that  there  were  only 


HISTORT   OF   NEIV  YORK    UNIVERSITY 


227 


364  veterinary  students  in  the  United  States  of  which 
nuniiier  New  X'ork  had  119  or  33%. 

"  Accordingly  the  two  schools  in  New  York  City  decided 
that  their  best  hope  for  the  future  was  through  consolida- 
tion with  New  York  University.  This  was  effected  in  the 
summer  of  1899,  the  University  adopting  the  schools  and 
organizing  them  as  one  of  its  seven  schools,  upon  a  strictly 
University  plan.  The  corpwration  of  the  University  took 
this  step  from  a  sense  of  duty  to  higher  professional  educa- 
tion, with  a  frank  statement  to  the  new  Faculty  that 
they  must  teach  for  next  to  nothing  until  aid  should  be 
secured  from  the  state  or  other  sources  outside  the 
University. 

"  New  York  City  is  and  ought  to  be  the  most  important 
center  in  veterinary  science  in  the  United  States.  A  mono- 
graph prepared  by  James  Russell  Parsons,  Secretary  of  the 
Regents,  for  the  Paris  Kxposition  1900,  says  that  New 
York  State  is  in  the  lead  in  veterinary  science.  The  two 
oldest  schools  in  the  United  States  were  those  just  consoli- 
dated with  New  York  University,  the  older  having  existed 
nearly  half  a  century.  Out  of  373  students  in  the  United 
States  in  1898,  nearly  one-fourth  were  in  the  State  of  New 
York,  and  more  than  two-thirds  of  these  in  New  York 
City.  The  best  material  for  veterinary  laboratories  is 
found  in  a  great  city.  It  is  furnished  by  the  great  slaughter 
houses  with  the  aid  of  the  official  inspectors  who  are  on 
the  lookout  for  abnormal  conditions.  Also  great  aid  may 
be  obtained  from  the  zoological  gardens,  also  from  the 
great  number  of  horses  and  other  animals  in  the  city. 
Most  valuable  accessories  are  found  here  such  as  the 
bacteriological  work  of  the  Poard  of  Health,  the  various 
pathological  and  other  laboratories  connected  with  medi- 
cal education.  The  fact  that  the  most  celebrated  veteri- 
narians must  reside  and  practice  in  the  great  city,  must 
ever  be  one  of  the  most  powerful  reasons  for  expecting  the 
greatest  work  for  veterinary  science  to  be  accomplished 
here. 

"  The  state  at  present  is  devoting  much  of  its  funds  to 
encourage  higher  scientific  education  in  the  upper  part  of 
the  state  and  nothing  whatever  in  the  metropolis,  yet  the 
latter  pays  more  than  two-thirds  of  the  taxes  of  the  state. 


and  with  the  neighboring  counties,  comprises  most  of  the 
pojjulation." 

The  Legislature  of  1900  came  to  no  decis- 
ion upon  this  question.  It  is  likely  to  be 
presented  to  each  Legislature  until  decided 
favorably  unless  private  endowment  should 
intervene.  In  the  meantime  the  work  of 
the  Veterinary  College  is  greatly  embarrassed 
through  lack  of  buildings  and  plant  of  a  proper 
character,  and  no  less  by  the  inability  of  the 
University  to  remunerate  adequately  its  Pro- 
fessors. They,  like  the  most  self-forgetful  of 
their  brethren  in  other  profession.s,  are  willing 
to  labor  to  the  utmost  of  their  ability,  with 
slight  regard  to  adequate  pecuniary  recom- 
pense, but  neither  the  community  nor  the 
State  Government  can  afford  to  depend  upon 
the  continuance  of  these  conditions.  A  private 
endowment  would  be  the  far  more  acceptable 
mode  of  placing  v'eterinary  education  in  New 
York  upon  a  firm  foundation.  The  University 
Corporation  could  then  keep  itself  out  of 
politics.  Great  is  the  pity  when  a  University 
or  its  ofificers  must  bend  to  political  parties 
in  order  to  obtain  the  means  of  subsistence. 
The  most  important  factors  perhaps  in  main- 
taining a  wholesome  political  atmosphere  in 
America,  throughout  the  twentieth  century, 
will  be  the  existence  of  great  Universities  not 
depending  on  state  treasuries  or  State  Legis- 
latures for  the  daily  bread  of  their  Professors. 

H.   M.   M. 


APPENDIX    TO    CHAPTER    IX 
PUBLIC    STATEMENT    BY    THE   COUNCIL   MAY    19,  1898,  REGARDING   THE   MEDICAL   SCHOOL 


The  Council  of  New  York  University  reluctantly  makes 
public  documents  and  facts  which  have  compelled  us  to 
maintain  against  opposing  claims,  the  existence  of  an  un- 
conditional University  system  of  control  of  our  Medical 
College.  Our  reluctance  arises  from  the  fact  that  these 
documents  will  show  that  our  Medical  Committee  were 
negotiating  from  Nfarch  i8,  1897,  until  ISfay  26,  with  the 
Bellevue  Hospital  Medical  College  with  the  clear  declara- 
tion on  our  part  that  our  Medical  Faculty  and  Medical 
Committee  had  agreed  to  the  unconditional  University  sys- 
tem of  control,  and  that  the  University  Council  had  received 
the  Medical  property  upon  this  basis,  and  that  not  until 
May  29,  1S97,  when  certain  University   Professors  decided 


to  destroy  the  almost  completed  consolidation,  was  there  a 
suggestion  to  the  Council  that  it  was  not  possessed  of  the 
same  authority  over  its  Medical  School  as  over  the  other 
five  schools  of  the  University. 

We  are  thus  obliged  to  place  those  who  negotiated  with 
the  Bellevue  Corporation,  but  who  now  claim  that  they 
intended  to  yield  to  the  Council  a  very  limited  control  of 
the  Medical  College,  where  they  must  accept  one  of  these 
two  alternatives.  Either  they  are  grievously  mistaken  as 
to  what  was  their  intention  or  else  they  combined  to 
deceive  both  the  Council  and  the  Bellevue  College  as  to 
the  real  situation.  We  believe  that  they  are  entirely  mis- 
taken as  to  what  their  mind  was  at  the  time  of  the  nego- 


228 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


tiations  for  consolidation.  We  do  not  believe  that  they 
consciously  led  the  Council  and  an  outside  corporation  to 
believe  that  unconditional  University  control  had  been 
established  when  such  was  not  their  own  understanding. 

Before  however,  we  quote  the  documents  which  place 
both  the  Medical  Committee  of  the  Council  and  the  Medi- 
cal Faculty  on  record  in  regard  to  their  negotiation  with 
Bellevue  on  the  basis  of  unqualified  University  control,  we 
present  a  peculiar  difficulty  in  the  way  of  accepting  the 
claim  of  a  verbal  understanding.  This  claim  is  made  in 
the  following  language,  "  That  the  transfer  was  made  with 
the  understanding  that  the  control  and  management  of  the 
property  should  remain  with  the  Medical  Department,  and 
for  that  purpose  the  interests  of  our  Faculty  should  be 
represented  by  a  Medical  Committee  of  your  institution 
composed  of  gentlemen  selected  by  the  Faculty,  to  whom 
should  be  entrusted  the  entire  and  exclusive  management 
of  matters  appertaining  to  it." 

Such  an  understanding  for  men  acquainted  with  Univer- 
sity organization,  were  an  unlawful  understanding  and  an 
unlawful  bargain.  It  were  unlawful  for  the  University 
Council  itself  to  bargain  to  abdicate  their  powers  and 
violate  their  statutes.  It  were  unlawful  for  any  member  to 
attempt  such  a  bargain.  The  charter  of  said  University 
which  all  the  parties  concerned  had  ample  means  of  know- 
ing, states  ; 

"  The  government  of  the  University  shall  be  conducted 
by  a  Council.  The  Council  shall  have  the  power  to  appoint 
all  officers." 

But  the  asserted  understanding  is  that  the  Medical  Coni- 
mitte  should  appoint  all  Medical  officers  and  Medical  Pro- 
fessors. This  were  an  unlawful  understanding.  If  it  were 
a.sserted  that  tiiere  had  been  a  verbal  understanding  that 
this  Council  was  to  pay  the  Professors  of  Medicine,  each  a 
trebled  salary  or  to  build  them  a  ten  story  laboratory,  such 
an  understanding  would  have  been  lawful  because  not 
opposed  to  the  charter,  but  for  University  men  to  assert 
that  they  entered  into  an  understanding  that  the  Council 
should  entrust  "  the  entire  and  exclusive  management  of 
matters"  to  any  Committee  and  especially  a  Committee 
selected  by  outsiders,  is  to  claim  the  utterly  illegal  and 
impossible. 

When  this  demand  was  first  presented.  May  29,  1897, 
in  a  memorial  to  the  Council  of  six  Medical  Professors 
through  Dr.  Stimson,  it  was  in  these  words, 

"  A  designated  committee  was  to  control  our  fortunes. 
All  matters  concerning  us  should  be  placed  entirely  in  their 
hands  and  should  be  determined  by  them." 

To  this  the  Chancellor  officially  replied  June  7th, 

"  I  think  it  necessary  to  write  you  my  dissent  from  a 
proposition  of  your  letter  of  May  29th.  To  men  acquainted 
with  University  organization,  it  must  be  plain  that  not 
even  the  Council,  much  less  my.self,  could  promise  that  any 
Committee  should  have  the  power  of  ultimate  action.  That 
would  have  been  leaving  the  Council  less  power  than  it  has 
had  for  fifty  years,  when  it  has  had  a  veto  upon  the  election 
of  Professors.  From  a  legal  standpoint  such  an  arrange- 
ment would  be  impossible." 

It  might  have  been  added  that  the  Council  had  al.so  had 
for  fifty  years  the  sole  power  of  removing  Professors  of 
Medicine.     Thus  it  appears  that  from   the  very  first   hint  of 


any  claim  that  University  control  over  the  Medical  School 
was  to  be  different  from  that  over  the  other  schools,  such 
assertion  was  met  by  the  Council  with  an  emphatic  denial 
and  the  denial  was  based  on  the  ground  of  both  the  illegality 
and  the  impohcy  of  such  abdication  of  its  rights  by  the 
University  Corporation. 

We  come  now  to  the  documents  referred  to  above, 
which  show  that  both  the  Medical  Committee  and  the 
Medical  Faculty  negotiated  with  Bellevue  on  the  basis  of 
unqualified  control  of  the  Medical  College.  The  invitation 
to  Bellevue  of  March  18,  1897,  was  in  the  following  words, 

"Therefore,  the  New  York  University  invites  the 
Faculty  and  Trustees  of  the  Bellevue  Hospital  Medical 
College  to  join  in  the  consoUdation  of  their  institution  with 
ours,  uf>on  a  plan  similar  to  that  recently  adopted  when  the 
University  Medical  College  placed  itself  under  the  imme- 
diate care  of  the  University.  We  beg  to  enclose  herewith 
a  copy  of  the  formal  action  taken  between  the  University 
and  the  University  Medical  College  Laboratory." 

The  copy  of  the  formal  action  of  March  ist,  enclosed, 
was  as  follows, 

"  Vour  Committee  upon  the  University  Medical  College 
reports  as  follows. 

In  response  to  expressions  of  opinions  from  a  large 
majority  of  the  members  of  the  Governing  Faculty  of  Medi- 
cine in  favor  of  the  transfer  of  the  property  of  the  Medical 
College  Laboratory  and  of  the  Loomis  Laboratory,  to  the 
University  Council,  and  of  the  latter  accepting  the  direct 
respon.sibility  of  the  organization  and  the  conduct  of  the 
College,  your  Committee  sought  conferences  with  the  two 
bodies  above  named.  These  conferences  have  resulted  in 
the  Medical  College  Laboratory  executing  a  deed  of  its 
property  to  the  New  York  University,  which  deed  is  here- 
with presented.  The  Loomis  Laboratory  has  under  con- 
sideration a  like  transfer  of  its  property  to  the  University. 
Meantime,  the  following  statement  is  presented,  being  a 
transcript  from  the  minutes  of  the  Faculty  of  our  Medical 
College,  which  was  made  by  Dr.  Alfred  Loomis,  at  the 
date  when  the  use  of  the  Loomis  Laboratory  was  ten- 
dered to  our  Medical  Faculty,  and  was  accepted  by  them. 
This  statement  shows  the  preci.se  relation  which  the  Trus- 
tees of  the  Ixiomis  Laboratory  sustain  to  the  University 
Medical  College.  (Here  follows  Dr.  Loomis's  paper  now 
ignored  by  his  Trustees.) 

"  Your  Committee  therefore  considering  that  it  is  the 
unanimous  desire  of  the  Faculty  of  Medicine  that  the  con- 
trol of  that  School,  as  of  the  other  schools  of  the  Univer- 
sity, should  be  vested  in  the  Council,  and  believing  that 
this  is  an  advance  step  in  the  important  work  committed  to 
the  New  York  University,  make  the  following  recommen- 
dations : 

"I.  That  the  University  accept  the  deed  which  trans- 
fers the  Medical  College  Laboratory  property  to  the  New- 
York  University. 

"2.  That  the  University  accept  the  immediate  responsi- 
bility of  the  organization  and  support  of  the  University 
Medical  College,  which  heretofore  it  has  undertaken  in- 
directly through  the  members  of  the  Governing  Faculty." 

This  report  carefully  prepared,  was  adopted  without 
alteration,  at  a  meeting  of  the  Council  when  all  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Medical  Committee  were  present  and  took  part 


HISTORY   OF   NEW  YORK    UNIVERSITY 


229 


in  its  adoption.  There  is  not  a  hint  in  this  communication 
to  licllevue  of  any  conditions  in  respect  to  the  Medical 
Faculty  and  they  are  recjuested  to  come  in  on  the  same 
terms. 

The  Bellevue  Faculty  clearly  understood  the  terms 
offered  and  h&d  not  a  suspicion  "  that  the  entire  and  ex- 
clusive management  of  matters  "  was  to  be  intrusted  to  the 
Medical  Committee.  On  April  5th,  the  Medical  Com- 
mittee of  the  Council  reported  that  the  terms  of  consolida- 
tion had  been  accepted  by  the  Uellevue  Trustees  and 
Faculty,  and  further  said, 

"  Your  Committee  believes  that  the  magnanimous  action 
of  the  Professors  of  each  school  /;/  placing  tluinsclves  under 
the  direction  of  this  University  absolutely  without  conditions, 
calls  upon  us  to  respond  by  doing  all  that  is  possible  in 
order  to  give  such  plant  and  facilities  to  the  united  Col- 
leges a-s  shall  be  equal  to  those  of  the  best  equipped  schools 
in  America  or  in  foreign  lands." 

This  places  the  Medical  Committee  upon  record  at  a 
time  when  there  were  no  differences  of  opinion  to  bias  the 
judgment  of  any  of  its  members.  Among  its  members  was 
the  Vice-President  and  legal  adviser  of  the  Corporation 
which  had  transferred  the  property  to  the  University,  and 
he  was  e.xpected  to  be  watchful  that  every  act  in  regard  to 
medical  matters  should  be  strictly  correct.  It  is  not  claimed, 
we  believe,  that  more  than  one  or  two  of  the  corporation 
transferring  the  property,  personally  participated  in  any  con- 
ference with  the  representatives  of  the  University. 

The  above  places  the  Medical  Committee  on  record  in 
a  document  dated  only  five  weeks  after  the  transfer.  We 
will  now  present  a  document  which  places  on  record  a  rep- 
resentative of  the  governing  Professors  of  Medicine  who 
was  chosen  along  with  a  member  of  the  Bellevue  Faculty 
by  a  joint  Committee  of  the  two  Faculties,  to  outline  a 
circular  for  the  consolidated  school,  when  the  consolidation 
seemed  a  certainty.  This  Professor  prepared  a  manuscript 
which  is  in  the  pos,session  of  the  Council,  of  which  the  first 
paragraph  is  entitled  "  Brief  Historic  Note."  After  speaking 
of  the  University  School  aiming  at  the  adoption  of  the  Uni- 
versity system  and  introducing  it  in  partial  measure,  he  says: 

"  This  system  which  has  been  in  operation  for  the  past 
five  years,  was  in  March  1897,  perfected  by  the  uncon- 
ditional transference  of  all  the  property  of  the  Medical 
College  to  the  parent  University. 

In  respect  to  the  above  statement  of  the  Medical  Com- 
mittee and  that  of  the  representative  of  the  Governing 
Professors,  it  is  notable  that  they  were  not  loose  descrip- 
tions for  rhetorical  purposes  but  statements  intended  for 
the  inspection  of  a  third  party,  the  Bellevue  College. 

Accordingly  when  the  Bellevue  Faculty  protested  against 
the  first  scheme  of  appointments,  they  addressed  their  pro- 
test not  to  the  Medical  Committee,  but  to  the  Council. 
This  protest  was  written  ^^ay  20,  and  was  taken  up  by  the 
Council,  the  Medical  Committee  entering  no  objection. 
Nor  was  there  any  suggestion  at  that  time  that  the  "  en- 
tire and  exclusive  management  of  matters  "  was  to  be  kept 
by  the  Medical  Committee. 

On  the  one  hand  therefore,  we  have  contemporaneous 
documents  written  to  be  utilized  with  an  outside  corpora- 
tion for  the  securing  of  its  franchises  and  property  which, 
from  start  to  finish,  take  for  granted  unqualified  control  by 


the  Council.  On  the  other  hand,  no  contemporaneous 
documents  are  presented  to  support  the  theory  that  the 
Committee  on  the  Medical  College  was  to  differ  in  any 
respect  in  its  powers  or  duties  from  the  Committee  on  the 
Law  School  or  any  other  of  the  schools  of  the  University  ; 
nor  has  any  credible  reason  been  assigned  why  any  officer 
of  the  Council  should  have  desired  to  give  up  the  ancient 
power  of  the  corjwration  to  remove  Medical  Professors 
when  necessary  and  to  exercise  a  veto  on  the  nomination 
of  their  successors,  and  instead  thereof  to  entrust  "the  en- 
tire and  exclusive  management  of  matters"  to  "gentlemen 
selected  by  the  Faculty." 

The  Council  recognizes  the  sensitiveness  of  certain  of 
their  members  who  would  rather  not  keep  property  without 
meeting  conditions  which  the  former  Trustees  "claim  that 
they  affixed  or  meant  to  affix."  Hut  with  the  Council  at 
large,  neither  law  nor  equity  permits  us  to  hold  real  estate 
contingent  on  what  we  may  after  many  months  discover  to 
have  been  possibly  the  mental  intention  of  the  grantors. 
In  the  present  case  to  act  on  this  theory  would  expose  the 
University  to  discredit  and  loss  in  many  directions,  by 
reason  of  acts  which  they  performed  in  the  three  months 
after  March  i,  1897,  when  they  had  no  suspicion  that  their 
unconditional  control  was  not  accepted  by  all.  They  re- 
moved Professors  ;  they  purchased  property  ;  above  all  they 
announced  to  the  world  that  they  had  undertaken  the 
support  and  direct  control  of  the  Medical  College.  We 
thus  committed  ourselves  to  an  undertaking  involving 
effort  and  expenditure  beyond  all  that  we  can  now  foresee, 
and  involving  our  reputation  for  maintaining  a  like  plat- 
form as  to  medicine  with  the  oldest  Universities  of  America. 
We  thus  have  given  in  the  kind  of  coin  which  should  pass 
current  between  educational  trustees  a  full  and  entire  equiv- 
alent for  the  property  which  we  have  received. 

Nevertheless  we  have  offered  to  enter  into  a  complete 
aibitration  in  regard  to  our  equity,  both  in  the  property 
which  is  held  in  trust  by  us,  and  the  Loomis  Laboratory 
pioperty  in  which  we  claim  an  important  equity,  which 
offer  has  not  been  accepted. 

The  above  statement  by  the  Council  of  their  complete 
rights  treats  the  property  as  if  the  Trustees  had  been  an 
independent  body  and  had  owned  the  property  from  the 
beginning.  This  was  not  at  all  the  case.  The  property  was 
first  obtained  by  certain  Professors  who  .solicited  as  individ- 
uals in  the  name  of  the  University,  and  virtually  as  its 
agents.  The  President  and  many  members  of  the  Council 
participated  as  givers.  Thus  the  first  nucleus  of  about 
S20,ooo  was  secured.  Such  a  nucleus  is  as  valuable  to  a 
new  cause  as  ten  times  that  much  given  a  generation  after- 
wards. This  first  subscription  was  several  years  before 
the  incorporation  of  the  Professors,  and  was  solicited  under 
the  following  resolution,  which  is  on  the  records  of  the 
Medical  ?" acuity,  March  27,  1S70,  "The  Council  shall  as- 
sume the  entire  indebtedness  of  the  Faculty  in  said  property, 
the  transfer  to  be  made  when  the  sum  of  540.000  shall 
have  been  paid  to  the  Trea,surer  of  the  Council,  from  sub- 
scriptions or  donations  made  for  the  liquidation  of  such 
indebtedness." 

Seven  or  eight  members  of  Council  appear  as  givers  in 
this  plan.  The  corporation  of  the  professors  was  at  first  a 
mere  convenience  for  holding  the  property.     At  a  later  day 


230 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


moneys  were  solicited  in  the  name  of  the  University  and  in 
one  instance  by  an  officer  of  the  University,  to  improve  the 
property,  the  whole  amounting  perhaps  to  $20,000  more. 

Who  ought  to  be  regarded  as  the  Trustees  of  money 
given  by  John  Taylor  Johnston,  William  M.  Vermilye, 
John  C.  Greene,  and  others,  except  the  University  Council 
of  which  they  were  members  and  for  whose  sakes  it  was 
given  1  The  suggestion  has  been  made  that  the  Faculty 
taught  poor  students  enough  to  wipe  out  the  value  of  these 
gifts.  Such  views  of  trust  funds  will  never  commend 
themselves  to  University  Trustees. 

The  present  demand  that  New  York  University  sur- 
render property  for  which  her  Council  labored  nearly  a 
quarter  of  a  century  ago,  that  it  may  be  used  by  a  rival 
University,  seems  an  incredible  demand.  But  the  parties 
who  make  this  demand  perform  an  equally  ineredible  act 
when  they  declare  that  Dr.  Loomis's  recorded  statement  of 
the  intended  use  of  the  Loomis  Laboratory  property  is 
of  no  value  in  deciding  how  his  gifts  to  the  Laboratory 
shall  hereafter  be  used.  The  request  of  the  University 
Council  for  an  arbitration  of  its  equity  in  the  Loomis 
Laboratory  did  not  obtain  even  the  courtesy  of  an  official 
reply. 

W^e  are  astonished  that  after  this  refusal  of  complete 
arbitration  of  the  equities  of  both  properties,  the  dissatis- 
fied party  boldly  publish  that  the  University  Council  are 
not  the  rightful  Trustees  of  the  property  held  by  them. 

Turning  from  the  question  of  our  Trusteeship  of  property 
to  our  educational  work,  we  regret  to  be  obliged  to 
announce  that  by  reason  of  the  failure  of  some  of  our 
Professors  of  Medicine  since  May  26,  1897,  to  observe 
the  duties  belonging  to  their  relation  to  us  under  the 
University  system  as  interpreted  by  the  Council,  we  were 
constrained  to  condition  their  continuance  as  permanent 
professors  upon  their  acceptance  of  existing  University 
rules  and  requirements.  The  six  Professors  who  belonged 
to  the  former  Governing  Faculty,  have  rejected  this  offer, 
and  accordingly  will  cease  at  the  end  of  this  College  year 
to  be  connected  with  New  York  University. 

The  following  facts  and  documents  are  presented  in 
illustration  of  the  failure  of  the  University  Professors  to 
observe  the  duties  belonging  to  their  relation. 

On  May  26,  1897,  the  Council  consummated  as  it  be- 
lieved the  consolidation  of  the  Bellevue  Hospital  Medical 
College  with  New  York  University.  We  had  formed  a 
basis  of  consolidation  which  we  deemed  the  best  pos.sible. 
We  counted  ourselves  a  board  of  umpires  accepted  by 
either  Faculty  as  possessing  the  right  to  make  a  final 
decision.  We  had  spared  no  time  or  pains  to  achieve  a 
right  decision.  The  chief  differences  were  regarding  the 
assignment  of  work  to  Professors.  We  had  assigned  the 
University  Professors  in  every  case  the  exact  titles  under 
which  they  continue  to-day.  We  had  not  satisfied  the 
Bellevue  Professors,  yet  they  had  signified  that  they  would 
accept  our  decision.  It  was  with  the  utmost  astonishment 
that  we  received  information  that  the  University  Professors 
instead  of  patiently  waiting  for  amendment  by  us  of  our 
decision  as  umpires,  if  such  shouUl  prove  best,  caused  the 
withdrawal  of  the  sister  Faculty  from  the  consolidation  by 
private  communications,  both  oral  and  written,  addressed 
*:o   the   latter.      The   following    letter   from    the    Bellevue 


Professors  informed  the  Council  of  this  most  unacademic 
and  extraordinary  proceeding.  The  letter  was  accompanied 
with  the  copies  of  the  communications  of  the  University 
Professors. 

New  York,  June  2nd,  1897. 
To  THE  Chancellor  and  the  Council 
OF  THE  New  York  University. 

Gentlemen,  — 

\Ve  have  received  from  the  Secretary  of  the  Council 
of  the  New  York  University  notices  of  our  appointmenls 
to  professorships  in  the  proposed  Faculty  of  Medicine, 
and  also,  at  about  the  same  time,  we  have  received  oral 
and  written  communications  from  several  of  the  forirer 
professors  in  the  University  Medical  College  to  the  effect 
that  if  the  consolidation  of  the  two  medical  schools  on  the 
lines  proposed  is  consummated,  it  will  be  contrary  to  their 
wishes,  and  that,  in  their  judgment  and  opinion,  such  con- 
solidation will  not  be  attended  "  with  benefit,  but  with 
positive  injury  to  the  University,"  and  that,  in  such  case, 
"  probably  the  Loomis  Laboratory  and  its  endowments 
would  not  be  transferred  to  the  L^niversity  Council,"  and 
that  it  would  be  "  extremely  distasteful  "  to  them  "  to  enter 
upon  an  arrangement  which  would  necessarily  involve  pro- 
longed efforts  to  harmonize  conflicting  interests." 

We  beg  to  quote  the  following  paragraph  from  the  pro- 
test which  we  had  the  honor  to  forwaid  to  the  Council  on 
May  20th,  and  we  desire  to  emphasize  anew  our  continued 
adherence  to  the  views  therein  expressed.  "  The  Faculty  of 
the  Bellevue  Hospital  'Medical  College,  believing  that  a 
complete  unity  of  purpose  and  perfect  haimony  among  the 
members  of  the  new  Faculty  was  an  absolute  essential  to 
the  success  of  the  plan  proposed,  refused  to  consider  the 
proposition  of  the  Council  of  the  University,  until  they  had 
been  assured  that  the  leading  members  of  the  Faculty  of 
the  Medical  Department  of  the  New  York  University  had 
been  fully  consulted,  and  expressed  hearty  acquiescence  in 
the  union  and  an  earnest  desire  for  its  consumrration  on 
the  lines  laid  down."  As  we  believe  this  unity  of  puipose 
and  harmony  are  absolutely  essential  to  the  success  of  the 
school,  (and)  in  the  absence  of  reasonable  assurances  that 
those  can  be  secured  in  the  proposed  Faculty  ^ — we  must 
beg  to  decline  these  appointments,  and  must  request  that 
the  University  Council  shall  arrange  for  our  immediate 
withdrawal  from  the  proposed  union. 

(here  follow  unessential  particulars.) 
Very  respectfully, 
(Signed,)  William  T.  Lusk, 

Austin   Flint, 
A.  Alexander  Smith, 
Frederic  S.  Dennis, 
Herman    M.  Biggs, 
Austin  Flint,  Jr. 

This  Council  do  not  need  to  comment  on  the  action 
which  called  forth  this  paper.  Yet  at  the  next  meeting 
of  the  Council  we  siinply  repeated  our  invitation  to  our 
Faculty  as  well  as  to  the  Bellevue  Faculty,  to  accept  their 
positions  under  the  consolidation.  Nor  when  our  Profes- 
sors refused,  did  we  take  any  harsher  step  than  to  ask 
them  to  go  on  by  themselves  under  the  statutes  and  officers 
that  had  been  approved  by  them  and  with  a  financial  plan 
that  was  intended  to  be  a  copy  of  their  own  plan  the  pre 
ceding  year  except  that  the  Dean  (who  had  been  first 
named  by  themselves  for  the  Deanship)  was  assigned  a 
fixed  salary  and  this  for  a  business  reason,  that  we  could 
not  afford  to  do  without  his  very  best  work  in  the  unfavor- 
able circumstances  in  which  we  were  then  placed. 

The  Executive  Committee  conservatively  followed  as 
closely  as  possible  the  plan  already  approved  including 
appointments   and  arrangements   so    that    our    Professors 


HISTORT  OF  NEW   YORK    UNIVERSITY 


231 


niiglu  go  on  to  do  loyal  service.  Hut  the  very  first  Kacully 
meeting  iirougiit  another  instance  of  conspicuous  failure  by 
the  I'rofessors  to  observe  their  duties  towards  the  Council. 
One  of  the  statutes  adopted  was  that  "the  Dean  shall  pre- 
side at  every  meeting  of  the  Faculty."  The  Dean  was 
excluded  from  presiding  by  the  action  of  the  I'rofessors, 
nor  have  they  ever  accepted  him  as  their  presiding  officer. 

The  Council  therefore  felt  constrained  when  they  came 
to  offer  to  these  Professors  permanent  Professorships  from 
which  they  could  be  removed  only  by  a  process  before 
the  Council  and  by  a  majority  of  eleven  votes  out  of 
seventeen,  to  require  the  acceptance  of  the  University 
statutes  and  reciuirements  as  a  condition  of  such  permanent 
election. 

The  Council  in  maintaining  this  year  the  University 
system,  have  heard  in  addition  to  a  complaint  regarding  the 
Dean  and  his  salary,  no  other  specific  complaint  except  that 
the  Council  failed  to  re-elect  to  his  seat  in  their  body  a  cer- 
tain member  of  the  Medical  Committee.  It  happened  that 
the  terms  of  membership  in  the  Council  of  three  out  of  the 
four  members  of  the  Medical  Committee  expired  Novem- 
ber I,  1897.  One  of  the  three  failed  of  re-election  because 
a  large  majority  did  not  wish  to  retain  him  ;  a  second  was 
elected  unanimously  by  26  votes,  the  third  by  25  votes  out 
of  26.  To  restrain  free  ballot  to  fill  vacancies  were  to  forbid 
the  Council  to  e.xercise  its  charter  obligations.  The  same 
logic  would  have  compelled  the  Council  to  reelect  each  one 
of  this  Committee  no  matter  if  they  unanimously  preferred 
another  candidate,  only  provided  that  certain  gentlemen  of 
the  Medical  P'aculty  wanted  to  retain  him.  When  it  is 
considered  that  the  Council  re-elected  two  out  of  the  three 
of  the  Committee,  and  that  the  Medical  Committee  was  re- 
appointed to  consist  of  the  three  remaining  members,  this 


second  specification  of  the  complaint  becomes  as  insignifi- 
cant as  the  first  named. 

The  root  tlitficulty  in  this  whole  matter  has  come  from 
the  neglect  or  the  evasion  of  the  whole.some  state  law 
which  forbids  Professors  of  a  College  to  be  Trustees  of  the 
property  of  the  same.  The  fact  that  of  our  eight  profes- 
sors, some  came  into  control  of  one  property  used  by  the 
school,  and  others  into  virtual  control  of  a  second  property, 
while  a  third  division  of  the  Faculty  were  without  Trustee- 
ship in  any  of  the  iirojierty,  could  not  but  demoralize  our 
Medical  School  and  Medical  Faculty.  It  wa-s  the  fact 
of  detiioralization  and  dissension  that  constituted  the  chief 
argument  for  the  Council  undertaking  the  direct  control. 
This  foreboded  such  inefficiency  in  the  school  as  would 
injure  seriously  the  reputation  of  New  York  University. 

Neither  the  Council  nor  any  officer  thereof  had  any  rea- 
son save  this  educational  reason  for  taking  up  the  burden 
of  the  Medical  School  at  the  request  of  its  Faculty.  The 
previous  twelve  years  of  our  Chancellor's  administration 
had  been  a  period  of  kindly  help  on  his  part  to  the  Medical 
School,  without  request  or  desire  for  any  return  save  the 
advancement  of  New  York  University.  His  plan  of  a  con- 
solidation was  indorsed  unanimously  by  the  Medical  Com- 
mittee of  the  Council  as  a  wise  method  of  bringing  relief 
and  strength  to  our  Medical  School  and  medical  education. 
Like  many  reformers  before  him,  he  has  found  opposition 
where  he  had  a  right  to  expect  aid  ;  he  has  met  censure 
where  he  deserved  praise.  This  Council  rejoices  to  con- 
tinue to  him  their  cordial  support  and  to  pledge  to  him 
that  they  will  maintain  the  work  of  medical  education 
vigorously  on  the  same  University  system  that  we  see 
achieving  great  results  in  the  oldest  University  Medical 
Colleges  in  our  land.  e.  g.  s. 


232 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


CHAPTER    X 


Reorganization  of  the  Law  School.  —  Founding  of  the  Graduate  School,  and  of 
THE  School  of  Pedagogy.  —  Expansion  of  the  Course  in  Engineering  into  the 
School  of  Applied  Science. 


THE  School  of  Law,  which  had  experi- 
enced varying  fortunes  for  forty  years, 
as  this  or  that  eminent  jurist  came  as 
lecturer,  and  in  some  measure  as  proprietor  of 
its  resources,  and  after  a  while  departed,  was 
in  1889  placed  under  direct  University  con- 
trol. I'he  Council  undertook  to  administer  its 
finances  and  to  organize  anew  its  courses.  The 
classes  were  for  the  first  time  separated  one 
from  another,  in  all  their  exercises.  The  two 
Professors  and  the  several  lecturers  received 
their  appointments  direct  from  the  Council.  A 
Deanship  of  the  School  was  created,  to  which 
Dr.  Jacques  was  appointed.  Enlarged  and  im- 
proved rooms  were  provided  for  the  two  classes 
upon  the  principal  floor  at  Washington  Square. 
From  this  date  the  Law  School  began  a  new 
epoch  of  progress. 

In  1891  the  work  of  the  School  of  Law  was 
further  enlarged.  Dr.  Austin  Abbott  was  called 
to  the  Deanship  to  succeed  Professor  Jacques, 
who  had  resigned.  The  number  of  Professors 
of  Law  giving  daily  instruction  was  increased 
to  four.  A  graduate  division  was  established, 
in  which  thirty-three  students  were  enrolled 
during  the  first  year,  1891-1892. 

The  Law  Faculty,  which  was  to  conduct  the 
work  from  autumn  1891  on,  was  constituted 
thus  :  Dr.  Jacques  to  be  Professor  of  the  Grad- 
uate Chair  of  Law  ;  Austin  Abbott,  LL.D., 
to  be  Senior  Professor  and  Dean,  and  asso- 
ciated with  him  Isaac  Russell,  D.C.L.,  as 
Junior  Professor  and  Secretary ;  Christopher 
Tiedeman,  A.M.,  being  Senior  Adjunct-Pro- 
fessor of  Law  ;  H.  W.  Jesup,  Professor  of 
Law  of  Procedure  and  Torts. 

At  the  beginning  of  Dr.  Abbott's  term,  the 
Council  doubled  the  lecture-room  space  of  the 
Law  School  by  the  addition  of  two  lecture- 
rooms  upon  the  second  floor  of  the  Washington 


Square  building.  These  accommodations  proved 
soon  too  narrow.  The  needs  of  the  Law  School 
became,  therefore,  a  strong  argument  for  the 
speedy  removal  of  the  undergTaduate  work  to 
University  Heights,  and  the  erection  of  a  new 
building  at  Washington  Square.  Probably  never 
was  a  law  school  housed  as  was  this  school  in 
the  year  1894-1895.  A  temporary  wooden 
house  was  built  among  and  around  the  iron 
columns  of  the  first  story  of  the  new  building, 
which  had  been  begun  in  May  1894.  In  this 
house  lecture-rooms  were  provided  sufficient  to 
receive  both  the  Law  School  and  the  School  of 
Pedagogy.  Outside  was  the  noise  of  the  ham- 
mer and  windlass.  Inside,  the  work  of  the 
Law  School,  under  Dr.  Abbott,  went  steadily 
forward.  In  the  spring  the  Council  was  able 
to  place  the  eighth  floor  at  the  command  of 
the  School,  and  October  i,  1894,  the  present 
quarters  were  completed  and  occupied. 

In  the  course  of  the  year  1 894-1 895,  negotia- 
tions were  begun  between  the  University  and 
the  Metropolis  Law  School,  a  corporation  char- 
tered by  the  Regents  to  give  law  instruction 
in  the  evening.  The  conferences  resulted  in 
the  merging  of  this  school  into  the  University 
School.  Professor  Ashley,  of  the  Metropolis 
Law  School,  became  Vice- Dean  of  the  Univer- 
sity School,  and  a  Faculty  for  evening  instruc- 
tion was  constituted,  consisting  chiefly  of  the 
former  Professors  of  the  Metropolis  School. 
Three  years'  enrollment  was  made  necessary  for 
those  obtaining  the  degree  of  LL.B.  by  follow- 
ing these  evening  courses.  Not  the  slightest 
friction  occurred  in  the  consolidation  of  the  two 
Faculties.  Dean  Abbott  heartily  received  the 
new  Professors  into  his  confidence  along  with 
his  former  associates.  What  might  have  been  a 
very  difficult  achievement  was  made  easy  by  the 
wisdom  of  the  head  of  the  University  School. 


HISTORT   OF   NEW   YORK    UNlVERSm 


233 


The  new  consolidated  Faculty  as  constituted 
in  the  fall  of  1895  consisted  of  Dean  Abbott, 
Professor  of  Equity  Jurisprudence,  Pleading 
and  Evidence ;  Vice-Dean  Clarence  D.  Ashley, 
Professor  of  the  Law  of  Contract  ;  Isaac  V . 
Russell,  Professor  of  Law  of  Procedure  and  of 
Elementary  Law ;  Christopher  G.  Tiedcnian, 
Professor  of  Law  of  Real  Property  and  of 
Negotiable  Paper;  Frank  A.  I'Lrwin,  M.A., 
Professor  of  Law  of  Contracts  and  Torts ; 
Charles  F.  Bostwick,  Instructor  in  Graduate 
Courses  ;  George  A. 
Miller,  Professor  of 
Law  in  Exening  De- 
partment ;  Thaddeus 
D.  Kenneson,  Arthur 
C.  Rounds,  Raljjh  S. 
Rounds,  Frank  H. 
Sommcr,  all  Profes- 
sors in  same ;  with 
Carlos  C.  Alden  as 
special  adlatus  to 
Dean  Abbott; 
Messrs.  William 
Allen  Butler,  Cephas 
Brainerd,  Hon. 
Charles  F.  MacLean, 
Amasa  A.  Redfield, 
Hon.  Myer  S.  Isaacs, 
William  G.  Davies, 
Joseph  S.  Auerbach, 
as  lecturers  on  par- 
ticular topics  of  Juris- 
prudence ;  Professor 
Sihlcr  of  the  Latin 
Department  to  give  a  course  of  weekly  lectures 
on  Justinian  to  graduate  students  of  Law.  The 
total  enrollment  of  the  Law  School  in  the 
first  winter  after  the  consolidation  being  five 
hundred  and  twenty-seven  students,  while  in 
the  preceding  winter,  of  1 894-1 895,  the  total 
had  been  two  hundred  and  eighty-one. 

Dr.  Abbott's  administration,  which  con- 
tinued five  years,  from  189 1  till  his  death 
in  1896,  was  eminently  successful.  At  the 
memorial  meeting  held  in  his  honor  in  the 
Broadway  Tabernacle,  October  1896,  the  Chan- 


AU.STIN    ABBOTT 


cellor    spoke    in     reference    to    his    work    as 
follows  : 

"  Austin  Ablxjtt  was  a  great  Professor  and  a  great  Dean. 
This  greatness  was  clue  chiefly  lo  tliree  elements  in  the  man  : 
First,  his  extraordinary  ecjuipmeiit  in  his  knowledge  of  his 
subject.  He  was  a  living  encyclopedia  of  the  law,  as  I  learn 
from  men  who  themselves  know  the  law.  Second,  he  was  a 
master  in  selecting  from  his  knowledge  those  portions  which 
were  most  valuable  for  his  students  and  clothing  them  in  the 
clearest  and  choicest  language.  .  .  .  The  third  <|uality  was 
his  ability  lo  rule  by  serving.  .  .  .  The  brief  five  years  when 
he  led  our  Law  School  were  made  a  tiying  ordeal  —  first,  by 
his  being  called  lo  reorganize  the  entire  work  in  narrow  and 

inconvenient  quarters,  and 
with  utterly  inadequate 
means;  second,  by  the  ne- 
cessity of  carrying  on  that 
'^  work  for  an  entire  year  in 

the  wooden   sheds   erected 
in  the  midst    of   the   great 
1^  struclure  of  iron  and  steel 

^^  which  was  being  carried  up 

with  noise  and  turmoil  all 
around  and  above  him. 
The  school  grew  in  spile 
of  its  material  conditions. 
All  that  was  wanted  was 
rooms  large  er.oiigh  with 
seats  numerous  enough  for 
its  growing  membership. 
Alas!  he  did  not  live  to  en- 
joy one  whole  year  of  the 
enlarged  and  beautiful  halls. 
"Another  burden  ac- 
cepted by  him  at  our  re- 
quest was  the  assimilation 
of  an  independent  School 
of  Law,  which  the  Univer- 
sity deemed  it  wise,  in  the 
interests  of  law  education 
in  New  York,  to  consoli- 
date with  her  existing 
school.  Ne.xt  to  one  church 
assimilating  another  church 
to  form  a  unit  organism,  nothing  requires  more  courtesy,  tact 
and  Christian  spirit  than  for  one  well-organized  school  to 
join  with  itself  a  second  well-organrzed  school,  so  as  to 
constitute  a  perfect  whole.  I  feel  that  if  we  had  had  the 
world  to  choose  from,  no  man  at  the  head  of  our  school 
could  have  done  this  work  more  successfully  than  Dr. 
Abbott." 

Upon  the  death  of  Dr.  Abbott  in  1 896,  Vice- 
Dean  Ashley  was  invited  to  act  as  Dean,  and 
was  subsequently,  in  1S97,  elected  to  the  Dean- 
ship.  The  instruction  of  the  school  was  con- 
tinued upon  the  theory  that  no  one  method  of 
teaching  law  was  best  for  all  subjects.     The 


234 


UNIVERSiriES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


lecture  method,  the  study  of  cases,  and  the 
text-book  method  are  all  of  them  carefully  util- 
ized. Our  method  ma)-  with  propriety  be  called 
the  University  method  of  law  instruction. 

The  year  i  896-1897  was  marked  by  an  effort 
of  the  University  to  extend  the  course  of  in- 
struction required  b\-  the  State  of  New  York 
for  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Laws  to  three 
years,  comprehending  one  thousand  hours  of 
class-room  work.     The  University  opiwsed  the 


era  of  development  began,  and  Dr.  Ashley, 
upon  accepting  the  call  to  the  Deanship,  was 
confronted  with  novel  and  difficult  problems. 
Every  educational  institution  has  its  marked 
characteristics,  the  result  of  its  growth  and 
environment.  Now  was  presented  the  task  of 
selecting  and  satisfactorilv  combining  the  essen- 
tial and  best  in  these  two  schools  which  during 
the  first  year  of  the  combined  work  had  re- 
mained   side  b)'  side    almost    as    two    distinct 


LAW    KACUI.TV,     I9OO 


chartering  of  a  recent  law  school  enterprise 
with  i)ower  to  grant  degrees  after  two  years. 
Very  nearly  all  the  Universities  and  Colleges 
of  the  state  joined  in  this  opposition.  Unfor- 
tunately, the  question  was  decided,  not  by  the 
educational  power  of  the  state,  but  by  the 
political  power.  The  Universit)'  did  not  feel 
itself  readv,  in  the  absence  of  endowment  to 
its  Law  School,  to  go  in  advance  of  legislation 
in  enforcing  a  three-years'  course. 

The  consolidation  of  the  two  Law  Schools 
having  been  successfully  accomplished,  a  new 


institutions  under  the  same  roof.  It  was 
perceived  that  this  state  of  things  should  not 
continue,  and  the  gradual,  almost  imperceptible 
weaving  together  of  the  various  ]x\rts  was 
begun  and  continued,  until  now  the  school 
has  become  one  consistent  whole,  each  part 
fitting  and  serving  the  other.  The  subjects 
in  each  division  were  assimilated,  while  im- 
neces.sarv  duplication  of  cour.ses  was  avoided. 
Foundations  were  laid  with  reference  to  the 
future,  anticipating  the  needs  of  a  great  Law 
School. 


IIISTOR}'   OF   NlilV    }()I<K    UNIIKKsrrr 


235 


The  ]'';u-ult\-  wliicli  has  carried  011  the  work 
since  i8g6has  inchidcd  llic  tOllow  int;- ineinl)ers  : 
Henry  M.  MacCrackcn,  D.l).,  l.L.l).,  Chan- 
cellor ot"  the  I'nixersity  ;  Clarence  D.  Ashley, 
LL.l).,  I'lot'essor  of  Law  and  Dean  of  the 
I'"acult)  ;  Isaac  l-'ranklin  Russell,  D.C.I.., 
LL.D.,  Professor  of  Law  and  Secretary  of  the 
Faculty  ;  l-"rank  A.  l-lrwin,  M.A.,  LL.M.,  Pro- 
fessor of  Law;  (ie<)ri;c  A.  Miller,  LL.M.,  Pro- 
fessor of  Law  ;  Thaddeus  D.  Kenneson,  M.A., 
LL.M.,  Professor  of  Law;  Arthur  C.  Rounds, 
M.A.,  LL.M..  Professor  of  Law;  Ralph  S. 
Rounds,  li.A.,  LL.M.,  Professor  of  Law  ; 
l-^  rank  11. 
S  o  m  m  e  r, 
LL.H.,  Pro- 
fessor of 
Law  ;  Carlos 
C.  *  A  1  d  e  n, 
LL.M.,  Pn.- 
fessor  of 
Law  ;  Leslie 
J.  Tompkins, 
M.S.,  LL.M., 
Professor  of 
Law  ;  Alfred 
O  p  d  y  k  e, 
A.M.,  LL.B., 
Professor  of 
Law ;  Francis 
W.  Ay  mar, 
LL.M.,  Lec- 
turer on  In- 
surance. Additional  Instructors  in  Graduate 
Courses:  Charles  F".  Bostwick,  LL.M.  ;  James 
L.  Steuart,  LL.B.  ;  Morris  Putnam  Stevens, 
LL.M.  ;  Ernest  C.  Sihler,  Ph.D. 

Under  this  Faculty  the  school  has  advanced 
upon  the  hest  University  lines,  and  in  close 
touch  with  modern  thought  on  the  subject  of 
legal  education.  They  are  wedded  to  no  tlieor)- 
but  seek  to  reach  the  best  results  and  to  profit 
by  the  best  examples.  They  belie\e  that  the 
first  essential  in  any  instructor  is  ability  to 
teach,  and  that  a  great  law  teacher  will  adopt 
for  himself  the  methods  best  suited  to  his  sub- 
ject and  himself. 


CI..ASS     ROOM.    SCHOOL    OF    I..VW.    W.\SHI  .\( ,  TOX    SQU.-VRE 


Some  parts  of  all  subjects  are  taught  l)y 
lectures.  A  very  few  subjects  are  taught 
wholly  by  lectures.  Some  study  of  nearly  all 
subjects  is  by  te.xt-books. 

Xo  instructor  is  required  to  follow  any  fixed 
method,  and  each  is  left  to  treat  his  subjec  t  as 
seems  wise  to  him. 

Nevertheless  the  present  Faculty  firmly  be- 
lieves that  certain  underlying  principles  should 
always  be  kept  in  mind,  and  all  work  planned 
and  carried  out  with  reference  to  them.  I-'irst 
and  foremost  in  legal  as  well  as  all  other  edu- 
cation   the    aim     should    be    mental     training. 

P'orce  the  stu- 
dent to  think 
as  a  lawyer, 
and  as  inci- 
dental to  that 
end  teach 
him  his  facts, 
his  rules  of 
law. 

T he  best 
modern  edu- 
cators recog- 
nize the  ad- 
vantages of 
the  inductive 
method  for 
teaching,  and 
law  forms  no 
exception.  It 
is  believed 
that  man\  legal  topics  can  best  be  treated  by 
the  study  and  use  in  the  class-room  of  cases 
selected  with  reference  to  the  historical  growth 
of  the  principle  under  examination. 

As  has  often  been  pointed  out,  nothing 
could  be  more  misleading  than  to  call  this 
manner  of  teaching  the  "  case  '"  system,  l-'roni 
this  term  has  arisen  the  conception  that  the 
student  is  trained  to  be  what  is  called  a  "case" 
lawyer.  The  diametrically  opposite  result  is 
obtained.  You  can  never  .satisfy  such  a  stu- 
dent by  showing  him  the  latest  case  He  will 
examine  it,  analyze  it,  and  then,  unless  it  can 
be  sustained  on  principle,  reject  it  as  unsound. 


236 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


At  the  same  time  a  student  who  knows  what 
conclusion  should  be  reached  on  principle  can 
easily  remember  the  actual  result  of  the  decis- 
ion just  because  there  is  a  divergence  from 
principle. 

A  set  of  cases  for  class-room  work  of  this 
character  does  not  by  any  means  consist  of 
"  leading  "  or  "  illustrative  "  cases.  It  is  pre- 
pared to  show  the  historical  development  of  a 
principle  and  the    cases  bring  this   out.      For 


words,  he  must  be  a  true  teacher.  A  class 
thus  trained  becomes  alive,  the  interest  is  in- 
tense, it  is  sometimes  difficult  to  bring  the 
lecture  hour  to  a  close,  while  the  students, 
having  left  the  lecture  room,  eagerly  discuss 
the  mooted  points  among  themselves.  That 
is  live  teaching  and  that  produces  results. 

From  this  standpoint  the  subject  of  contract 
offers  a  specially  good  opportunity  for  mental 
drill.     By  means  of  statements    of   fact  care- 


LAW    LIBRARY,    SCHOOL    OF    LAW.    WASHINGTON    SQUARE 


this  purpose  an  overruled  case  is  often  as  in- 
structive as  one  which  has  been  sustained. 
Such  a  collection  should  be  prepared  by  one 
deeply  versed  in  his  subject,  trained  in  this 
way  of  teaching,  with  a  brain  competent  to 
carry  out  the  ta.sk  and  u.se  the  fine  discrimina- 
tion and  judgment  necessary  for  this  purpose. 
The  successful  use  of  such  a  collection  in  the 
class-room  necessitates  a  live  instructor  com- 
petent to  bring  out  discussion,  and  with  the 
necessary  tact  and  discernment  to  guide,  limit 
and  terminate  it  at  the  proper  point.     In  other 


fully  worked  out  tt)  properly  develop  the  topic, 
the  class  can  be  led  into  eager  discussion,  a 
student  can  be  made  to  defend  his  position 
against  any  attack,  the  class  can  be  trained  to 
reject  any  theory,  any  result,  as  incorrect  on 
principle  unless  it  satisfies  their  reason,  and 
most  satisfactory  results  can  be  obtained.  At 
the  same  time  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the 
topic  is  gained. 

The  theory  is  that  the  student  must  be 
taught  to  think  closely  and  clearly,  to  select 
from  a  mass  of  facts  those  essential,  to    dis- 


IIISTORr  OF  NEW  TORK    UNIVERSirT 


237 


criminate  sharply  between  varying  decisions, 
and  to  understand  what  is  really  invohed  in 
any  given  cases. 

The  standard  of  scholarship  is  hi^h,  and  the 
Faculty  exact  the  best  f;rade  of  work  before 
recommending  any  api)licant  for  the  law 
degree. 

A  very  noticeable  feature  has  been  the 
steadily  increasing  percentage  of  college-l)retl 
.students  and  the  constantly  advancing  require- 
ments for  entrance  examinations  which  has 
had  a  marked  effect  upon  the  class  of  students 
enrolled. 

The  course  of  .study  as  developed  in  this 
example  of  the  great  modern  Law  School  gives 
a  wide  range  of  subjects,  but  not  at  the  ex- 
pense of  thoroughness  in  any  one  of  them. 
Special  attention  has  been  given  to  the  devel- 
opment of  a  strong  and  exhaustive  course  upon 
Equity  Jurisdiction,  and  the  school  has  gained 


a  somewhat  unicjue  reputation  for  the  excep- 
tional success  of  its  courses  upon  the  New 
York  Code  of  Civil  Procedure. 

The  Law  Library  has  been  a  marked  feature 
in  the  scheme  of  development,  and  not  only  has 
its  steady  growth  to  fifteen  thousand  volumes 
been  a  source  of  satisfaction,  but  the  fine  mate- 
rial equipment  in  the  way  of  reading  rooms  and 
accessories,  together  with  the  arrangement  and 
cataloguing  of  the  books  has  very  greatly  in- 
creased its  usefulness. 

The  present  quarters  of  the  school,  occupy- 
ing as  it  does  the  tenth  and  eleventh  floors  of 
New  York  University's  modern  Washington 
Square  Building,  may  well  lead  one  to  doubt 
whether  these  material  facilities  for  work  and 
class-room  instruction  are  surpassed  anywhere. 

The  following  tabulated  statement  illustrates 
the  growth  and  development  of  the  school 
during  the  past  forty  }ears. 


TABULATED    STATEMENT    OF   TERMS,  HOURS   FOR  GRADUATION.  ETC. 


HOURS 

TOTAL 

TOTAL 

PROFESSOR 

WEEKS    IN 

HOURS 
PER  WEEK 

REQUIRED 

HOURS 

HOURS 

GIVING 

YEAR 

ENTIRE 

FOR 

REQUIRED 

WHICH    A 

RE(;UI,AR 

YEAR 

DEGREE 

FOR 

.STUDENT 

INSTRirC- 

PER   WEEK 

DEGREE 

MA  J-  TAKE 

TION 

i860 

24 

6 

12 

2S8 

288 

I 

1870 

30 

6 

12 

360 

360 

I 

18S0 

30 

8 

16 

480 

480 

3 

1890 

30 

8 

16 

480 

480 

1892 

30 

8 

16 

480 

484 

4 

1899 

34 

(  Evening  10 

Evening  30 

1000 

1 136 

9 

1  Day  I2i 

Day  25 

850 

1054 

STUDENTS    IN   ATTENDANCE. 


i860 

1870 

1S80     1      iSgo 

1892 

■S93 

1S94 

1895 

1896 

■  897 

.898 

1899 

1900 

80 

25 

57             184           200           216           251 

293 

528 

610 

628 

637 

642 

BOOKS    IN    LIBRARY. 


IS60 

1870 

l^S<>                   18.50                   1896                    1^97 

1S98 

I  S9.1                   I  >)oo 

0 

4,500 

5.000               6,000 

8,000              10,000 

I  1,000 

12.000            15,000 

238 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR    SONS 


THE    (IRADUATK    SCHOOL. 

In  1 086  the  Graduate  School  was  opened. 
Graduate  instruction  had  been  named  in  the 
prospectus  of  the  University  in  1830,  but  had 
never  l?een  given.  The  University  had  wofully 
remained  out  of  toucli  with  the  academic  move- 
ment in  the  United  States,  beginning  with  the 
Centennial  year  1876.  The  giving  of  A.M. 
"  in  course,"  was  an  unmeaning  thing.  Equally 
inexcusable  was  it  longer  to  bestow  the  Ph.D. 
honoris  causa.  This  elimination  of  an  academic 
abuse,  no  matter  how  ancient  or  venerable,  may 
be  considered  the  genetic  point  of  graduate  in- 
struction in  the  New  York  University.  A 
statute  was  now  adopted  which  forbade  the 
bestowment  of  the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts, 
Master  of  Science,  Doctor  of  Philosophy  and 
Doctor  of  Science,  except  upon  examination. 
The  University  undertook  to  offer  work  by 
which  bachelors  could  fairly  earn  these  ad- 
vanced degrees.  This  serious  undertaking  was 
not  suggested  or  aided  by  any  gifts  for  the  pur- 
pose. The  capital  that  was  visible  was  :  P'irst, 
the  scholarship  and  teaching  power  and  spirit 
of  the  College  Faculty  beyond  what  was  abso- 
lutely needed  for  the  undergraduates.  Second, 
the  Astor  Library  near  by,  the  museums  and 
other  useful  accessories  in  the  citv  that  might 
aid  in  advanced  University  work.  Third,  the 
position  of  the  University  building  within  an 
hour's  ride  of  three  millions  of  people,  a  com- 
munity in  which  little  graduate  instruction 
was  available.  A  libeial  endowment  should 
have  been  added.  In  the  absence  of  thi.s, 
the  Faculty  went  into  the  work  at  their  own 
charges. 

From  the  first,  it  was  made  impossible  to 
earn  the  Master's  Degree  with  less  than  one 
year  of  enrollment  and  two  examinations  passed 
successfully,  the  Doctor's  Degree  with  less 
than  two  years  of  enrollment  and  four  examina- 
tions. Few  other  rules  were  laid  down  at  the 
outset,  for  few  individuals  were  expected  to 
enroll,  and  each  was  to  be  made  a  very  special 
subject  of  care  on  the  part  of  the  Faculty. 

In  this  autumn  of  1886  modestly  began  the 
work    of    giving    instruction     to    graduates   of 


Colleges.  Fifteen  students  were  enrolled  ; 
representing  New  York  University,  Dalhousie 
College  (Halifax),  Bates,  Princeton,  Kenyon, 
Geneva ;  and  the  courses  offered  were :  by 
Prof.  K.  A.  Johnson,  Early  Latin  ;  Prof.  H.  M. 
Baird,  Politics  of  Aristotle  ;  Prof.  H.  M.  Mac- 
Cracken,  Contemporary  ICthics  ;  Prof.  Charles 
Carroll,  German  Language  and  Literature ; 
Prof.  W.  A.  Houghton,  Anglo-Saxon  and 
English  History  ;  Prof.  A.  H.  Gallatin,  Chem- 
ical Analysis ;  Prof.  A.  S.  Isaacs,  Hebrew 
Language  and  Literature ;  Prof.  D.  \\\  Hering, 
Physics  ;  Prof.  J.  F.  Russell,  Political  Science  ; 
Prof.  G.  \Y.  Coakley,  Mathematics,  applied 
to  Astronomy ;  Prof.  Messenger,  Modern 
Geometry. 

The  enrollment  after  the  first  }ear  surpassed 
every  expectation.  In  1 889- 1 890  the  privilege 
of  undertaking  examinations  without  previous 
residence  was  withdrawn.  The  number  of  re- 
quired courses  and  examinations  was  increased 
to  five.  The  thesis  for  the  Doctorates  was 
strictly  defined.  By  the  end  of  the  period 
1885-1  891  the  enrollment  grew  to  about  one 
hundred.  This  number  was  reduced  by  stricter 
rules,  especially  in  the  case  of  students  from 
neighboring  theological  seminaries.  A  large 
majority  of  the  students  were  enrolled  in  the 
Group  of  Philosophy  and  History.  The  Group 
of  Language  and  Literature  came  second. 
The  Group  of  Exact  and  Descriptive  Sciences, 
on  account  of  the  want  of  ample  laboratory  ac- 
commodations, had  the  smallest  enrollment. 
Two  new  chairs  in  the  Graduate  School  were 
established  in  1887  —  Comparative  Religion 
and  Pedagogy ;  both  proved  fruitful  in  results. 
The  former  stirred  its  students  to  form  a 
vigorous  society  for  the  comparative  study  of 
religions.  The  latter  led  to  the  organization 
of  the  University  School  of  Pedagog)'. 

It  was  expected  that  the  removal  of  the 
Undergraduate  work  to  LTniversity  Heights 
might  affect  unfavorably  the  Graduate  School. 
Its  work  was,  of  necessity,  divided  between  the 
two  centres.  Graduate  instruction  requiring 
laboratories  could  be  given  uptown  only.  The 
convenience  of  students  dictated  the  continu- 


iiisrour  OF  new  york  university 


39 


ance  at  \Vashin<;ton  Square  of  the  lectures  in 
Philosophy  and  History,  Lan<^ua^e  and  Litera- 
ture. The  college  work  of  professors  was 
planned  to  require  as  a  rule  only  four  days  at 
the  Heights,  leaving  two  days  for  downtown. 
The  result  was  gratifying.  The  enrollment, 
which  in  1 893-1(894  was  73,  diminished  very 
slightly,  reaching  C^y  in  1894- 1895,  and  rising 
to  76  in  1895-1H96.  In  1899-1900  it  grew  to 
20[,  including  graduates  of  sixty-nine  Colleges. 
In  1 900- 1 90 1  it  reached  a  somewhat  larger 
figure. 

Immediately  after  the  removal,  the  Deanship 
of  the  (iraduate  School,  which  had  hcretoiOrc 
been  imposed  upon  the  Chancellor,  was  filled 
by  the  election  thereto  of  John  Dyneley  I'rincc, 
I'h.I).,  who  had  done  valuable  work  in  seem- 
ing the  Lagarde  Library  for  the  especial  use 
of  the  graduate  students. 

The  standard  for  the  Doctorate  was  some- 
what advanced,  and  the  tests  made  more 
.severe  by  the  increase  of  required  courses 
from  five  to  six,  and  the  establishing  of  a  "final 
oral  "  examination  in  the  presence  of  a  (piorum 
of  the  i'"aculty.  In  1890  the  publication  of 
the  "  Thesis  for  the  Doctorate  "  was  made 
obligatory. 

Specialization  and  thoroughness  were  insisted 
upon  by  narrowing  the  field  of  selection  ]ier- 
mitted  the  student  for  his  major  subject  ; 
where  he  had  been  allowed  to  choose  three 
major  courses  from  a  "  Group,"  he  was  now- 
limited  to  a  "  Department."  This  was  in 
harmony  with  the  plan  announced  for  the 
Graduate  School  as  distinguished  from  the 
Undergraduate  College.  The  latter  was  ex- 
pected to  introduce  the  student  to  each  great 
field  of  knowledge,  the  former  to  introduce 
him  to  every  corner  of  a  very  limited  acre- 
age in  a  single  department  of  one  field  of 
knowledge. 

The  newness  of  all  graduate  work  in  Amer- 
ica suggests  that  the  law  of  efficiencv  in  our 
school  must  be  continual  amendment  and  prog- 
ress. I'ntil  within  the  last  two  years  no  dimi- 
nution of  the  nimiber  of  courses  required  for  a 
degree  was  made  on  account  of  graduate  work 


done  in  another  University.  The  recent  organ- 
ization of  the  "  l'"ederation  of  Graduate  Clubs," 
re])resenting  tlie  graduate  students  of  about 
twenty  Universities,  with  its  publication  of  an- 
nual rei)orts  from  twenty  graduate  school.s,  has 
opened  the  way  for  the  granting  of  credit  for 
work  already  accom|)lishe(l  by  a  student  coming 
from  the  graduate  school  of  any  of  these  twenty 
Universities.  Thus  "  migration  "  from  Uni\er- 
sity  to  University,  whic  h  has  been  .so  helpful  to 
students  on  the  other  side  of  the  ocean,  is 
distinctly  encouraged. 

The  oldest  ])crmanent  endowment  for  the 
support  of  work  of  the  (jraduate  School  is  the 
Charles  Butler  i^'und  for  the  Chair  of  Compar- 
ative Religion.  The  support  of  the  (iraduate 
School,  from  its  toimdation  in  1886,  has  been 
mainly  a  labor  of  lo\e  on  the  ))art  of  the  Pro- 
fessors of  Arts  and  .Science.  The  income 
from  the  fees  of  students  j^rovides  inadequate 
compensation.  In  few  cases  has  it  amounted 
to  enough  to  purchase  for  a  Professor  such  a 
library  of  books  as  he  needs  for  his  work. 
Nevertheless,  the  slight  comj^ensation  which 
the  University  makes,  prevents  this  work  being 
wholly  a  burden  borne  by  Professors.  Profes- 
sors have  had  a  consciousness  that  they  were 
contributing  freely  to  advanced  University 
w-ork. 

The  U^niversity  grants  graduate  instruction 
without  fees  to  all  students  of  neighboring 
theological  seminaries.  Many  such  students 
are  enrolled.  Counting  the  tuition  remitted 
at  ^2000  to  $2500  an  endowment  of  $50,000 
at  least  is  necessary  for  the  support  of  the 
graduate  scholar.ships  granted  to  students  of 
theology. 

The  fact  that  the  work  of  in.struction  in  the 
Graduate  School  attracts  as  Professors,  scholars 
of  great  attainment.s,  who  greatly  enjoy  im- 
parting their  treasures  to  specially  qualified 
students,  will  always  help  the  L'niversity  in 
obtaining  among  the  scholars  resident  in  New 
York  reinforcements  for  her  Graduate  P'aculty. 

The  salarv  expenditure  is  slight  in  compar- 
ison to  tlie  labor  secured.  An  endowment  of 
$20,000  may  safely  be  established  In'  the  New 


2,40 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


York  University  as  sufficient  to  secure  a  Pro- 
fessor who  will  give  valuable  instruction  to 
graduate  students  in  some  important  depart- 
ment of  liberal  learning. 

These  two  questions,  the  endowment  of 
Graduate  Scholarships  for  students  received 
from  theological  schools,  and  the  special  en- 
dowment of  Graduate  Professorships,  are  live 
questions  before  friends  of  the  University. 

SCHOOL    OF    PEDAGOGY. 

The  University  School  of  Pedagogy  was 
opened  in  1890.  F"or  three  years  previous 
many  gradu- 
ates of  Nor- 
mal Colleges 
who  were  not 
eligible  to 
membership 
in  the  Univer- 
sity Graduate 
School  had 
sought  admis- 
sion to  Dr.  Je- 
rome Allen's 
course  upon 
Pedagog)' 
This  desire 
had  led  to 
courses  of 
lectures  by 
him  to  non- 
matriculants, 

upon  the  University  extension  method.  The 
number  of  advanced  students  in  Pedagogy 
steadil)'  increased.  A  moderate  endowment 
coming    to    the  aid    of    this    work,  a    distinct 


^ .   ' 

1^ 

rr— 1         ! 

[|^^^'ni-..iaT\> 

r 

^ 

A^^^^~ 

LIBRARY,    SCHOOL    OF    PEDAGOGY,    WASHINGTON    SQUARE 


of  arts  and  sciences  of  a  State  Normal  College 
or  its  equivalent  was  made  necessary  for  enroll- 
ment. The  first  Doctorates  of  Pedagogy  were, 
conferred  in  1891.  In  1890  the  number  of 
courses  required  for  the  Doctorate  were  in- 
creased from  four  to  five.  The  requirement 
of  residence  for  at  least  one  year  was  made 
obligatory  upon  every  student  entering  the 
school. 

In  this  movement  the  position  was  taken 
that  Pedagogy,  like  Law,  IMedicine  or  Divinity, 
should  and  could  now  assert  its  autonomy  as  a 
profession  ;  that  the  history  of  education,  psy- 
chology in  its 
various  as- 
pects, the  his- 
tory of  philos- 
ophy, school 
management 
and  kindred 
disciplines 
constituted  a 
sphere  where 
definite  peda- 
gogical de- 
grees might 
well  be  be- 
stowed. 

In  close 
c  o  nnection 
with  the 
founding  of 
the  School  of 
Pedagogy,  the  Woman's  Advisory  Committee 
was  organized.  As  soon  as  it  became  evident 
that  women  in  large  numbers  would  enter  the 
University  to  take  the  pedagogical  courses,  it 


School  of  Pedagogy  was  undertaken,  with  the  was  deemed  expedient  to  secure  for  the  Council 
degrees  of  Master  of  Pedagogy  and  Doctor  of  the  co-operation  of  representative  women  inter- 
Pedagogy  promised  to  its  graduates.  So  far  e.sted  in  University  work  for  women.  Accord- 
as  known    to   its  founders,  this  was   the  first  ingly  a  statute  was  enacted  under  which   an 


University  School  for  instruction  in  pedagogics 
planned  to  occupy  a  like  plane  with  schools  of 
Medicine,  Law  and  Theology.  The  require- 
ments for  matriculation  were  more  severe, 
however,  than  those  demanded  by  most  L^ni- 
versity  professionals  schools,  in  that  the  diploma 


Advisory  Committee  of  twelve  women  was 
elected,  one  fourth  to  go  out  of  office  each 
year  upon  the  appointment  of  their  successors. 
Miss  Emily  Ogden  Butler  became  the  first 
President  of  the  Committee  and  Mrs.  Eugene 
Smith  the  first  Secretary.     The  latter  remains 


HISTORT  OF   NEIV   YORK    UNIVERSITY 


241 


in  office ;  the  former,  after  several  re-elections, 
declined  the  Presidency  in  favor  of  Mrs.  Henry 
DrajxT.  Miss  Helen  Miller  (lould  is  Vice- 
President  and  Mrs.  C.  A.  Herter  Treasurer. 

The  School  of  Pedagogy  continued  under 
Dr.  Jerome  Allen  as  Dean  until  1 893-1 894. 
He  (lied  May  26,  1894,  the  same  month  in 
which  the  University  began  the  demolition  of 
the  old  building  at  Washington  Square.  His 
work  had  been  chiefly  the  awakening  of  the 
attention  of  teachers  to  the  need  and  pos- 
sibility of  advanced  pedagogical  study  under 
the  University.  Having  spent  his  life  in  the 
cause  of  edu- 
cation, he 
gave  with  en- 
thusiasm its 
closing  years 
to  preparing 
the  way  for 
advanced 
pedagogical 
science.  Dr. 
Allen  was 
succeeded  by 
Dr.  Edward 
R.  Shaw,  who 
had  identified 
himself  with 
the  n  e  w 
movement 
from  its  be- 
ginning, taken 
his  Doctorate  of  Philosophy  from  the  Uni- 
versity in  1890,  given  lectures  upon  Pedagogy 
1890-92,  and  after  that  date  had  occupied  a 
Professorship  of  the  Institutes  of  Pedagogy. 
The  school,  without  putting  aside  its  more 
popular  work,  which  was  of  the  nature  of  Uni- 
versity e.xtension,  devoted  its  principal  efforts 
to  its  advanced  students.  F"our  Professorships 
were  established  :  Institutes  of  Pedagogy;  His- 
tory of  Education  and  Ethics ;  Experimental  and 
Physiological  Psychology  ;  Descriptive  Psychol- 
ogy. Also  three  lectureships  :  Comparative 
Study  of  National  School  Systems;  Sociology*  in 
relation  to  Education ;  Physiological  Pedagogics. 


ASSEMBLY    ROOM,    SCHOOL    OF    PEDAGOGY,    WASHINGTON    SQUARE 


Within  this  period  of  six  years  the  school 
progressed  from  an  experimental  stage  to  a 
well-defined  professional  school.  No  difficulty 
has  been  found  in  marking  the  lines  between 
its  work  and  the  work,  on  the  one  hand,  of  the 
Normal  or  Training  College,  and,  on  the  other, 
of  the  University  Graduate  School. 

The  Woman's  Advisory  Committee  of  the 
University  have  continued  their  constant  and 
generous  support  of  the  schcjol.  Their  inter- 
est has  reached  every  part  of  the  school  organ- 
ization and  work.  By  acquainting  themselves 
thoroughly  with  the    curriculum  and  methods 

of  instruction 
and  the  re- 
q  uirements 
of  students, 
they  have 
strengthened 
the  hands  of 
the  h'aculty. 
Probably  the 
members  of 
this  commit- 
t  e  e  have 
heard  m(n"e 
class-room 
lectures  by 
the  Faculty 
of  Pedagogy 
than  the 
members  of 
all  other  com- 
mittees of  the  corporation  have  heard  in  all 
the  six  schools  of  the  University. 

In  1890  the  School  of  Pedagogy  was  an 
experiment.  Now  it  is  a  recognized  agent  in 
education  in  the  city  and  the  nation.  It  has 
been  the  pioneer  among  pedagogical  schools  in 
connection  with  Universities,  and  has  been  the 
chief  agent  in  first  making  the  word  pedagogy 
a  very  familiar  word  in  the  public  prints  cf 
America. 

In  1889  the  University  placed  the  ninth 
story  of  the  building  at  Washington  Square  at 
the  command  of  the  School  of  Pedagogy,  upon 
the   condition  that  its  use  was  to  be  regarded 


242 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR   SONS 


as  temporary  until  one  hundred  thousand  dol- 
lars were  secured  to  meet  its  cost,  which  had 
been  provided  for  by  a  floating  loan.  In  case 
the  school  should  ever  be  removed  to  Univer- 
sity Heights,  the  hall  could  be  made  a  source 
of  income  to  the  school  by  renting  it  to  suit- 
able tenants.  With  this  hall  provided,  and  a 
second  hundred  thousand  dollars  added  to  the 
present  endowment  of  Professorships,  the 
School  of  Pedagog}'  would  compare  favorably 
with  any  of  the  other  schools  of  the  University 
in  its  equipment  for  the  future. 

School  of  Applied  Science. 

In  1886  the  first  action  was  taken  towards 
the  expansion  of  the  course  in  Civil  Engineering 
into  a  distinct  school.  It  was  provided  that 
Bachelors  of  Science,  who  had  pursued  special 
engineering  studies  for  three  years,  must  add 
one  year  at  least  of  higher  engineering  studies 
in  order  to  receive  the  degree  of  Civil  En- 
gineer. 

The  old  line  between  a  Faculty  of  Arts  and  a 
Faculty  of  Science  was  obliterated.  A  more 
philosophical  line  was  now  marked  out  between 
the  College  of  Arts  and  Pure  Science,  and  the 
School  of  Civil  Engineering.  But  of  necessity 
the  technological  work  remained  very  limited 
while  it  continued  at  Washington  Square. 

With  the  removal  to  University  Heights  the 
School  of  Engineering  took  on  new  \  igor.  Al- 
though no  permanent  building  for  science  was 
provided  at  the  new  site,  excepting  the  Ha\e- 
meyer  Laboratory  of  Chemistry,  nevertheless 
the  accommodations  offered  by  the  several 
temporary  buildings  were  better  than  the  school 
had  before  enjoyed  ;  also  a  livelier  hope  was 
excited  of  additional  facilities  for  work  in  the 
early  future. 

The  former  Dean  of  the  School,  Professor 
Charles  B.  Brush,  resigned  his  chief  work  into 
the  hands  of  Professor  Charles  H.  Snow,  who 
was  elected  Associate  Professor  of  Engineering 
in  1 89 1.  Professor  Brush  remained  the  nomi- 
nal head  of  the  school  until  1 896,  and  was 
Emeritus  Professor  at  his  death  in  1897. 
Professor  Snow  in   1896  became  Dean  of  the 


School  and  Professor  of  Civil  Engineering. 
The  Faculty  was  strengthened  by  the  addition 
of  lecturers  chosen  from  among  eminent  engi- 
neers of  the  city.  Each  lecturer  was  engaged 
to  give  not  less  than  three  lectures  upon  his 
special  theme.  Their  instruction  was  consti- 
tuted a  part  of  the  curriculum  and  their  names 
added  to  the  roll  of  the  Faculty.  The  apparatus 
for  the  use  of  the  school  was  largely  increased 
in  every  case  by  gift.  The  chief  additions  are 
noted  in  Appendix  XII. 

A  special  endowment  of  $200,000  was  pro- 
vided in  1899,  for  instruction  in  applied  Science. 
The  School  of  Engineering  was  expanded  into 
the  School  of  Applied  Science.  A  Department 
of  Mechanical  Engineering  was  added,  under 
Collins  P.  Bliss  as  head  Professor,  also  a  De- 
partment of  Chemical  P^ngineering  aided  by 
the  Professors  of  Chemistry  and  in  1900  a 
Department  of  Marine  P-ngineering  under 
Carl  C.  Thomas  as  head  Professor.  In  the 
latter  year  workshops  were  provided  by  raising 
Association  Hall  one  stor)-  and  making  use  of 
the  ground  story.  Over  this  shop  a  super- 
intendent was  appointed. 

The  environment  of  a  School  of  Applied  and 
Pure  Science  was  already  provided.  The  Cam- 
pus with  the  G)Tnnasium  and  Athletic  Field, 
the  Library  Building,  the  Dormitories,  the 
Museum  and  the  Auditorium,  are  more  than 
adequate  for  the  present  College.  They  serve 
equally  well  the  School  of  Applied  and  Pure 
Science. 

The  School  of  Science  obtains  from  the 
College  of  Arts  and  Philosophy  che  needed  in- 
struction for  its  students  in  Language  and 
Literature,  in  Political  Science  and  History. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  College  obtains  from 
the  School  of  Science  an  equivalent  in  the  in- 
struction of  its  students  in  subjects  offered  by 
that  school. 

A  new  financial  plan  was  entered  upon,  by 
which  all  income  from  the  se\e'ral  endowments 
of  the  College  was  apportioned  equall)-  to  the 
College  of  Arts  and  Pure  Science  and  the 
School  of  Ajiplied  Science.  All  the  expenses 
of  Pure  Science  were  made  chargeable  to  the 


HISTORT  OF   NEW   YORK   UNIVERSITT 


243 


latter  school.  This  arrantjcmcnt  is  nrcnerous 
towards  science  and  at  the  same  time  j^reatly 
sim[)iifies  accounts.  All  sjjccial  endowments 
given  e.\|)ressly  for  the  one  or  the  other  school 
remain  vmaffected  by  this  arrant;ement. 

The  plant  at  University  IIeit;hts  is  regarded 
as  held  alike  lor  one  or  the  other  school.  The 
Cam[)iis,  Library,  Auditorium,  Dormitories, 
(iynnuisium,  Ohio  h'ield.  Association  Hall,  the 
heating  and  lighting  plant,  which  are  used  by 
both  alike,  form  at  i)resent  four-fifths  of  the 
investment.  Not  over  one-tenth  is  exclusively 
intended  for  Letters,  not  over  one-tenth  for 
Pure  and  Applied  Science  alone.     This  state- 


ment demonstrates  the  great  economy  of  build- 
ing up  a  School  of  Applied  Science  by  the  side 
of  a  College  of  Arts  and  I'ure  Science. 

I'robably  nowhere  in  the  world  is  there  to-day 
such  a  sub-structure  for  a  School  of  Technology 
or  Applied  and  Pure  Science,  as  at  Univesrity 
Heights.  l*'or  its  complete  inauguration  two 
conditions  are  sought  :  i-'irst,  the  endowment  of 
six  or  seven  Professorships,  averaging  $60,000 
to  ;^70,ooo  each  ;  second,  a  building  costing 
$200,000  to  $250,000,10  be  devoted  to  Mechan- 
ical P^ngineering.  The  northwest  corner  of  the 
quadrangle  to  be  reserved  for  this  edifice. 

H.   M.   M. 


CHAPTER    XI 
The  Hall  oi''  P^ame 


THE  GENESIS  OK  THE  UlEA,  SUGGESTED  IN  PART  BV  HARD  FACTS  OF  PHYSICAL  GEOGRAPHY  AT  UNIVERSITY 
HEIGHTS.  —  EDUCATIONAL  PURPOSE.  —  BROAD  VIEWS  OF  THE  GIVER  OF  THE  HALL. — THE  CONTRACT 
OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  WITH  THE  GIVER.  —  THE  ELECTORS.  —  NOMINATIONS  TO  THE  SAME.  —  THE  CHOICE 
OF  TWENTY-NINE  NAMES. — THE  RULES  GOVERNING  FUTURE  ELECTIONS.  —  THE  MATERIAL  FORM  OF 
THE    HALL.  —  THE    COLONNADE.^ — THE    MUSEUM.  —  MURAL    PAINTINGS. 


nr 


HPL  general  idea  of  the  edifice  known 
_         as  the  "  Hall  of  Fame  "  came  to  the 

-*-  architect  of  New  York  University  as 
an  esthetic  necessity  growing  out  of  the  topog- 
raphy of  Lhiiversity  Heights.  To  secure  a 
large  interior  campus  it  was  necessary  to  place 
the  three  buildings  which  form  the  west  side 
of  the  College  Quadrangle  close  by  the  Avenue 
above  the  Harlem  River.  But  since  the  grade 
of  the  quadrangle  was  one  hundred  and  seventy 
feet  above  the  river  and  forty  to  sixty  feet 
above  the  Avenue,  this  would  leave  the  exterior 
basement  walls  of  these  buildings  exposed  and 
unsightly.  To  conceal  these  walls  and  to 
present  an  ornamental  effect  towards  the 
Avenue  a  broad  terrace  was  suggested,  to  be 
supported  upon  granite  walls,  and  crowned  by 
a  colonnade.  The  colonnade  was  to  stand  upon 
the  outer  curve  of  the  terrace  and  extend  full 
five  hundred  feet  in  length. 

The  argument  for  this  strvicture  upon  the 
ground    of    beauty   was    very    strong,   yet    b\- 


itself  was  hardly  sufficient  to  justify  a  Univer- 
sity of  comparatively  small  resources  in  pos- 
sessing so  costly  an  ornament.  It  was  felt 
by  the  Chancellor,  as  Chairman  of  the  Building 
Committee,  that  an  educational  use  must  also 
be  found  for  such  an  edifice.  To  fulfill  this 
condition  there  came  to  him  the  idea  of  "The 
Hall  of  Fame  for  Great  Americans."  Com- 
paratively slight  modifications  of  the  architect's 
plans  would  adapt  the  building  to  this  purpose. 
The  educational  use  of  such  a  foundation 
seemed  likely  to  be  extended  and  enduring. 

The  mind  of  the  architect  had  thus  found 
the  "final  cause"  of  the  edifice  to  consist  in 
its  esthetic  effect  ;  the  mind  of  the  Chancellor 
had  discovered  the  "  final  cause  "  in  its  educa- 
tional use.  But  a  third  more  hospitable  mind 
was  generously  prepared  to  show  favor  to  both 
purposes  alike.  Not  for  beauty  only,  nor  for 
education  only,  but  for  both  together,  a  noble 
gift  was  proffered  to  the  University  sufficient 
to  complete   the  entire  edifice  and  to  adapt  it 


244 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR   SONS 


to  be  a  perpetual  memorial  of  great  citizens  of 
America.  Accordingly  in  March  1900,  the 
following  contract  was  made  between  the  New 
York  University  and  the  giver  of  the  Hall  of 
Fame:  — 

A  gift  of  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  is 
accepted  by  New  York  University  under  the 
following  conditions.  The  money  ^  is  to  be 
used  for  building  a  colonnade  five  hundred 
feet  in  length,  at  University  Heights,  looking 
towards  the  palisades  and  the  Harlem  and 
Hudson  River  valleys.  The  exclusive  use  of 
the  colonnade  is  to  serve  as  "  The  Hall  of 
Fame  for  Great  Americans."  One  hundred 
and  fifty  panels,  each  about  two  by  eight  feet, 
will  be  provided  for  inscriptions.  Fifty  of 
these  will  be  inscribed  in  1900,  provided  fifty 
names  shall  be  approved  by  the  two  bodies  of 
judges  named  below.  At  the  close  of  every 
five  years  thereafter,  five  additional  panels  will 
be  inscribed  so  that  the  entire  number  shall 
be  completed  by  A.D.  2000.  The  statue, 
bust  or  portrait  of  any  person  whose  name  is 
inscribed,  may  be  given  a  place  either  in  the 
"  Hall  of  Fame  "  or  in  the  museum  adjoining. 
The  following  rules  are  to  be  observed  for 
inscriptions : 

(i)  The  University  will  invite  nominations 
until  May  i,  from  the  jiublic  in  general,  of 
names  to  be  inscribed,  to  be  addressed  by 
mail  to  the  Chancellor  of  the  University,  New 
York  City. 

(2)  Every  name  that  is  seconded  by  any 
member  of  the  Senate  will  be  submitted  to 
one  hundred  or  more  persons  throughout  the 
country  who  ma}'  be  approved  by  the  Senate, 
as  professors  or  writers  of  American  history, 
or  especially  interested  in  the  same. 

(3)  No  name  will  be  inscribed  unless 
approved  by  a  majority  of  the  answers 
received  from  this  body  of  judges  before 
October   i   of  the  year  of  election. 

(4)  Further,  each  name  thus  approved  will 
be  inscribed,  unless  disapproved  before  Novem- 
ber 1st  by  a  majority  of  the  nineteen  members 

^  The  total  cost  of  the  Hall  of  Fame,  including  the 
Museum,  will  reach  one  quarter  of  a  million  dollars. 


of  the  New  York  University  Senate,  who  are 
the  Chancellor  with  the  Dean  and  Senior 
Professor  of  each  of  the  six  schools,  and  the 
President  or  representative  of  each  of  the  six 
Theological  Faculties  in  or  near  New  York 
City. 

(5)  No  name  may  be  inscribed  except  of  a 
person  born  in  what  is  now  the  territory  of 
the  United  States,  and  of  a  person  who  has 
been  deceased  at  least  ten  years. 

(6)  In  the  first  fifty  names  must  be  included 
one  or  more  representatives  of  a  majority  of 
the  following  fifteen  classes  of  citizens  : 

(a)  Authors  and  editors,  (b)  Business  men. 
(c)  Educators,  (d)  Inventors,  (e)  Mission- 
aries and  explorers,  (f)  Philanthropists  and 
reformers.  (g)  Preachers  and  theologians, 
(h)  Scientists,  (i)  Engineers  and  architects, 
(j)  Lawyers  and  judges.  (k)  Musicians, 
painters  and  sculptors.  (1)  Physicians  and 
surgeons.  (m)  Rulers  and  statesmen.  (n) 
Soldiers  and  sailors,  (o)  Distinguished  men 
and  women  outside  the  above  classes. 

(7)  Should  these  restrictions  leave  vacant 
panels  in  any  year,  the  Senate  may  fill  the 
.same  the  ensuing  year,  followmg  the  same 
rules. 

The  granite  edifice  which  will  serve  as  the 
foundation  of  the  Hall  of  P'ame  shall  be 
named  the  Museum  of  the  Hall  of  P'ame. 
Its  final  exclusive  use  shall  be  the  commemo- 
ration of  the  great  Americans  whose  names 
are  inscribed  in  the  colonnade  above,  by  the 
preservation  and  exhibition  of  portraits  and 
other  important  mementos  of  these  citizens. 
The  six  rooms  and  the  long  corridor  shall  in 
succession  be  set  apart  to  this  exclusive  use. 
The  room  to  be  used  first  shall  be  named  the 
Washington  Gallery,  and  shall  be  set  apart  so 
soon  as  ten  or  more  portraits  of  the  persons 
inscribed  shall  be  accepted  for  permanent 
preservation  by  the  Universit)'.  The  other 
rooms  shall  be  named  and  set  apart  for  the 
exclusive  use  above  specified  so  soon  as  their 
space  shall,  in  the  judgment  of  the  University, 
be  needed  for  the  purposes  of  the  Museum  of 
the    Hall   of    Fame.      In   the   meantime   they 


246 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR    SONS 


may  be  devoted  to  ordinary  College  uses.  The 
outer  western  wall  of  the  Hall  of  Languages 
and  of  the  Hall  of  Philosophy,  which  look 
into  tlie  Hall  of  Fame,  shall  be  treated  as  a 
part  of  the  same,  and  no  inscription  shall  be 
placed  upon  them,  except  such  as  relate  to  the 
great  names  inscribed  in  the  one  hundred  and 
fifty  panels.  Statues  and  busts  of  the  great 
Americans  chosen  may  be  assigned  places 
either  in  the  Museum  of  the  Hall  of  Fame  or 


science  and  invention.  At  this  point  the 
Senate  arrived  at  a  decision  to  adopt  a  definite 
method  for  the  selection  of  Electors.  Their 
action  is  comprehended  in  the  following  regu- 
lations :  — 

The  Judges  contemplated  in  the  above 
action  are  selected  by  the  New  York  Univer- 
sity Senate  in  accordance  with  the  three 
following  rules : 

First.     They  are  apportioned  to  the  follow- 


MUSEUM    OF    HALL    OF    FAME,    CENTRAL    ROOM 


in  the  Hall  itself,  as  the  givers  of  the  same 
may  decide  with  the  approval  of  the  Uni- 
versity. 

The  Senate  began  its  work  of  securing  one 
hundred  Electors  by  choosmg  first  a  few 
eminent  Presidents  of  Universities,  Dr.  Charles 
\V.  Eliot  of  Harvard  being  the  first  chosen, 
and  Dr.  James  B.  Angell  of  Michigan  next. 
After  this  it  proceeded  to  select  certain 
eminent  scholars  in  American  History,  then  a 
few  men  of  science  who  were  believed  to  be 
conversant    with    American    achievements    in 


ing  four  classes  of  citizens  in  as  nearly  equal 
numbers  as  possible  : 

A.  University  or  College  Presidents  and 
Educators. 

B.  Professors  of  History  and  Scientists. 

C.  Publicists,  Editors  and  Authors. 

D.  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court,  State  or 
National. 

Second.  Each  of  the  forty-five  States  is  in- 
cluded in  the  appointments.  When  in  any  State 
no  one  from  the  first  three  classes  is  named,  the 
Chief -Justice  of  the  State  is  invited  to  act. 


IllSTORT   OF   NEW    YORK    UISHVERSITT 


247 


Third.  Only  citizens  born  in  America  are 
invited  to  act  as  Judges.  No  one  connected 
with  New  York  University  is  invited. 

Since  these  regulations  are  not  part  of  the 
contract  between  the  giver  of  the  Hall  and 
the  University,  they  may  be  amended  by  the 
Senate  if  good  reason  be  found  for  any 
change. 

The  considerations  which  led  to  the  appor- 
tionment of  IClectors  among  the  classes  of 
citizens  above  named  deserve  attention.  It 
has  gratified  the  Senate  to  observe  that  while 
many  inquiries  have  been  made  as  to  the  man- 
ner in  which  the  system  adopted  was  arrived 
at,  few  serious  criticisms  have  been  heard  re- 
specting it.  The  most  frequent  criticism  per- 
haps has  been  that  what  are  known  as  the 
learned  professions  are  not  emi^hasized  by 
the  plan.  There  are  no  Electors  specifically 
assigned  to  the  clergy,  to  the  bar,  to  the  medi- 
cal fraternity.  In  regard  to  this  three  re- 
marks may  be  made,  and  one  is  that  each  of 
these  professions  must  be  necessarily  repre- 
sented according  to  the  plan  that  has  been 
adopted.  Another  is  that  the  very  fact  of  the 
devotion  of  any  man  to  one  of  these  three  pro- 
fessions in  an  eminent  degree  is  not  calculated 
to  qualify  him  for  inquiry  in  an  encyclopedic 
way  respecting  those  who  have  merited  and 
received  distinguished  fame  in  other  walks  of 
life.  Third,  each  of  the  learned  professions  is 
represented  in  the  New  York  University  Sen- 
ate by  not  less  than  two  members.  No  less 
than  si.\  theological  schools  have  each  a  repre- 
sentative. Thus  these  professions  may  exer- 
cise a  modifying  influence  upon  the  entire 
work. 

The  considerations  in  favor  of  the  selecting: 
of  judges  among  the  classes  above  named,  have 
never  been  formulated  by  the  Senate,  but  may 
be  easily  comprehenrled.  The  Uni\ersity 
President,  the  first  named,  is  required  by  the 
present  American  custom  to  be  enc)clopedic. 
How  can  he  serve  well  all  the  departments  of 
knowledge  without  knowing  something  of  the 
past  achievements  in  each  important  field  of 
effort.      He  must  become  a  lawyer  to  lawyers  ; 


to  scientists  he  must  be  a  scientist ;  to  authors 
a  man  of  letters ;  to  the  economist  and  histo- 
rian a  scholar  versed  in  some  degree  in  politi- 
cal science.  He  must  be  "all  things  to  all 
men  that  he  may  by  all  means  save  "  the  Uni- 
versity from  making  .serious  mistakes. 

I'^qually  plain  is  the  appropriateness  of  choos- 
ing for  Electors  men  versed  in  American 
history.  The  modern  writer  of  history  is  not 
a  mere  chronicler  of  military  or  political  occur- 
rences. He  inquires  into  the  making  of  a 
nation  and  asks  who  they  are  that  have  done 
the  most  towards  its  upbuilding.  A  broad  and 
thorough  study  of  national  progress  must  ac- 
quaint him  with  men  of  the  past.  He  knows 
also  what  judgments  have  been  passed  upon 
them  by  those  fitted  to  judge.  He  ought  him- 
self to  be  the  best  of  all  judges  respecting  who 
are  and  who  deserve  to  be  the  most  famous 
Americans. 

The  scientist  is  included  as  an  Elector 
becau.se  he  is  able  to  announce  with  a  certain 
authority  who  have  received  fame  in  science 
and  that  deservedly.  It  is  true  that  fame  con- 
fined to  a  circle  of  specialists  is  not  intended 
to  win  an  election  to  the  Hall  of  Fame, 
because  it  is  not  really  fame.  But  scientists 
ought  to  be  the  best  historians  of  achieve- 
ments in  science,  and  hence  they  are  associated 
with  historians,  that  there  may  be  a  fair  con- 
sideration of  those  who  by  achievement  in 
pure  or  applied  science  have  deserved  honor 
from  mankind. 

Publicists  and  editors  are  made  P21ectors  for 
the  same  reason  that  has  been  named  on 
behalf  of  Presidents  of  Universities.  They  are 
encyclopedic  personages.  Publicists  cannot  af- 
ford not  to  know  w^hat  has  been  accomplished 
by  their  countrymen  and  who  have  achieved 
the  greatest  deeds.  The  publicist  who  has 
been  at  the  helm  of  state  is  perhaps  second  to 
no  person  in  his  experience  of  measuring  and 
weishine:  his  fellowmen.  Since  the  statesman 
Moses  undertook  as  a  publicist  to  choose  "  able 
men  "  who  should  be  also  "  men  of  tnith  such 
as  fear  God,  hating  covetousness ",  publicists 
have    been    expected    to   discern   ability   and 


248 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


character,  or  at  least  to  discern  each  wide- 
spread reputation  for  abihty  and  character. 
American  pubHcists  have  seldom  disappointed 
this  expectation. 

The  editor  of  a  great  newspaper  must  be 
even  more  encyclopedic  than  the  publicist. 
He  reminds  me  of  what  was  written  by  St. 
Basil  of  St.  Athanasius.  Basil  emplo}s  a 
comparison  respecting  the  great  man  of  Alex- 
andria which    was  perhaps  suggested    by  the 


five  states.  There  were  a  few  states  in  which 
no  citizen  was  well  known,  either  personally  or 
by  reputation,  to  any  member  of  the  Senate. 
Since,  therefore,  some  one  in  high  representa- 
tive station  needed  to  be  selected,  none  loomed 
up  so  attractively  as  the  Chief-Justice  of  a 
commonwealth.  He  could  not  have  been 
placed  in  that  high  office,  it  was  thought, 
without  possessing  a  reputation  for  a  judicial 
habit  of  mind,  for  ability  to  investigate  inipor- 


I 


N  EW -YORK  •  VNIVERSITY- CHARTERED  •  MDCCCXXXl 

VNIVER5ITY'  HEIGHTS  •PVRCHASED-MDCCCXCl 

VNIVERSITY-  COLLFGE  -REMOVFJ)  •MDCCCXOV 

THIS'HALL  TEDMCM 

lNHO(\c'  viw^S 


TWM 


FOUNTAIN    AND    TABLET,    HALL    OF    FAME 


famous  lighthouse  of  that  city.  It  was  uttered 
while  the  latter  was  still  alive.  Basil  says  "  He 
stands  on  his  lofty  watch  tower,  seeing  with 
his  ubiquitous  glance  what  is  passing  through- 
out the  world.  He  is  the  mediator,"  he  adds, 
"  between  the  old  generation  and  the  new." 

The  Chief-Justice  of  the  nation  and  each 
state  are  the  fourth  class  from  which  one- 
fourth  of  the  judges  have  been  selected.  The 
decision  to  include  these  was  arrived  at  easily 
after  that  the  Senate  had  decided  to  give  at 
least  one  representative  to  each  of  the  forty- 


tant  questions,  and  for  fairness  in  his  decisions. 
The  Senate  therefore  decided,  in  addition  to 
the  Chief-Justice  of  the  United  States  and  one 
Associate  Justice  of  that  high  tribunal,  to  add 
the  Chief-Justice  of  each  of  twenty-three  states. 
In  the  case  of  three  states  it  happened,  how- 
ever, that  the  notice  of  election,  so  far  as  is 
known,  did  not  reach  the  Chief-Justice.  For 
this  reason  Arkansas,  Idaho  and  W'ashington 
appear  without  any  representative  in  the  Board 
of  Electors.  These  are  the  only  states  un- 
represented excepting   South  Carolina.      The 


HISTORY   OF   NEW   YORK    UNIVERSITY 


249 


President  of  an  important  Colle^^e  in  tliat  state 
was  invited  to  serve,  but  was  not  heard  from, 
no  doubt  for  some  good  reason. 

In  the  case  of  one  Elector,  ex-Senator 
Kdniunds,  credit  was  given  to  the  State  of 
Vermont,  with  which  his  name  has  ever  been 
associated,  rather  than  to  the  state  of  his 
present   residence. 

No  attempt  was  made  to  distribute  the  Elec- 
tors according  to  any  rule  to  the  various  parts 
of  the  country  outside  of  this  regulation  that 
each  state  should  be  assigned  an  Elector.  It 
is  interesting  to  know  that  the  distribution  of 
Electors  does  not  vary  in  a  \  ery  great  degree 
from  the  general  distribution  of  population.  A 
majority  of  the  people  of  the  United  States, 
according  to  the  last  census,  are  comprehended 
within  nine  or  ten  states.  A  majority  of  the 
one  hundred  Electors  are  comprehended  within 
eight  states  with  the  District  of  Columbia.  It 
must  be  remembered,  however,  that  some 
Electors  are  credited  in  this  city  who  belong 
rather  to  the  commonwealths  in  which  they 
formerly  resided.  The  same  is  true  with  those 
who  are  credited  to  Washington  City.  The 
only  state  which  seems  to  have  secured  a  body 
of  Electors  out  of  all  proportion  to  its  popula- 
tion is  Massachusetts.  This  is  not  the  first 
time  that  the  Bay  State  has  carried  off  honors 
because  she  had  fairly  earned  them. 

The  summary  shows  that  New  England  has 
twenty-two  Electors,  the  Middle  States  twenty- 
five,  the  Southern  States  sixteen,  and  the 
Western,  including  Ohio,  thirty.  The  National 
Capital  has  four,  and  three  are  in  foreign  coun- 
tries acting  there  as  Ambassadors  either  of  the 
American  Nation  or  of  American  education. 
It  is  believed  by  the  Senate  that  without  any 
exact  system  of  distribution  upon  their  part, 
the  result  indicates  a  reasonable  and  fair  appor- 
tionment of  Electors  to  the  chief  divisions  of 
the  United  States  in  proportion  to  their  pro- 
ductiveness in  the  various  fields  from  which 
the  Electors  are  called. 

A  part  of  the  rules  observed  by  the  Senate 
in  making  nominations  are  imposed  upon  them 
by  the  deed  of  gift,  especially  the  receiving  by 


the  Senate  of  every  nomination  from  whatever 
source,  and  second  the  sending  to  the  Hoard  ol 
Electors  of  every  name  which  any  oni'  ol  the 
nineteen  members  of  the  Senate  may  choose  to 
second.  These  rules,  as  has  been  noted  above, 
are  designed  to  secure  the  consideration  of 
names  from  e\ery  important  field  of  human 
effort.  The  Senate  chose  of  its  own  accord  to 
go  beyond  this  and  to  pay  respect  to  the  result 
of  the  wide  competitions  instituted  by  impor- 
tant daily  papers  both  in  the  east  and  in  the 
west.  These  papers  secured  what  was  almost 
a  jilebiscitum  res]K'cting  the  names  that  de- 
served to  be  inscribed.  When  the  twenty-nine 
names  which  stand  foremost  as  the  result  of 
this  plebiscitum  are  placed  side  by  side  with 
the  twenty-nine  which  received  a  majority  of 
the  votes  of  the  one  hundred  Electors,  it 
appears  that  there  are  twenty  names  that  are 
common  to  the  two  lists.  The  other  nine 
names  supported  by  the  Electors  were  four  of 
them  included  among  the  first  fifty  in  the 
popular  canvass,  two  more  were  included  in  the 
first  sixty,  two  among  the  first  seventy,  while 
the  ninth  name  of  a  learned  jurist  ranked 
eightieth  in  the  popular  mind. 

The  Senate  having  the  highest  respect  for 
those  who  were  to  act  as  Electors,  further 
decided  to  second  any  nomination  which  any 
of  them  might  propose.  This  invitation  to  add 
nominations  failed  to  reach  some  of  the  Elec- 
tors because  of  their  change  of  residence  dur- 
ing the  summer.  Only  twenty  of  the  Electors 
availed  themselves  of  this  right  of  adding  some 
thirty  or  forty  names.  The  numerical  result 
of  these  names  were  more  than  a  thousand 
names  altogether  presented  for  the  considera- 
tion of  the  Senate,  out  of  which  two  hundred 
and  thirty-four  were  transmitted  to  the  Board 
of  one  hundred  Electors.  The  criticism  has 
been  made  that  the  list  sent  to  the  Electors 
was  too  large  to  admit  of  careful  consideration. 
A  more  severe  criticism  is  that  it  included 
many  names  that  were  of  small  importance. 
The  Senate  in  opening  the  door  for  nomina- 
tions so  widely,  were  aware  that  their  list 
would  be  open  to  both  these  criticisms.     They 


250 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR   SONS 


preferred  to  be  censured  for  too  long  a  list 
that  was  weighted  down  with  unimportant 
names,  than  to  be  open  to  the  charge  of  nar- 
rowing the  field  of  selection  offered  to  the  one 
hundred  judges.  They  had  full  confidence  that 
each  of  the  latter  in  a  very  brief  period  could 
dismiss  the  larger  part  of  the  nominees  from 
further  consideration.  Nothing  was  lost,  there- 
fore, by  sending  up  the  names  of  a  hundred 
lesser  Americans  save  the  extra  printing.      On 


inscription.  The  nominations  are  to  be  left  in 
the  possession  of  the  judges  until  the  last  of 
September,  thus  giving  the  entire  summer  of 
more  than  three  months  for  every  Elector  to 
arrive  at  a  decision.  As  was  said  by  Thomas 
W'entworth  Higginson  in  an  article  which 
appeared  in  August  1 900,  "  The  hundred 
judges  appointed  by  the  New  York  University 
to  designate  the  first  fifty  names  to  be  inscribed 
in  its  proposed  'Temple  of  Fame'  on  Univer- 


THE    COLONNADE,    HALL    OF    FAME 


the  other  hand,  there  was  the  great  gain  of 
permitting  every  great  profession,  as  for  exam- 
ple the  engineering  profession,  to  present  its 
favorites  ;  in  like  manner  every  religious  de- 
nomination was  enabled  to  present  its  Ameri- 
can saints  to  the  notice  of  the  judges,  for 
deliberate  consideration.  It  may  be  noted  by 
anticipating  a  little,  that  more  than  a  score  of 
the  names  placed  in  nomination  failed  to  receive 
a  single  vote  from  among  the  hundred  Electors. 
The  time  of  nomination  is  appointed  by  deed 
of  gift  to  end  on  the  first  of  May  every  year  of 


sity  Heights,  are  supposed  to  be  spending  the 
peaceful  summer  days  in  pondering  on  their 
verdict  to  be  rendered  on  the  first  of  October." 
Except  for  this  arrangement  as  to  the  times 
and  seasons  offered  the  Board  of  Electors,  it 
would  have  been  impossible  to  secure  the  assist- 
ance of  men  who  with  few  exceptions  hold 
positions  of  highest  responsibility,  and  who 
with  hardly  an  exception  are  among  the  most 
laborious  citizens  of  our  busy  nation. 

Each  elector  received  from  the  Senate  early 
in  the  summer,  a  printed  sheet  containing  the 


HISTORY   OF   NEW   YORK    UNIVERSITY 


25 


first  two  hunclrcd  names  which  had  each 
received  the  second  either  of  the  Senate  or  of 
some  incUvidual  member  of  the  same,  luich 
judge  was  requested  to  transmit  within  tliirty 
days  any  nominations  of  his  own.  When  the 
month  had  expiretl,  a  second  printed  sheet  con- 
taining aLso  these  ackUtional  names,  making  two 
hundred  and  thirty-four  altogether,  was  for- 
warded in  duplicate.  In  general  the  Electors 
made  their  reports  each  by  returning  one  of 
these  sheets  with  those  names  underscored 
whom  he  deemed  the  more  worthy  of  com- 
memoration. 

On  October  10,  1900,  the  three  principal 
officers  of  the  Senate,  namely,  the  Chairman, 
the  Secretary,  and  the  Superintendent  of  the 
University  Press,  the  place  of  the  last-named 
being  filled  in  his  absence  by  a  substitute, 
began  the  canvass  of  the  returns  which  con- 
tinued October  iith  and  12th. 

Upon  October  i  2th  the  Senate  "acted  upon 
the  report  of  its  officers  by  adopting  the  follow- 
ing resolutions  : 

First. —  The  tliirty-one  names  that  have  received  each 
the  approval  of  fifty-one  judges  or  more  shall  be  inscribed 
in  the  Hall  of  Fame. 

Second.  —  The  cordial  thanks  of  the  .Senate  of  the  New 
York  University  are  returned  to  each  of  the  judges  for  this 
service  rendered  to  the  public.  While  it  has  demanded 
no  little  thought  and  acceptance  of  respon.sibility  on  their 
part,  it  must  receive  abundant  reward  in  the  knowledge  of 
important  aid  given  thereby  to  the  cause  of  education,  par- 
ticularly among  the  youth  of  America. 

Third.  —  The  official  book  of  the  Hall  of  Fame,  the  publi- 
cation of  which  is  authorized  by  the  Senate,  shall  be  sent  to 
each  of  the  100  judges  as  memento  of  this  service. 

Fourth.  —  The  Senate,  acting  under  the  rules  of  the  Hall 
of  Fame,  will  take  action  in  the  year  1902,  towards  filling  at 
that  time  the  vacant  panels  belonging  to  the  present  year, 
being  twenty  in  number. 

Fifth.  —  They  invite  each  member  of  the  Board  of  Judges 
to  serve  as  judge  in  1902.  Should  any  one  of  the  present 
Board  of  Judges  at  that  time  have  laid  down  his  educational 
or  public  office,  his  successor  may  by  preference  be  invited 
to  serve  in  1902. 

Si.xth.  —  Each  nomination  of  the  present  year  to  the 
Hall  of  Fame  that  has  received  the  approval  of  ten  or  more 
judges,  yet  has  failed  to  receive  a  majority,  will  be  con- 
sidered a  nomination  for  1902.  To  these  will  be  added  any 
name  nominated  in  writing  by  five  of  the  Board  of  Judges 
or  by  the  New  York  University,  in  such  a  way  as  it  may 
find  expedient.  .Xny  nomination  by  any  citizen  of  the 
United  States  that  shall  be  addressed  to  the  New  York 
University  Senate,  will  be  fsceived  and  considered  by  that 
body. 


The   following  are    the    twenty-nine    names 

ai)]iroved    by  a   majority  of    the  one  hundred 

Electors.      The  numerals  following  each  name 

denote  the  number  of  electors  by  which  it  was 

supported. 

(M'.orce  Washington 97 

Abraham  Lincoln 96 

Daniel  Web.stkr 9O 

Benjamin  Franklin 94 

Ulysses  S.  Grant 93 

John  Marshali 91 

Thomas  Jefferson 91 

Ralph  Waldo  Kmerson 87 

KoHKKl-   Ft'LTON 86 

Henry  Wapsworth  Longfellow 85 

Washington  Irving 83 

Jonathan  Edwards 82 

Samuf.l  F.  B.  Mor.se 82 

David  Gi.ascoe  Farragut 79 

Henry  Clay 74 

George  Peahody    74 

Nathaniel  Hawthorne 73 

Peter  Cooper 69 

Eli  Whitney 69 

Robert  E.  Lee 68 

John  James  Aldubon 67 

Horace  Mann 67 

James  Kent 65 

Henry  Ward  Beecher 64 

Joseph  Story 64 

John  Adams 62 

Willia.m  Ellery  Channing 58 

Gilbert  Stiart 52 

Asa  Gr.\y '5' 

The  Senate  further  took  note  of  the  many 
requests  that  foreign-born  Americans  should 
be  considered,  by  adopting  a  memorial  to  the 
University  Corporation,  as  follows  : 

The  New  York  University  Senate,  for  a  number  of 
reasons,  cordially  approves  the  strict  limitation  of  the  Hall 
of  Fame  to  native-born  Americans.  At  the  same  time  it 
would  welcome  a  similar  memorial  to  foreign-born  Ameri- 
cans, as  follows  : 

A  new  edifice  to  be  joined  to  the  north  porch  of  the 
present  hall,  with  harmonious  architecture,  to  contain  one- 
fifth  of  the  space  of  the  pre.>;ent  hall;  that  is,  not  over  thirty 
panels,  ten  to  be  devoted,  the  fir.st  year,  to  the  commemo- 
ration of  ten  foreign-born  Americans  who  have  been  dead 
for  at  least  ten  years  —  an  additional  panel  to  be  devoted 
to  one  name  every  five  years  throughout  the  twentieth 
century.  We  believe  that  less  than  one-fifth  of  the  cost  of 
the  edifice  now  being  builded  would  provide  this  new  hall ; 
and  that,  neither  in  consspicuity  nor  in  the  land.-icape  which 
it  would  command,  would  it  in  any  way  fall  behind  the 
present  one. 

It  is  proper  now  that  wc  tuni  from  the  ideal 
to  the  material.      What   visible  and   tangible 


252 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR    SONS 


memorial  in  the  Hall  of  Fame  will  be  given  to 
each  name  that  has  been  chosen  ?  A  very 
simple  memento,  we  answer,  has  been  promised 
by  the  University.  As  soon  as  the  colonnade 
is  completed,  we  shall  select,  for  each  of  the 
twenty-nine  names,  a  panel  of  stone  in  the 
parapets  at  the  side.  In  this  the  name  will  be 
carved  at  full  length,  together  v.ith  the  date 
of  birth  and  of  death,  and  some  saying  of  the 
person  commemorated. 

The  panels  will  be 
distributed  among 
the  classes  into  which 
the  names  are  di- 
vided. .  For  example, 
ne.xt  the  Hall  of  Lan- 
guages is  the  "  Au- 
thors' Corner,"  with 
its  pavilion.  This 
will  receive  the  names 
of  Emerson,  Longfel- 
low, Irving  and  Haw- 
thorne. Next  that  is 
the  "  Teachers'  Cor- 
ner "  and  pavilion. 
To  this  will  be  as- 
signed the  Preach- 
ers also  —  Edwards, 
Beecher,  Channing 
and  Horace  Mann. 
One-quarter  of  the 
way  round  the  curve 
are  the  Scientists, 
together  with  the  In- 
ventors. Here  will 
be  Audubon  and  Gray;  Fulton,  Mor.se  and 
Whitney.  At  the  north  end,  in  like  manner,  is 
the  "  Statesmen's  Corner."  Here  are  Wash- 
ington, Lincohi,  Webster,  Franklin,  Jefferson, 
Clay  and  John  Adams.  Next  is  the  "Jurists' 
Corner,"  with  Marshall,  Kent  and  Story.  The 
soldiers'  quarters  are  south  of  these,  with  Grant, 
Farragut  and  Lee.  In  the  center  of  the  curved 
colonnade  is  a  seventh  division,  to  include  all 
others.  This  will  be  marked  by  the  Latin 
word  "  Scptiiniy  Here  will  be  tlie  philan- 
thropists, George  Peabody  and  Peter  Cooper, 


VASE    GIVEN     BY    MISS    COULD 


and  the  painter,  Gilbert  Stuart.  The  name  of 
each  of  the  seven  divisions  is  recorded  in  brass 
letters,  in  a  diamond  of  Tennessee  marble,  set 
in  the  center  of  the  pavement. 

Further,  the  University  provides  admirable 
positions  in  the  colonnade  for  bronze  statues  or 
busts  of  those  whose  names  are  chosen. 

On  the  ground-floor  of  the  hall  is  a  noble 
provision  of  a  corridor  of  two  hundred  feet  in 
length,  with  five  large  rooms,  whose  ultimate 

and  exclusive  use  is 
to  be  the  preserva- 
tion of  mementos  of 
those  whose  names 
are  inscribed  above. 
These  mementos  will 
doubtless  consist  of 
portraits  of  the  per- 
sons, with  marble 
busts  or  tablets,  auto- 
graphs, and  a  thou- 
sand-and-one  memo- 
rials which  vividly 
call  to  mind  the  de- 
parted great.  A 
quaint  vase  has  al- 
ready been  contrib- 
uted to  the  museum, 
which  commemo- 
rates by  engraved  fig- 
ures, the  work  in 
science  performed  by 
Franklin,  Fulton  and 
Morse.  Probably  the 
most  important  fea- 
ture of  the  museum  in  future  years  will  be 
the  mural  paintings.  The  Society  of  Mural 
Painters  has  carefully  examined  these  rooms, 
and  has  presented  a  memorial  to  the  University 
in  which  they  record  their  conclusions.  This 
is  signed  by  the  members  of  the  Committee  on 
civic  buildings,  —  Joseph  Lauber,  Chairman  ; 
John  La  Farge,  President  of  the  society,  cx- 
officio  member ;  Kenyon  Cox,  Secretary  ; 
George  W.  Maynard,  Edwin  H.  Blashfield 
and  C.  Y.  Turner.  The  paper,  in  part,  is  as 
follows : 


HISTORr  OF  NEW  YORK    UNIVERSITY 


253 


The  conimiitee  on  civic  buildings  of  ihe  National  Society 
of  Mural  Painters,  having  carefully  considered  the  possi- 
bilities of  the  enihellislinient  of  the  museum  of  the  Hall  of 
Fame  by  appropriate  mural  painting,  hereby  makes  the 
following  suggestions  : 

That  it  is  eminently  fitting  that,  in  a  commemoration  of 
national  greatness  such  as  the  Hall  of  Fame,  the  three  great 
arts  —  Architecture,  Sculpture  and  Mural  I'ainting  —  should 
collaborate,  not  only  to  perjietuate  the  memory  of  the  great 
men  of  the  nation  for  all  time,  but  also  to  serve  as  an 
example  of  monumental  ait  in  America  of  to-day.  .  .  . 

In  looking  over  the  wall-spaces  of  the  museum  of  the 
Hall  of  Fame,  we  find  that  there  is  an  excellent  opportunity 
for  the  exercise  of  the  mural  art,  the  architect  of  the  structure 
having  provided  a  frie/eline  of  over  six  feet  in  height, 
extending  throughout  the  entire  edifice  and  interrupted  by 
partitions  and  windows.  We  find  the  divisions  of  space  as 
they  are,  excellent,  as  they  will  serve  to  separate  the  depic- 
tion of  one  subject  from  another.  We  would  suggest  that, 
if  the  authorities  of  the  New  York  University  decide  on  the 
mural  embellishment  of  this  structure,  the  central  gallery, 
which  has  the  largest  uninterrupted  frieze-line,  be  taken  up 
first,  and  a  painting  be  phiied  hoe,  chiefly  allegorical, 
typifying  American  progress,  the  /deals  of  the  nation,  and  its 
place  in  ihe  history  of  civilization.  Right  and  left  of  this, 
on  the  s'.de-walls  and  in  the  adjoining  galleries,  the  work  on 
the  walls  may  have  a  more  direct  bearing  on  the  men  and 
their  achievements,  according  to  the  space  allotted  to  the 
various  representatives  of  the  nation's  greatness  in  the 
museum.   .   .  . 

Then,  as  we  understand,  it  is  desired  to  set  apart  spaces 
in  this  museum  for  relics  and  memorials  of  these  men  ;  the 
rooms  should  have  a  direct  bearing  on  the  achievements  of 
the  men  memorialized,  whether  the  treatment  is  allegorical, 
historical,  or  individual. 

Even  in  allegory,  this  can  be  beautifully  done ;  there 
need  be  no  vagueness  in  the  significance  of  the  artist's  work. 

Unfortunately,  the  University,  beinc^  com- 
pelled to  use  all  its  efforts  on  behalf  of  its 
ordinary  educational  work,  can  lend  no  energy 
to  the  securing  of  moans  for  the  decoration 
of  the  Hall  of  Fame,  beyond  statements  like 
the  present.  We  offer  the  abundant  space 
provided  by  the  generosity  of  the  giver  of  the 
edifice.  When  the  hall,  including  only  the 
colonnade  and  the  museum,  shall  ha\e  been 
completed  by  the  close  of  winter,  it  will  have 
cost  a  little  more  than  §250,000.  It  is.  by 
itself,  a  most  delightful  memorial  to  great 
Americans — not  only  in  its  architecture  and 
the  names  inscribed,  but  also  in  the  surpassing 


landscape  which  it  commands  throiighouL  its 
five  hundred  feet  of  length.  The  historic 
heights  of  Fort  Washington,  where  one  of  the 
fiercest  Revolutionary  battles  was  fought  ;  the 
Hudson  and  the  Pali.sades,  the  Harlem  and 
the  Speedway  —  are  in  view.  C'lose  by  are 
noble  trees  l)elonging  to  the  park  recently 
establi.shed  i)y  the  city.  Through  this  sloping 
University  Park  will  be  a  popular  approach  to 
the  hall  from  the  west.  From  the  east  and  the 
futiue  rapid  transit  road,  the  visitor  will  come 
to  the  hall  through  the  College  campus  and  the 
"Mall."  The  Hall  of  Fame  must  be  visited 
to  be  known,  for  it  can  be  represented  by  no 
photograph.  In  order  merely  to  read  the 
eight  connected  inscriptions  upon  the  eight 
pediments  the  sightseer  must  go  around  the 
exterior  of  the  entire  structure,  front  and  rear, 
a  full  quarter-mile.  He  will  find  the  object 
and  the  reason  of  the  edifice  described  in  the 
carved  words,  which  chance  to  be  precisely 
the  same  in  number  as  the  great  names  that 
the  Hall  of  Fame  will  commend  to  the  people 
of  the  twentieth  century.  The  twenty-nine 
words  are  as  follows  : 


TtiK  IIai.i,  of  Fame 


For  CIrf.at  Amkrican^ 


r.v    W  I  Mill   ■  H    Tin  Mini  I 


( )R   I-'. I  si:   i;v    M  i(;ii  I  V    I  )i  i  ii 


TiiFY  Sfrvkh  Mankini) 


In     Ni  iKI  1.    (11  \K  All  I  K 


In    W  nRLl)-\\  idk   (iool) 


Thfv   I.IVK   Forfvfrmoki 


11.     M.    M. 


•54 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


CHAPTER   XII 


Social  and  Athletic  Notes  of  University  Heights 


THE  great  and  radical  change  involved 
in  the  migration  of  1894  was  most 
strongly  of  all  perhaps  emphasized 
in  the  new  life  in  social  aspects  and  in  athletic 
pursuits.  Here  indeed  was  a  free  field  for 
association  and  a  sphere  of  perpetual  and  last- 
ing opportunities.  It  was  then  that  The  Item, 
ably  conducted  by  John  Ruth  Evans,  suc- 
ceeded by  The  Triangle,  became  a  record  of 
the  new  life  of  new  enterprises  and  social 
incident.  The  hardships  of  the  first  winter 
were  cheerfully  endured  and  humorously  satir- 
ized in  the  College  annual,  The  \'iolet,  pub- 
lished in  the  spring  of  1895,  the  Editorial 
Committee  consisting  of  Erederick  Skene, 
Claude  C.  Smith,  Walter  J.  Greacen,  William 
Seggie,  Jr.,  Erederick  P.  Kafka,  Chester  F.  S. 
Whitney  and  Charles  G.  Wheeler. 

The  faculty  of  organization,  so  dear  to  the 
national  character  of  America,  found  vent  in  a 
Camera  Club ;  the  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association  reached  very  greatly  improved 
opportunities  for  work ;  there  was  a  Chess 
and  Checker  Club,  with  a  membership  of 
thirty-one,  of  which  in  1894- 1895  Erancis  T. 
Clayton  '96  was  President  ;  Lawrence  W. 
Whitney  '96,  Vice-President ;  Bruce  G.  Phillips 
'96,  Treasurer  ;  and  Moody  B.  Gates  '97,  Secre- 
tary ;  and  the  Glee  Club  grew  in  numbers  and 
in  wider  field  of  arti.stic  peregrinations,  F"rank 
J.  Smith,  who  still  efficiently  fills  that  post, 
being  Musical  Director,  George  C.  Mason,  As- 
sistant in  Engineering,  being  Business  Man- 
ager. There  was  a  flourishing  Brooklyn  High 
School  Club,  of  nine  members,  with  J.  O-scar 
Boyd,  President  ;  Charles  G.  Wheeler,  \'ice- 
President ;  John  H.  Pritchard,  Treasurer  ;  Ered- 
erick E.  Cla}ton,  Secretary  ;  Lawrence  W. 
Whitney,  Registrar ;  and  four  high  privates, 
Messrs.  George  V.  Swan,  Chester  F.  S. 
Whitney,  Laurell  W.  Demeritt  and  Bruce  G. 
Phillips.     There  was  likewise  a  Hackettstown 


Club,  representing  the  noted  higher  school  of 
that  place  in  New  Jersey,  with  Evans,  Prince 
(Leon  Gushing),  Meade  and  other  choice 
spirits  ;  to  it  belonged  C.  Soule  Bok,  a  Chris- 
tian Chinaman.  A  Biological  Club  was  estab- 
lished, the  new  work  under  Professor  Bristol 
greatly  stimulating  the  prospective  physicians 
and  scientists  of  University  Heights,  with 
Alfred  C.  Benedict  '97,  President.  There  was 
an  Engineering  Society,  with  twenty-one  mem- 
bers ;  poor  C.  W.  Bogert,  the  President,  did 
not  survive  this  honor  many  years.  A  few 
years  later  he  died  amid  the  pines  of  the 
Adirondacks,  a  victim  of  consumption.  Among 
the  members  were  Gruenthal,  Kafka,  Erik 
Wallin,  George  Gere  MacCracken  and  others. 
The  Calculus  Club  of  '97  we  fear  did  not  con- 
sider higher  mathematics  with  sincere  admira- 
tion ;  it  consisted  of  none  but  officers,  the 
lamented  Howard  Bill  of  '97  being  one  of 
these. 

The  "  Harpies "  of  the  Zeta  Psi  House 
dining-room  chose  as  their  motto  these  sig- 
nificant lines  : 

"  Hoth  Table  and  Provisions  vanished  quite. 
With  sounds  of  Harpies'  wings  and  talons  heard." 

Nor  must  I  forbear  to  mention  the  10.30 
p.m.  Cocoa  Club  of  Charles  Butler  Hall,  the 
Ichabod  Q)l  which,  William  J.  Marshall,  was  the 
"  Grand  Old  Founder"  and  the  present  Assist- 
ant-Professor of  Semitic  Languages,  George  W. 
Osborn,  was  the  "Grand  Vocal  Gas-Venter." 

The  Zeta  Psi  Fraternity  and  the  Psi  Upsilon 
were  (and  are)  the  most  vigorous  Greek  letter 
social  organizations  at  University  Heights, 
both  beginning  their  life  in  the  sylvan  north 
with  commodious  houses  taken  on  lease,  many 
non-residents  joining  their  friends  at  the 
luncheon-table.  TJic  prelude  of  Life,  may  we 
call  it,  so  delightful  in  this  republic  of  adoles- 
cent youth  with  the  keen  rubbing  of  character 
against  character  and  the  tentative  testing  of 


HISTORT  OF   NEW   YORK    VNIVERSITT 


■55 


lines  of  which  we  quote  a  few  : 

"Oh,  brethieii  of  tlie  oUloii  time,  a  scattered  haiul  and   few, 

Here,  at  the  altar  of  our  faith,  that  earlier  faith  renew. 

Oh,  brethren  of  these   later  days,  with    ardent    souls  and 

brave. 
Build  high   the   beacon-tires   of  hope  above  the  past's  dark 

grave." 


various  powers,  soon  to  be  tested  by  the  Vogel,  T.  I-".  Adriance,  of  "95  ;  C.  C.  Smith, 
sterner  Taskmaster,  Life  itself  —  which  often  K.  S.  Mills  and  W.  II.  Roberts,  of  '96;  I. 
allows  little  choice  to  Noiitli.  Well  did  oiu-  Turney  I'etherstone,  of  '97;  and  M.  Kempner, 
New  York  University  poet,  Willis  Fletcher  J.  C.  Gray,  C.  G.  Mill  and  V.  W.  Tooker,  of 
Johnson,    mark   the    new   life  with   some   fine      '98.     The  Zeta    I'si    I'raternity,    1846,   whose 

Phi  Chapter  of  New  Ytjrk  University  is  the 
parental  one  of  tlie  entire  body,  had  Becker, 
Ludlum,  Kirby,  and  Stern,  of  '95  ;  Clayton 
Meade,  W.  J.  Greacen,  C.  M.  Myers,  J.  P. 
Taylor,  G.  H.  Matthews,  W.  l"r.  Ottarson,  of 
'96  ;  G.  W.  Downs,  E.  W.  Greacen,  C.  K.  Lent, 
The  Delta  of  Psi  Upsilon  was  established  M.  H.  Gates,  G.  E.  Mayer,  of  '97  ;  R.  Camp- 
in  1837,  being  in  age  the  second  in  tlie  roll  of  bell,  J.  T.  Gorton,  J.  R.  1-2 vans,  L.  C.  Prince, 
chapters.  At 
U  n  iversity 
Heights  they 
at  first,  and 
in  fact  for  five 
years,  occu- 
pied a  spa- 
cious house 
on  Hampden 
Street,  with 
twenty-four 
members  in 
the  College : 
H.  H.  Banks, 
A.  H.  How- 
land,  James 
O.  Boyd,  O. 
S.  Wright- 
man,  J.  J. 
Graham,      of 

'95  ;  W.  L.  Durant,  G.  F.  Swan,  B.  Gr.  Phillips,  ing  their  own  house,  built  on  a  choice  corner 
C.  F.  S.  Whitney,  whose  succession  of  prae-  of  University  Heights,  a  dwelling  most  suitably 
noniina  Chester  Field  seemed  to  verify  the  and  comfortably  designed  and  equipped,  —  a 
ancient  saw  of  nomen  est  omen,  Fr.  CI.  Seek-  strong  plant  we  trust  in  the  College  garden, 
erson,  L.  W.  Whitney,  of  '96;  H.  Bill,  L.  T.  in  the  years  that  are  to  come. 
Snyder,  E.  L.  Garvin,  D.  Orr,  W.  J.  Tompkins,  Mrs.  MacCracken  throughout  all  these  years 

R.  S.  Povey,  R.  S.  Wrightman,  E.  W.  Wallin,  freely  opened  her  spacious  and  beautifully- 
of  '97  ;  R.  W.  Abbot,  E.  Huyler,  W.  M.  placed  residence  to  the  undergraduates  of 
Campbell,  G.  G.  MacCracken,  Frank  M.  New  York  University,  either  inviting  one  class 
Thorburn,  of  '98.  The  original  members  of  at  a  time,  or  even  the  entire  College.  The 
Delta  Phi,  at  the  Heights,  of  which  the  Gamma  three  sons  of  Chancellor  and  Mrs.  MacCracken 
of  New  York  University  was  third  chapter  in  have  all  been  students  of  New  York  University, 
chronological  order,  preceded  by  Brown  and  and  it  so  happens  that  the  undergraduate  life 
Union    alone,   were   O.   W.    Snodgrass,   G.   G.      of  these  three  sons  of  the  first  Chancellor  at 


i\SI    UPSILU.N     HOUSE 


of '98.  Other 
fraternities 
represented 
at  the 

II  eights, 
though  with 
less  organiza- 
tion of  their 
own  Lares 
and  Penates, 
were  the 
Delta  Upsi- 
lon and  the 
Phi  Gamma 
Delta.  In 
December 
I  899,  the  Psi 
U.  men  had 
the  satisfac- 
tion of  enter- 


256 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


the  Heights  exactly  fill  the  last  decade  of  the 
century.  John  Henry  MacCracken,  1890- 
1894,  was  the  leading  man  of  his  class,  which 
was  the  last  of  Washington  Square,  first  winner 
of  the  James  Gordon  Bennett  Prize,  and  later 
a  graduate  student  of  Philosophy  and  an 
Assistant  Professor  in  University  College.  It 
may  be  noted  as  a  matter  of  just  satisfaction 
to  those  interested  in  the  graduate  work  of 
New  York  University  that  J.  H.  MacCracken, 
after  a  residence  of  only  three  semesters  at 
the  University  of  Halle,  acquired  the  Ph.D. 
of  that  seat  of  learning,  with  high  honors  near 
the  same  date,  in  the  summer  of  1899,  he 
was  elected  President  of  Westminster  College 
in  Missouri,  before  completing  his  twenty- 
fourth  year.  George  Gere  MacCracken,  the 
second  son,  took  his  four  years  at  University 
Heights  1894-1898,  and  Henry  Noble  Mac- 
Cracken, the  youngest,  was  here  from  1 896  to 
1900.  The  Chancellor  thus  may  indeed  claim 
ihcjiis  tritwi  libcrortnn  as  the  chief  magistrate 
of  the  academic  republic. 

The  Class  of  '95  gave  a  very  successful 
promenade  at  University  Hall  in  the  new 
Gymnasium  in  1896.  This  year  social  ener- 
gies were  concentrated  largely  on  a  remark- 
ably successful  production  of  "  Patience,"  by 
amateur  artists,  at  the  Metropolitan  Opera 
House,  on  March  19,  1896  —  a  monster  pro- 
duction one  may  call  it,  organized  by  Frank 
Russak,  Bachelor  of  Science,  New  York 
University,  1875,  four  months'  preparation 
having  preceded  the  presentation,  largely  under 
Mr.  Russak's  perscmal  care.  The  fraternities 
were  vigorously  in  evidence  with  colors  and 
college  yells.  The  participation  by  the  friends 
of  the  College  in  this  unique  function  was 
notable.  Nearly  all  of  the  prominent  families 
interested  in  the  University  were  represented 
among  the  patronesses.  A  grand-stand  for  the 
new  Ohio  Field  was  built  with  the  net  pro- 
ceeds  of  the  production. 

The  Violet  of  the  year  1896  (Class  of 
1897)  contains-  a  poem  written  in  1896  by  the 
venerable  Bishop  Arthur  Cleveland  Coxe.  He 
sent  it   from  his  seclusion  at  Lakewood,  New 


Jersey,  adding  :  "  It  is  possible  that  some  Col- 
lege Chorale  might  be  cut  and  matched  to  it. 
I  only  send  it  to  show  my  fealty  to  Alma 
Mater."  The  distinguished  churchman,  whose 
youth  was  connected  with  the  very  beginning 
of  Washington  Square,  and  whose  silvery  locks 
witnessed  the  change  to  University  Heights, 
may  well  —  the  more  so  as  he  has  since  gone  to 
rest  —  deserve  a  place  here  for  his  loyal  lyric  : 

I. 

Foremost  in  the  firmament, 
Where  the  rainbow's  arch  is  bent ; 
Foremost  on  the  meads  below 
Of  the  hues  on  earth  that  grow. 
Let  the  Violet  be  ours, 
First  of  colors,  first  of  flowers. 

II. 
On  the  ground  how  low  it  lies  ! 
How  it  shineth  in  the  skies ! 
By  the  furrow  and  the  soil, 
Teaching  lowliness  and  toil ; 
Teaching  as  it  mounts  on  high. 
How  by  toil  we  reach  the  .sky. 

III. 
Moralist  for  life  and  death  ; 
Fragrant  as  an  angel's  breath.  ' 

Sing  we  then,  our  color  bright. 
Foremost  in  the  heavenly  height, 
P'oremost  on  the  grassy  ground. 
Where  the  gems  of  earth  are  found. 

Chorus. 
On  the  heart  we  place  and  wear  it ; 
For  our  sign  we  boast  and  bear  it ; 
Like  our  legend,  wise  and  wary. 
By  perstaiido  comes  praestare. 

In  this  connection  it  should  be  noted  that 
the  Bishop's  father,  Ur.  Samuel  Hanson  Cox, 
an  early  member  of  the  Council,  supplied  the 
Latin  motto  of  the  University  seal,  viz.  :  '' per- 
stando  ct praestatido,"  which  has  been  changed 
recently  to  "/>erstare  et  praestare."  The  word 
" uiilitati"  which  he  intended  for  the  obverse 
of  the  seal  has  been  omitted. 

The  athletic  work  at  the  Heights  in  1894- 
189s  was  necessarily  checked  by  the  formative 
stage  of  Ohio  Field,  as  well  as  of  the  Gym- 
nasium. Surveying  the  six  years  1894- 1900 
we  may  say  that  in  track-w^ork  and  gymnastic 
skill  New  York  University  men  rapidly  ac- 
quired a  more  than  average  position  of  prowess 


HISrORT   OF   NEIV   YORK    UNIVERSITY 


257 


and  success,  while  in  football  and  baseball  they 
have  had  a  career  fully  conforming  to  the 
measure  of  their  circumscribed  brawn  and  skill. 
Pitchers  there  have  been  who  had  great  speed, 
but  as  they  would  not  train  regularly,  had  not 
perfect  control  in  an  actual  contest.  Clearly 
in  physical  training  New  York  University  is 
not  seventy  years  old,  but  merely  half  a  dozen. 
Commodore  David  lianks  gave  unstintedly  and 
steadily  to  further  and  foster  this  very  impor- 


mcct  him  twice  a  week.  In  the  ledger  of  the 
Director  each  student  in  these  clas.ses  has 
the  ckita  of  his  pliysical  status  entered  at  the 
beginning  of  training  and  again  at  the  end,  in 
Dr.  Sargent's  manner,  deficiencies  being  worked 
up  and  overcome  by  forms  of  training  indi- 
vidually adjusted. 

In  1H95,  autumn,  the  football  team,  just  out 
of  their  swaddling  clothes,  did  not  play  a  great 
part  as  yet,  its  strongest  members  being  per- 


LOOKING    EAST    FROM    THE    LIBRARY    TOWARDS    GOULU    HALL 


tant  branch  of  College  work,  not  only  in  fur- 
nishing the  gymnasium  within  but  also  in 
presenting  cups  to  kindle  competitive  zeal  of 
classes  and  of  groups  of  men  striving  for 
particular  forms  of  physical  excellence.  It  was 
through  Commodore  Banks  that  Mr.  Frank 
Cann  was  brought  from  Bridgeport,  Con- 
necticut, to  take  charge  of  the  Gymnasium 
work  from  the  autumn  of  1895  on.  Freshmen 
have  three  hours  a  week  of  obligatory  training 
work  under  Director  Cann,  while  Sophomores 


haps  Barringer,  Kafka  (captain).  Hatch,  Nut- 
ter and  Valentine,  who  was  the  chief  punter. 
Still  they  scored  against  Wesleyan,  October  19, 
1895,  the  game  being  46-6,  at  Middletown, 
Remington  the  runner  securing  the  touchdown. 
On  October  26,  they  lost  to  Rutgers  at  New 
Brunswick,  on  Neilson  Field,  16-0.  It  was 
mainly  a  campaign  of  organization  ;  the  re- 
sources of  substitutes  always,  however,  were 
too  slender  to  draw  upon  in  the  many  con- 
tinerencies   of    disablement    incidental    to    this 


258 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


particular  form  of  athletic  competition.  The 
game  with  Trinity  was  30-0,  and  with  the 
College  of  the  City  of  New  York  12-6,  against 
New  York  University. 

The  champion  gymnast  of  1895- 1896  was 
V.  S.  Tompkins  of  Yonkers,  who  received  a 
gold  medal  from  the  Physical  Director,  he 
having  scored  205  points.  On  Monday,  April 
20,  '96,  a  game  of  baseball  against  Trinity  was 
played   at   the   Berkeley   Oval   with   the   close 


by  the  experts  as  the  chief  cause  of  the  fail- 
ure to  make  the  few  additional  points  neces- 
sary to  win.  The  events  won  by  New  York 
University  were  the  quarter,  half,  and  mile, 
one  mile  walk,  low  hurdles.  But  in  1897, 
1898,  and  1899  New  York  University  was 
brilliantly  successful  against  Lehigh,  Rutgers 
and  Lafayette  respectively,  and  in  the  spring 
of  1900  both  against  Lafayette  at  the  latter's 
athletic    home    and    against     Hamilton,     the 


GYMNASIUM    AND    ASSOCIATION    HALL 


score  of  14-13  against  New  York  University, 
the  latter  team  having  Valentine  as  pitcher. 
On  Saturday,  April  25,  at  University  of 
Pennsylvania  relay  races.  Heath,  Remington, 
Skene  and  Munson  ran  second  to  Swarthmore, 
defeating  however  Haverford  and  Rutgers. 

The  first  dual  meet  in  track  and  field  ath- 
letics was  held  at  the  Ohio  Field  on  May  17, 
1896,  with  W'esleyan,  and  was  lost  by  the 
University  men  by  the  very  close  score  of 
48-53  points  ;  a  glee  club  concert  on  the  pre- 
ceding  night   in   Staten   Island  being  charged 


commemorative  banners  now  decorating  as 
trophies  the  Gymnasium.  These  May  games 
on  the  superb  oval,  the  Ohio  Field,  with 
the  mellow  breezes  of  the  most  winsome  of 
months,  with  a  scenery  in  the  west  of  rare 
beauty,  the  Corinthian  vestibule  of  the 
Memorial  Library  set  against  the  background 
of  the  Palisades,  with  fluttering  youthful 
hearts  under  tlie  charm  of  fair  eyes  to  achieve 
victory  :  —  indeed  the  meaning  of  spring  and 
the  springtime  of  human  life  is  here  most 
charmingly  realized. 


HISTORT   OF   NEW    YORK    UNIVERSITT 


259 


On  May  15,  1897,  the  contest  with  Lehigh 
took  place  on  Ohio  Field,  and  was  won  by  New 
York  University,  with  y6  points  to  28  for 
Lehigh.  The  winners  for  N.  Y.  U.  were  :  220 
yards,  Chabot  ;  440  yards,  Foster  ;  mile  run, 
Mackey ;  120  yards  hurdle,  Barringer ;  220 
yards  hurdle,  A.  Smith  ;  mile  walk,  Howard 
Hill ;  high  jump,  Mahoney  ;  broad  jump,  Ma- 
honey.     The  excellent    winter   training   under 


On  that  evening  in  the  city  the  graduate 
School  I^'aculty  were  enjoying  the  hospitality 
of  Dean  I'rince :  but  they  took  leave  before 
the  result  could  be  learned  through  the  Dean's 
telephone. 

The  baseball  and  footi)all  records  of  the 
season  of  1896- 1897  showed  great  improve- 
ment over  previous  years  in  the  young  records 
of  the  College.      On   October    16,   1896,  New 


GYM.NAMIC    TEAM,    1899-I9OO 


Director  Cann,  with  indoor  running  (20  laps 
to  a  mile)  has  much  to  do  with  this  form  of 
excellence.  This  May  Day  was  a  beautiful 
one,  with  little  or  no  wind.  The  total  result 
in  the  two  indoor  contests  with  Rutgers  on 
February  16.  and  March  25,  1898,  was  704  for 
New  York  University  and  53^^  for  Rutgers. 

Most  desperate  was  the  g)Tnnastic  contest 
with  Wcsleyan,  F"riday  evening,  March  25, 
1898,  effort  after  effort  being  produced  until 
almost  midnight  was  reached.  The  final  result 
was  New  York   University   37,  Wcsleyan  35. 


YorkUniversity  in  football  defeated  the  Mont- 
clair  Athletic  Club,  16-0,  this  being  the  first 
contest  in  football  on  the  Ohio  F"ield.  On 
October  17,  N.  Y.  U.  defeated  the  New  Jersey 
Athletic  Club,  22-0.  On  October  24,  Stevens 
Institute  was  defeated,  40-0 ;  but  Trinity 
defeated  the  Violet  by  the  score  of  40-0  on 
November  7.  The  season  was  ended  with  a 
game  on  Noxember  20,  against  Hamilton,  won 
by  Clarence  Foster  by  a  fine  run,  6-0. 

Among  the  noted  victories  of  the  spring  of 
1897  in  baseball  was  one,  on  Ohio  Field,  over 


26o 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR   SONS 


the  University  of  Vermont,  on  April  8,  Foster 
and  Keane  being  the  battery :  the  score  was 
1 1-9;  and  over  Fordham,  at  Ohio  Field,  on 
April  28,  score  17-10,  Ladue  pitching  for 
New  York.  On  May  20,  Trinity  was  defeated 
12-10,  Dunn  and  Keane  being  the  battery. 
The  last  game  was  on  May  28,  in  which 
Cornell  was  defeated,  6-5.  Foster's  pitching 
was  so  fine  that  for  five  innings  no  Cornell 
player  made  first  base.  The  game  was  saved 
by  a   fine   catch   of  a   high   foul   captured  by 


vania,  42-0.  On  March  8  and  10,  1898,  Frank 
Belcher  of  New  York  won  the  Banks  cup  for 
all-round  athletic  excellence.  Belcher  is  still 
considered  the  finest  gymnast  thus  far  trained 
at  University  Heights. 

The  first  game  with  Columbia,  April  13, 
1898,  was  lost  by  N.  Y.  U.,  who  had  merely 
their  undergraduate  body  to  draw  from,  13-10; 
the  lack  of  steadiness  in  the  chief  pitcher  of 
N.  Y.  U.  that  spring  proving  disastrous  in 
every  important   contest. 


FOOTBALL 

Van  Vleck  of  N.  Y.  U.  on  the  steps  of  the 
grand  stand  in  the  ninth  inning.  For  the 
winter  of  1896- 1897  C.  F.  Foster  (1900)  won 
the  all-round  championship  for  athletic  excel- 
lence, and  gained  the  Banks  cup  especially 
established  by  Commodore  David  Banks.  In 
the  fall  of  1897  the  best  football  victory  of 
N.  Y.  U.  was  over  Stevens  Institute,  on 
October  9,  24-0,  on  Ohio  Field ;  the  worst 
defeat  suffered  by  the  Violet  being  at  the 
hands  of  Lehigh,  at  South  Bethlehem,  Pennsyl- 


TEAM,    '97 

Rutgers  was  defeated  in  a  dual  track  and 
field  meet,  at  Ohio  Field,  May  14,  1898,  by  a 
very  one-sided  score ;  the  winners  for  N.  Y.  U. 
being  the  following :  Denchfield,  220  yards 
dash  ;  Reese  in  the  400  ;  Reese  again  in  the 
880 ;  Barron,  in  the  mile  run ;  Fernald  in 
the  walk  ;  Barringer  in  the  i  20  yards  hurdles  ; 
A.  Smith  in  the  220  yards  hurdles  ;  Young  in 
polevault  ;  Mahoney  in  both  the  broad  and  the 
high  jump  ;  Carey  in  the  shotput ;  Mahoney 
with  the  discus. 


HISTORT   OF   NEW   YORK    UNI  VERS  ITT 


261 


In  the  fall  of  1898  many  of  the  scheduled 
games  had  to  be  cancelled,  as  there  were  no 
adequate  resources  of  substitutes  to  draw  upon. 
Still  the  brawny  team  of  Lehigh  was  defeated 
on  October  8,  lo-o,  and  the  h'reshmen  of 
N.  Y.  U.  defeated  the  Freshmen  of  Columbia 
32-0,  on  Ohio  Field,  November  21,  having  in 
Blunt,  Thorne  and  others  a  particularly  likely 
lot  of  athletic  youths.  The  l^anks  cup  for  the 
winter's  work  of  1898-1899  was  won  I^y  Jones, 


amenities  and  an  entertainment  followed  after 
this  contest  on  the  wide  and  smooth  floor  of 
the  gymnasium. 

liut  the  crowning  event  —  what  were  gym- 
na.stics  without  events,  something  to  eome  off 
in  the  physical,  palpable  and  visible  world  .■'  — 
tlie  crowning  event  in  the  annals  of  the  young 
gymnasium  at  University  Heights  was  the  first 
Intercollegiate  Gymnastic  Meet,  held  there 
on   Friday  evening,  March  24,  1S99.      Fntries 


BASEBALL    TKAM.      97 


of  the  Class  of  1902.  The  gymnastic  meet 
with  Lafayette  resulted  in  another  illustration 
of  Director  Cann's  good  work.  The  competi- 
tive tests  were  had  in  horizontal  bar,  tumbling, 
club  swinging,  fence  vaulting,  rings,  parallel 
bars,  high  jumping  and  side  horse.  The 
result  was  a  victory  for  N.  Y.  U.,  whose  cham- 
pions were  T.  C.  Hermann  at  horizontal  bar ; 
H.  Noble  MacCracken  in  club  swinging  ;  W.  A. 
Young  and  S.  S.  Jones  in  fence  vaulting ; 
rings,  F.  J.  Relcher ;  high  jumping,  S.  S. 
Jones;    side    horse,    F.    J.    Belcher.       Social 


were  made  representing  Amherst,  Brown, 
Columbia,  Cornell.  Harvard,  Haverford,  La- 
fayette, Lehigh,  New  York  Univer.sity,  Uni- 
versity of  Pennsylvania,  Princeton,  Rutgers, 
Swarthmore,  Trinity,  Union,  Union  Theologi- 
cal Seminary,  University  of  Virginia,  W'es- 
leyan,  Yale.  Twenty-one  silver  cups  were 
offered  by  Commodore  David  Banks  as  prizes. 
At  the  west  end  of  the  Gymnasium  a  brilliant 
"  N.  Y.  U.  "  formed  by  incandescent  electric- 
lights  stood  above  the  words  "  First  Intercol- 
legiate Gymnastic  Contest."     This  took  place 


262 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


at  horizontal  bar,  side  horse,  parallel  bar, 
flying  rings,  club  swinging,  tumbling.  In  the 
all-round  gymnastic  contest  the  following 
scores  were  made,  the  points  given  being  out 
of  a  possible  90 :  R.  G.  Clapp,  Yale,  67^ 
points;  F.  J.  Belcher,  N.  Y.  U.,  59;^;  E.  L. 
Eliason,  Yale,  56^  ;  W.  L.  Otis,  Yale,  481  ; 
J.  De  La  Fuente,  Columbia,  47^ ;  E.  S. 
Merriam,  Trinity,  40  points.  Other  Colleges 
represented    by   those    who  won    points   were 


and  later,  on  May  27,  more  decisively,  25-7. 
The  last  game  on  the  old  Ohio  Field  was  that 
with  the  Yale  Law  School  team,  held  on  the 
occasion  of  the  N.  Y.  U.  Alumni  meeting,  on 
the  first  Saturday  in  June,  the  Yalensians  being 
defeated  by  the  wearers  of  the  Violet,  1 3-7. 

The  last  game  on  the  o/ci  Ohio  Field  we 
said.  For  during  the  summer  and  fall  of 
1899  —  almost  to  Christmas  day,  a  vast  level 
of  some  400x350   feet   was  made   before  the 


TRACK    T 

Princeton  and  Harvard.  At  the  conclusion  of 
the  gymnastic  events  a  complimentary  dinner 
was  given  the  visiting  teams  and  the  various 
officials  in  the  assembly  room  in  Gould  Hall. 
Eighty  covers  were  laid. 

The  baseball  season  of  1899  saw  many 
bright  achievements  of  New  York  Univer- 
sity. The  first  Columbia  game  was  lost  by 
one  run,  in  the  last  inning,  9-8  ;  Trinity  was 
defeated  12-9,  Ta)lor  pitching  for  N.  Y.  U.  ; 
Syracuse  was  defeated  9-8  ;  Lafayette,  much  to 
their  surprise,  was  beaten  20-19,  Rutgers  4-2, 


EAM,    '98 

Memorial  Library,  to  be  a  fine  and  wide  lawn 
before  that  noble  structure,  with  a  mall  run- 
ning directly  from  the  portico  of  the  new 
library,  eastward  to  the  north  entrance  of 
Gould  Hall.  The  temporary  Ohio  I^'icld  has 
substantially  disappeared,  there  remaining  of 
its  high  level  but  four  tennis-courts.  These 
are  on  a  breezy  plateau.  The  Gymnasium  has 
been  moved  south  nearly  to  the  limit  of  the 
campus,  placed  on  a  new  sub-structure  giving 
fine  locker-rooms,  bath,  base-ball-cage,  and 
rooms  for  the  dinins:  club.      A  new  Ohio  Field 


IIISTOK)-   OF   NEW    rOKK    UNlVEliSlTr 


263 


has  been  created,  runniii}^  almost  noitli  and 
south  with  an  oval  considerably  wider  than 
the  old  Ohio  Field.  Overlooking  the  field 
from  the  west  is  grand-stand  space  for  several 
thousands  of  spectators.  For  the  present  only 
a  single  granil-stand  is  prt)vided.  When  May 
shall  have  covered  the  vast  im])r()vements  and 
newly  created  levels  with  new  verdure,  Univer- 
sity Heights  Campus  will  be  indeed  fair  to  see 
and  sweet  to  remember. 

New  York  University  thinks  with  grateful 
regard  of  the  schools  from  which  her  students 
come.  If  we  make  four  categories  —  Greater 
New  York,  New  Jersey,  New  York  State, 
other  states,  which  are  as  convenient  as  any 
other  classification  —  the  following  results  will 
present  themseh'es  for  our  survey  (the  num- 
bers mean  different  preparatory  schools,  not 
students) : 


In  Greater 


In 


In  N.V.  In  Other 


Total. 


N.Y.  New  Jersey.  State.  States. 

1594  14         9         7  '31 

1595  16         10  5         12        43 

1596  12  10  9  8  39 

1 597  2 1  II  4  2  38 
1898  15  13  8  4  40 
1S99  13  8  II  13  45 

From  this  it  is  obvious  that  the  Undergradu- 
ate College  of  New  York  University  is  steadily 
becoming  less  local.  As  for  the  enrollment  of 
new  names  for  the  si.x  years,  without  regard 
to  upper-class  men,  preliminary  examinations 
or  other  categories,  these  were  as  follows  :  In 
1894,  85  new  names  ;  in  1895,  86  new  names  ; 
in  1896,  73  new  names;  in  1897,  79  new 
names;  in  1898,  94  new  names  ;  in  1899,  102 
new  names. 

I.  — PREP.\R.\TORY  SCHOOLS  IN  GREATER 
NEW  YORK. 

'94  '95  '96  '97  '98  '99 

.\clelphi  Academy,  Brooklyn    .     2  -  -  -  i  - 

Karnard,  New  York    ....     3  3  i  2  i  3 

Berkeley,  New  York  ....    -  1  3  -  -  2 

Brooklyn  Boys'  High      ...     -  4  (>  5  -  3 

Brooklyn  Man.  Tr.  H.     .     .     .     1  -  -  -  i  - 

Chapin,  New  York  .  .  .  .  i  2  -  -  i  3 
College   of  the   Cfty   of    New 

York II  4  2  3  4  8 

Collegiate  School -  -  -  -  -  i 

Columbia  Grammar    ....    -  -  -  i  3  3 

Curtis,  New  York -  -  -  2  i  - 


•94     '95    V/,     '97  '98     "Q.^ 

Dwight I        -        2        2  7 

Flushing  High -       -        2        i 

Halsuy,  New  Nork      ....     -        i         2         I 

Hamilton  Institute,  New  \'ork     -        -        -        i  -        - 

Harlem  Evening  High     ...----  i         - 
Hebrew    Technical     Institute, 

New  ^'ork -        -        -        -  -         I 

Home  and  Private  Tuition       .9636  "]        (> 
Long   Island   City  High    (Irv- 
ing School) -        I        -        3  -        - 

M.  W.  Lyons i        -        -        - 

Ml.  Morris  Latin -        1        2 

J.  H.  Morse       -       -       -        1 

N.  Y.  Mixed  High      ....----  2        i 

N.  v.  Preparatory  School    .     .     -        1        -        -  1         i 

Polytechnic,  lirookiyn     ...     3        -        -        1  i        - 

Public  .Schools 2        2        -        3  -        - 

Dr.   Julius    Sachs's   Collegiate 

Institute 3        -       -        I  -        - 

Dr.  Samson i        —       -        -  -       - 

School  of  Social  Economics    .1221  -       - 

Trinity,  New  York      ....     -        1        -        2  1        7 

Trinity  Chapel,  New  York       .4532  i         i 

Trinity,  Staten  Island      ...    -        i        -       -  -       - 
University  Grammar  .     .     .     .     i        -       - 

University  School -        i        -       -  -       - 

Westerley  Collegiate  Institute, 

Staten  Island -       -       -       -  -        2 

Yale  Preparatory  School      .     .     -        i        -       -  -       - 

Since  this  record  has  been  made  up,  important  acces- 
sions have  come  from  the  recently  established  High 
Schools  of   Greater  New  York. 


II.  — PREPARATORY  SCHOOLS  IN    NEAV 
JERSEY. 

'94  '95  '96  '97     '9S 

Bayonne  High i  -  -  3  2 

Blair  Presbyterian  Academy    .  -  -  -  -  i 

Bloomfield.  Seminary ....  -  2  -  i  - 

Boonton  High -  -  -  i 

Bordentown i  -  -  -  - 

Dearborn-Morgan i  i 

Dover  High -  -  -  1 

E.  Orange  High i  2  2 

E.  Orange  University  School  .  -  -  -  -  i 

Hackettstown  Institute  ...  5  3  -  i  - 

Hasbrouck  Institute  ....  -  -  i  -  3 

Hoboken  Academy     ....  -  2  i  2  2 

Jersey  City  High -  i  i  3  1 

Jersey  City  Institute  ....  -  i  -  -  - 

Lawrenceville -  -  -  -  - 

Newark  High 1  2  -  2  4 

Nutley - 

Paterson  High -  -  -  1  1 

Paterson  Classical  Institute     .  -  -  1  2 

Paterson,  Mac  Chesney  ...  -  -  2  -  i 

Pennington  Seminary      ...  -  i  i  1  2 

Plainfield  High 1 

Plainfield,  Leal's  School      .     .  -  -  i 

Stevens  High i  -  i  -  i 


99 


264 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR   SONS 


III.  — NEW    YORK    STATE. 
Andes,  Delaware  County. 
Babylon  High. 
Binghamton. 

Cayuga  Lake  Miliiaiy  Academy. 
Cazenovia  Seminaiy. 
Delaware  Academy,  Delaware  County. 
Dr.  Holbrook's  Military  Academy. 
Mamaroneck  High. 
Mohegan  Lake. 
Mt.  Morris  Academy. 
Mt.  Vernon  High. 
Newburgh  Free  Academy. 
New  Rochelle  High. 
New  ^'ork  Military  Academy. 
New  York  State  Normal  School. 
Patchogue,  Long  Island. 
Peekskill,  Drum  Hill  School. 
Roxbury  Union. 
Spring  Valley  Union. 
Tarrj-town,  Washington  Irving  High. 
Ulster  Academy,  Kingston. 
Utica  Academy. 
White  Plains  High. 
Yonkers  High. 
Yonkers  Military  School. 

IV. —  OTHER    STATES. 

Maine:  Wesleyan  Seminary,  Waterville  Collegiate 
Institute. 

Massachusetts:  North  Attleboro  Academy,  Fitchburg 
High  School,  Piiisfield  High  School,  Worcester  High, 
Springfield  High,  Willision  Seminary,  Mt.  Hermon. 

New  Hampshire:   Phillips-Exeter  Academy. 

Rhode  Island :  Friends'  School,  Providence. 

Connecticut:   Bridgeport  High,  Hartford  High. 

Pennsylvania:   Wyoming  Seminary. 

Virginia:   Virginia  Military  Institute. 

Michigan  :  Plymouih  High,  Detroit  School  for  Boys. 

Kentucky:  Covington  High. 

Wisconsin :  Milwaukee  Academy. 

Kansas :  Eldorado  High. 

Ohio:  Coshocton  High. 

Arkansas  :  Hope  Institute. 

Texas:  Fort  Worth  High,  Fort  Worth  Polytechnic,  Pal- 
estine High,  El  Paso  High. 

District  of   Columbia  :  Washington  High. 

Upper  Class  men  have  entered  1894- 1899 
from  Amherst  ;  Brown  ;  Columbia  College  and 
School  of  Mines;  City  College,  New  York  ; 
Columbian  University,  Washington,  District 
of  Ct)lumbia  ;  Concordia,  Fort  Wayne, 
Indiana  ;  Cornell  ;  Dartmouth  ;  Fordham  ; 
Geneseo  Normal  College ;  German  Wallace ; 
Indiana  University  ;  Lafayette  ;  Manhattan  ; 
Northeastern  College,  (Pennsylvania);  Northern 
Illinois  Normal  College  ;  Oneonta  Normal  Col- 
lege ;  Princeton  ;  Rutgers ;  Southwestern  Pres- 


byterian, (Tennessee)  ;  Syracuse  ;  Union  ; 
Western  University  of  Pennsylvania ;  Wes- 
leyan ;  Wooster,  (Ohio)  ;  Yale.  From  Foreign 
institutions :  University  of  Palermo  ;  Eu- 
phrates College,  Harpoot,  Syria;  Realschule, 
Gefle,  Sweden;  University  of  Petersburg;  Gym- 
nasium of  Mannheim,  Baden  ;  Gymnasium  of 
Quedlinburg,  Prussia. 

It  seems  wise  to  spread  on  this  record  some 
exhibit  of  the  actual  operation  of  the  Group 
System.  Bachelors'  Theses  were  presented 
for  June  1899,  as  follows:  In  Engineering 
and  Technology:  The  Effects  of  Irrigation  on 
Civilization  in  the  West  ;  The  Efficiency  of 
Horizontal  Tubular  Boilers  using  Anthracite 
Coal ;  An  Economic  Phase  of  Sewage  Disposal ; 
Protecti\'e  Coverings  for  Iron  and  Steel ;  The 
Determination  of  a  Cht)ice  between  a  Plate 
Girder  and  a  Framed  Girder  for  a  Bridge.  In 
History  and  Political  Science :  An  Inquiry 
into  the  Causes  of  the  Decline  of  our  Merchant 
Marine;  Cooperation,  as  illustrated  by  the 
Society  at  Guise,  France,  founded  by  M.  Godin  ; 
Necessity  for,  and  Importance  of,  Forestry 
Legislation  ;  Toryism  in  the  lilpiscopal  Church 
during  the  Revolution  ;  The  Great  Families  of 
New  York,  a  history  of  the  famous  struggle  of 
the  Schuylers,  Clintons,  Livingstons  and 
Burrs  for  Political  Supremacy  in  New  York 
State  at  the  Beginning  of  the  Century  ;  The 
Negro  in  the  South  since  the  War:  A  Study 
of  his  Relations  to  Office-holding  and  the 
Franchise  ;  Recent  Aspects  of  Penology ; 
Development  of  the  American  State  Constitu- 
tions, particularly  of  Massachusetts  from  the 
English  Trading  Company's  Charters ;  The 
Political  Future  of  the  Philippines  ;  The  Impor- 
tance of  Forests  from  an  E)conomic  Standpoint. 
In  Biology  :  The  Hi.stology  of  Certain  Endo- 
thelia ;  The  Commi.ssures  of  the  Sheep's 
Brain ;  E.xamination  of  Renal  Ei)ithelium  of 
nccturiis  maailatus ;  A  Comparison  of  the 
Blood  of  the  Amphibians  with  that  of  Mam- 
mals. Philosophy :  The  Stoic  Ideal  of  Life  ; 
A  Defence  of  the  Grecian  Sophists ;  The 
Ethical  Standard  of  Francis  Bacon,  as  set  forth 
in  his  Essays.      In   Classics  :  The    Incorrupti- 


HISTORr   OF   NEW    YORK    UNlVERSrrr 


265 


bility  of  DeniDSthcncs  ;  The  CciUrali/ation  of 
the  Powers  of  (jovernmeiit  under  Auj^ustus; 
The  Dramatic  Art  of  Terence.  In  Semitics 
and  Church  History:  The  Historical  Devel- 
opment of  the  Creed  of  Nicaea  ;  The  1  listorical 
Aspect  of  Cyprus  ;   The  Poetry  of  Nahum. 

These  themes  are  far  remo\ed  from  the  pris- 
tine practice  of  rhetoric,  or  from  the  mere 
formal  faculty  of  presentation.  They  illustrate 
how  the  American  College  to-day  has  been  ad- 
vancing above  the  postulate  of  uniform  compul- 
sory training  of  general  and  common  powers,  to 
the  antechami)er  of  specific  professional  train- 
ing and  diversified  preparation  for  life.  The 
rhetorical  faculty  of  a  cruder  and  earlier  stage 
of  American  Higher  Education  has  been  def- 
initely abandoned  and  left  behind. 

As  we  now  are  about  to  lay  down  our  pen 
and  to  close  this  recital,  we  revert  to  the 
memory  of  those  benefactors,  teachers  and 
administrators  who  have  passed  away,  and  gone 
before,  with  reverent  and  grateful  feelings,  and 
with  profound  gratitude  do  we  say  to  those  ben- 
efactors and  friends  who  have  so  forcefully  and 
generously  advanced  the  work  of  University 
Heights  and  all  of  New  York  University's 
work  in  the  present  day :  "  GOD  BLESS 
YOU!" 

And  as  we  all  who  may  read  these  records 
are  standing  on  the  threshold  of  a  new  century, 
those  who  with  the  writer  know  that  by  far 
the  greater  jiart  of  their  lives  is  spent,  and  who 
have  faithfully  labored  for  the  growth  and  fame 
of  New  York  University,  all  these  may  well 
join  in  the  fine  lines  of  our  Academic  poet, 
Willis  Fletcher  Johnson,  '79  : 


Till';  s().\(;.s  OK  N.v.u. 

\Vu  .siiif^  tliL-  Songs  of  N.V.U. 

In  youth's  auspicious  yuar, 
While  hopes  are  bright  antl  friends  are  true 

And  life  is  royal  cheer  — 
And  life  is  royal  cheer,  my  lad, 

And  the  world  is  fair  and  new, 
We  sing  with  hearts  and  voices  glad. 

The  songs  of  N.Y.U.  1 

(Jh,  City  of  the  Sunrise  (iate, 

Knthroned  'twi.xt  land  and  sea, 
What  everlasting  glories  wait 

To  honor  thine  and  thee  — 
To  honor  thine  and  thee,  and  crown 

Our  home  with  splendors  true, 
While  echo  voices  of  renown, 

The  songs  of  N.Y.U.  I 

Imperial  city,  on  thy  brow 

A  fadeless  gem  is  set, 
A  shrine  at  which  our  spirits  bow, 

Where  loyal  sons  have  met  — 
W'here  loyal  sons  have  met,  to  bring 

Their  meed  of  homage  true. 
The  while  their  voices  blend  to  sing 

The  songs  of  N.V.U.  I 

The  strains  of  auld  lang  syne  return 

In  many  a  pensive  hour, 
When  heart-chords  throb  and  spirits  burn 

'Neath  fate's  remorseless  power  — 
'Neath  fate's  remorseless  power.     To-night 

The  present  bides  us  true, 
And  no  dark  dreams  of  memory  blight 

The  songs  of  N.V.U.  ! 

Yet  shall  we  sing  of  N.Y.U. 

W'hen  these  bright  visions  fail. 
And  life  is  fading  from  our  view 

Worn  as  a  twice  told  tale. 
Worn  as  a  twice  told  tale,  my  friends,  — 

Still,  still,  with  spirits  true, 
We'll  sing,  till  earth  with  heaven  blends. 

The  songs  of  N.Y.U.  1 


E.  G.  S. 


New   ^'oRK  City,  December  igoo. 


266 


UNIFERSITIES   AND    THEIR   SONS 


APPENDIX    TO    CHAPTER    XII 


Phi  Alpha  Sigma,  Alpha  Chapter,  was  the  first  Medical 
College  Fraternity  founded  at  Bellevue  Hospital  Medical 
College.  Drs.  H.  A.  Hanbold,  Jesse  G.  Duryea,  John  E. 
Hutcheson,  Frank  Hollister,  Nat.  B.  Van  Etten,  Howard 
McFadden  and  Walter  Wilkinson,  founded  4>.A.2.  in  the 
spring  of  1889.  Soon  afterwards  Beta  Chapter  was  estab- 
lished at  the  University  of  Pennsylvania;  in  April,  1899, 
Gamma  Chapter  at  Cornell  University,  Medical  Depart- 
ment ;  and  in  the  fall  of  the  same  year,  Delta  Chapter  at 
Jefferson  Medical  College.  Its  object  is  the  furtherance  of 
the  interests,  scientific,  social  and  moral,  of  its  members. 
Its  emblem  is  a  clasp-pin  consisting  of  a  winged  staff,  en- 
compassed by  two  serpents,  and  ujjon  the  staff  the  Greek 
letter  initials  of  its  name.  Its  colors  are  black  and  white. 
Its  flower  is  the  Red  Carnation.  Among  its  Alumni  may 
be  mentioned  Drs.  John  F.  Erdman,  C.  G.  Coakley,  Austin 
Flint,  Jr.,  George  D.  Stewart,  II.  Harlow  Brooks,  W.  C. 
Lusk,  Edward  H.  Carey,  D.  II.  McAlpin,  W.  S.  Adams, 
Chas.  B.  Slade  and  W.  E.  Studdiford.  Its  officers  are 
C.  H.  Chandler,  G.  J.  Howell.  E.  I.  Huppert,  W.  F.  Loren;;. 

In  January,  1S99,  the  Epsilon  Chapter  of  the  Omega 
Upsilon  Phi  Fraternity  was  established  in  the  University 
and  Bellevue  Hospital  Medical  College,  by  Messrs.  W.  W. 
Palmer,  G.  C.  Boughton,  A.  H.  Beaman,  G.  H.  Clough, 
A.  E.  Munson,  J.  S.  K.  Hall,  H.  II.  Halliwell,  W.  B.  Brooks, 
E.  S.  Vass  and  E.  M.  Thompson.  From  this  small  beginning 
the  chapter  rapidly  increased  in  size  until  at  the  end  of  the 
year  twenty-two  students  were  enrolled  on  the  membership 


list  and  also  two  honorary  members.  During  the  session  of 
1 899-1 900  the  chapter  made  up  the  loss  in  numbers,  due  10 
graduation,  and  held  their  first  annual  banquet  at  the  Hotel 
Marlborough,  covers  being  laid  for  twenty-five.  This  year 
also  marked  the  participation  of  the  chapter  in  college 
"politics,"  with  the  election  to  the  chair  of  Class  President, 
of  Mr.  Vernon  BIythe,  one  of  the  fraternity  members. 

The  College  term  of  1900-1901  marks  the  third  year  of 
the  chapter's  activity  and  shows  a  healthy  increase  both 
numerically  and  financially.  The  chapter  was  successful  in 
electing  six  out  of  present  twelve  officers.  The  second 
annual  banquet  was  held  at  the  Hotel  Marlborough  and  was 
notable  for  the  fact  that  it  represented  four  chapters  of  the 
fraternity  in  New  Vork  CMty,  "  Epsilon,"  U.  &  B.  H.  M.  C, 
"  Theta  "  Cornell,  "  Iota  "  P.  &  S.  Columbia,  and  the  Henry 
C.  Coe  Graduate  Chapter.  The  chapter  will  lose  a  large 
per  cent  of  its  membership  this  year  by  graduations,  but 
there  will  be  left  a  good  working  balance  for  the  year  of 
1901-1902. 

The  present  membership  roll  includes :  William  B.  Brooks, 
Harry  H.  Halliwell,  Hugh  H.  Shaw,  Jr.,  William  V.  Quinn, 
Philip  J.  Vetler,  Jr.,  Arthur  B.  Bradshaw,  George  S.  Com- 
stock,  James  S.  K.  Hall,  George  A.  Blakeslee,  .\lfred  W. 
Love,  1901  ;  George  P.  Paid,  John  J.  Donovan,  Stanton  B, 
Drew,  1902  ;  Morris  Hathaway,  Clinton  Hyde,  Harry  A. 
Lakin,  Rudolf  Herriman,  Paul  B.  Brooks,  1903;  Calder 
Johnson,  David  Haviland,  Emerson  C.  Rose,  Paul  P.  Swett, 
Frank  Warricke,  Palmer  R.  Bowditch,  Roy  Taylor,  1904. 


THE  F.xn 


PART    II 


BIOGRAPHICAL 


INTRODUCTION 


PERSONAL  influence  has  larf^c  place  amonp^  the  factors  of  education.  Some  minds 
indeed  !))'  force  of  will  or  stress  of  circumstance  will  put  them.selves  in  direct  contact 
with  what  we  may  call  the  "  raw  material  "  of  knowled<je,  and  b\-  this  discipline  may 
acquire  a  master)-  of  facts  and  a  strentjth  of  command  o\er  them  which  mark,  if  they  do  not 
make,  greatness  of  character.  But  those  charged  with  the  care  of  youth  see  the  need  of  other 
aids  and  influences  to  secure  the  best  conditions  for  their  mental  growth  and  culture.  And  the 
far-seeing  founders  of  States  ha\c  made  it  one  of  the  first  measures  for  the  public  welfare 
to  provide  local  centers  of  instruction,  and  to  organize  sj'stems  for  the  harmonious  develop- 
ment of  the  minds  and  characters  of  their  youth.  These  are  among  the  cherished  institutions 
of  a  Countr\-. 

But  the  ancient  libraries  and  museums,  depositories  of  the  materials  for  learning,  were 
availing  onl)-  for  the  few  who  could  profit  by  them  single-handed.  For  some  time  those  so 
initiated  into  the  mx'steries  of  knowledge  were  regarded,  or  at  least  regarded  themselves,  as  a 
class  of  superior  rank  and  pretensions.  A  part  of  their  dignit\'  seemed  to  be  to  liold  them- 
selves inaccessible  to  the  common  mind.  Among  more  fa\ored  races,  or  in  more  liberal  spirit 
of  the  times,  those  who  had  achieved  intellectual  mastery  b\-  their  personal  efforts  were 
prompted  b\'  a  generous  impulse  to  communicate  their  treasures  to  those  capable  of  receiving 
them.  This  met  an  equal  impulse  on  the  part  of  aspiring  minds  to  look  for  guidance  and  s\-m- 
path\-  in  fulfilment  of  their  wishes  by  entering  into  j)ersonal  relations  with  the  lixing  master. 
For  there  is  that  instinct  in  the  ingenuous  mind  of  youth  to  seek  the  .sympathetic  aid  of  a 
superior.  The  presence  of  one  who  has  himself  achieved,  is  a  quickening  and  an  inspiration; 
and  living  contact  with  a  spirit  that  finds  pleasure  in  communicating  to  those  able  to  receive, 
not  only  its  material  acquirements,  but  also  its  experience  in  acquiring,  both  points  the  way 
and  gives  strength  and  cheer  in  following. 


iv  INrRODUCriON 

This  contact  with  maturer  minds  and  superior  natures  brings  out  deeper  meanings  in- 
things,  deeper  truths  and  deeper  thoughts,  than  could  be  evident  to  the  unassisted  spirit,  how- 
ever earnest.  "  Understandest  thou  what  thou  readest?  "  was  the  bold  but  kindly  question  of 
Philip  to  the  powerful  treasure-keeper  of  Candace,  Queen  of  Ethiopia,  riding  in  his  chariot 
and  reading,  for  something  more  than  pastime  surely,  the  Prophecy  of  Esaias.  "  How 
can  I,  except  some  man  should  guide  me?"  was  the  answer  of  a  sincere  and  modest  spirit 
intent  on  truth. 

Striking  illustrations  of  this  influence  of  the  personal  superior,  both  in  science  and  in  art, 
are  familiar  in  history.  The  "  Old  Masters "  in  grammar,  logic,  rhetoric  or  dialectics,  —  in 
knowledge  of  nature's  works  and  ways,  once  called  philosophy,  and  later,  science,  —  and  in  the 
rich  fields  of  sculpture,  painting  and  architecture,  are  shining  lights  in  history.  Disciples 
thronged  around  them  in  the  Academy,  the  Ljceum,  the  Porch  or  the  Garden,  or  in  the  studios 
and  laboratories,  or  traversed  with  them  the  open  fields  of  earth  and  sky,  quickened  to  newness 
of  life  b\-  drinking  of  the  master's  spirit. 

The  affection  which  sprang  up  from  this  personal  intercourse,  especially  on  the  part  of  the 
pupil  towards  the  master,  was  itself  no  unimportant  part  of  a  liberal  education,  —  if  this  means 
the  harmonious  development  of  all  the  powers  and  susceptibilities  of  the  mind. 

"And  what  delights  can  equal  those  ^ 

That  stir  the  spirit's  inner  deeps. 

When  one  that  loves  but  knows  not  reaps 
A  truth  from  one  that  loves  and  knows." 

A  curious  illustration  of  the  strength  of  such  a  feeling  in  the  hearts  of  pupils,  and  in  the 
acceptance  of  the  communit)-,  appears  in  the  habit  among  the  i)upils  of  the  great  masters  of 
music  in  Italy  and  Germany  a  century  or  more  ago,  of  calling  themselves  b\-  their  masters' 
surnames;  — thus  almost  sinking  their  selfliood  in  the  great  communion  of  the  master's  spirit 
and  ideal.  That  might  indeed  be  giving  too  much  way  to  adventitious  or  accessory  influence, 
even  though  the  spring  of  such  action  were  in  the  wish  to  crave  a  portion  of  the  master's 
merit,  or  on  the  other  hand  to  waive  all  other  merit  than  that  which  belongs  to  him, —  both  not 
unworthy  motives ;  for  after  all  there  can  be  no  true  personality  without  self-assertion  and  self- 
responsibility,  and  such  personalitj'  is  the  highest  estate  in  art,  as  in  ethics,  and  in  life  itself. 

But  it  may  be  fairly  doubted  if  something  has  not  been  lost  in  the  modern  tcndenc\-  to 
introduce  machine  systems  of  classifications,  rank-lists,  and  paper  tests  of  proficiencx',  to  dis- 


INTRODUCriON  v 

place  that  old  relation  of  pupil  and  master  which  carried  alonf^  with  growth  of  knowledge  and 
skill  that  of  the  heart  and  soul.  We  shall  surely  miss  something  from  the  balance  and  symmetry 
of  educational  influences,  if  we  do  not  make  an  effort  to  countervail  or  supplement  existing 
tendencies  in  education  by  bringing  students  into  contact  with  men  of  experience  and  noble 
character  and  personal  magnetism,  as  well  as  of  scholarly  attainments.  It  is  not  multiplication 
of  electi\es,  however  attracti\'e,  throwing  the  student  back  upon  himself  for  choices  in  liis  most 
inexperienced  and  uncritical  years,  —  it  is  not  merel)-  multiplication  of  tutors,  or  increased  per- 
sonal inculcation  ami  drill  of  faithful  teachers,  nor  even  of  specialists  in  research  on  single 
lines  or  in  narrow  limits,  which  can  best  bring  out  the  powers  and  aptitudes  of  personalitj-,  or 
the  practical  \alue  of  knowledge  as  something  better  than  earning  power. 

\\"hat  is  of  most  importance  in  an\'  large  view  of  the  subjc-ct  is  to  secure  for  the  j'outhfiil 
student  the  personal  contact,  or  even  presence,  of  a  noble  character,  a  mature  mind,  an  experi- 
enced sensibility,  a  large  and  sympathetic  personalit}',  which  takes  hold  on  the  impressionable 
and  nobl}-tending  spirit  of  youth,  and  draws  it,  as  well  as  directs  it,  to  its  best.  Such  privilege 
of  discipleship  is  a  great  boon.  It  is  held  beyond  price  by  those  capable  of  trul\'  apprehending 
it.  The  importance  of  this  clement  of  education  cannot  be  overestimated  by  those  who  are 
entrusted  with  the  vital  office  of  pro\-iding  the  best  conditions  for  the  training  and  culture  of 
youth.  It  was  President  Garfield  who  said  :  "  To  sit  on  the  other  end  of  a  log  and  talk  with 
Mark  Hopkins  is  a  liberal  education." 

Not  only  do  the  true  masters  wake  new  ideals  and  inspire  new  zeal  for  action  in  their 
followers,  but  b}-  their  sympathetic  apprehension  of  the  pupil's  individuality,  they  bring  out  his 
best  powers  and  help  to  build  him  up  on  his  own  foundations.  One  good  thing  about  those  old 
times  of  master  and  pupil  was  the  close  personal  intimacy  between  them;  the  daily  contact  of 
mind  with  mind,  in  questions  and  answers,  the  searching  interest  which  detected  weaknesses  or 
disadvantages  of  habit  or  temperament,  and  offered  correctives  which  would  tend  to  a  balance 
and  symmetry,  and  afforded  discipline  which  makes  one  master  of  himself,  ready  for  an}-  action 
to  which  the  chances  of  life  may  call.  For  often  we  cannot  follow  choices,  but  must  act  as 
exigencies  demand.  It  is  one  thing  to  flatter  the  wish,  but  quite  another  to  discipline  the  will. 
Sjstems  of  education  which  offer  to  a  student  what  is  most  to  his  liking,  even  when  they  are 
supported  by  written  examinations  and  conventional  tests  for  rank,  which  things  cannot  disclose 
lacks  and  weaknesses  that  must  be  overcome  if  one  would  win  in  the  battle  of  life,  do  not  make 
good  the  place  of  personal  interest  and  friendly  criticism  of  a  large-hearted  master,  who  fits  one 
to  meet  things  he  does  not  like,  even  in  the  high  career  of  the  "  learned  professions." 


vi  INTRODUCriON 

Recognizing  the  importance  of  the  principles  here  adverted  to,  the  pubHshers  of  Universi- 
ties and  Their  Sons  have  followed  their  stereoscopic  presentation  of  New  York  Universitj-  which 
constitutes  the  first  half  of  this  volume  by  a  supplementarj-  one,  which  sets  forth  in  some  de- 
tail the  characters  of  the  men  who  have  had  part  in  moulding  the  characters  of  the  Univer- 
sity's Sons,  and  possibly  in  forecasting  their  careers.  And  these  careers  in  the  historj'  of 
our  Country,  following  them  out  in  their  branches  and  sequences,  have  had  much  to  do  in  the 
active,  formative  and  directive  powers  which  have  made  the  nation  what  it  is.  At  all  events 
these  Presidents  and  Professors  and  Teachers  noted  here  are  the  men  whose  spirit  in  their 
respectix'e  times  has  vitalized  the  educational  s\-stem  and  carried  forward  the  organic  life  of  the 
institution  which  has  now  become  a  great  University  that  is  an  honor  and  a  power  which  the 
whole  Country  holds  high,  and  which  has  sent  its  light  over  all  the  world. 

It  is  surely  a  worth)-  object  to  turn  attention  to  the  noble  characters  which  ha\e  wrought 
their  worth  into  the  very  fiber  of  the  nation's  life. 


^S^l^^:M.m^'<^^^:ilciX2j 


FOUNDERS  AND   BENEFACTORS 
OFFICERS   AND   ALUMNI 


THE  short  sketches  which  are  presented  in  this  volume  are  not  intended  as  biog- 
raphies of  the  persons  who  are  made  the  subjects  of  representation.  The 
purpose  is  to  bring  together  in  a  single  group  the  names,  faces  and  condensed  records 
of  the  wise  founders,  generous  benefactors,  earnest  teachers  and  faithful  officers  who 
have  established,  fostered  and  developed  the  great  institution  of  learning  to  which 
this  historical  record  is  devoted.  The  number  of  men  who  have  at  one  time  or  another 
filled  positions  which  entitle  them  to  a  place  in  this  galaxy  is  so  very  great,  that  merely 
to  record  their  names  would  itself  fill  several  hundred  printed  pages.  Hence  not  only  is 
the  collective  representation  which  has  been  attempted  in  these  pages  necessarily  incom- 
plete, but  from  similar  necessity  the  life-records  given  are  in  the  main  very  brief.  Yet 
it  is  believed,  at  least  is  hoped,  that  the  work  of  selection  and  presentation  has  been 
done  with  a  sufficient  degree  of  intelligent  judgment,  painstaking  thoroughness  and 
historical  accuracy,  to  fulfil  the  plan  outlined  with  reasonable  completeness,  and  to 
secure  results  both  interesting  and  valuable  to  all  New  York  University  Sons. 

From  the  very  nature  of  the  work  herein  attempted,  any  omissions  or  shortcomings 
must  be  too  palpably  evident  and  conspicuous  to  escape  notice.  Criticism  as  to  general 
incompleteness,  methods  of  selection,  manner  of  treatment  and  matter  treated  of,  is 
therefore  anticipated  ;  in  fact,  is  inevitable.  That  the  strictures  of  the  critics  may  be 
based  upon  just  grounds,  with  a  clear  understanding  of  the  limitations  of  tiie  under- 
taking and  the  difficulties  involved  in  its  performance,  this  brief  prefatory  statement 
is  made.  It  may  also  properly  be  added  that,  while  authors  may  write  and  publishers 
may  print  whatever  they  please  about  the  dead,  they  are  debarred  from  taking  such 
liberties  with  the  living.  Hence  it  is  that  the  non-rejjresentation  in  this  volume  of  a 
number  of  eminent  teachers,  and  the  exceedingly  meager  treatment  accorded  certain 
others,  whose  attainments  and  official  connections  make  them  conspicuous  subjects,  are 
due  solely  to  the  excessive  modesty  of  these  men  of  learning,  which  would  not  permit 
them  to  sanction  the  publication  of  anything  whatever  relating  to  their  personal  or 
official  careers.  For  these  omissions  the  publishers  can  only  express  regret,  while  dis- 
claiming responsibility.  The  Public  has  certain  claims  upon  every  citizen  which  it  can 
and  does  enforce  at  times  in  various  ways ;  but  with  the  Publisher,  who  is  but  a  servant 
of  the  Public,  the  personal  wishes  of  the  Teachers  of  Men  must  be  respected. 

THE    PUBLISHERS. 


FOUNDERS    AND    BENEFACTORS 
OFFICERS    AND    ALUMNI 


GALLATIN,  Albert,  1761-1849. 

First  President  of  the  Council,  1831. 
Born  in  Geneva,  Switzerland,  1761 ;  graduated  Univ. 
of  Geneva,  1779;  came  to  America,  1780;  member  Pa. 
State  Legislature,  1790-92;  entered  Congress,  1795; 
Sec.  of  U.  S.  Treasury,  1801-13;  U.  S.  Minister  to 
France,  1816  23;  Pres.  Nat.  Bank  of  New  York,  1831- 
39;  first  Pres.  of  Council  of  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1831;  died 
1849. 

ALBERT  GALLATIN  was  born  in  Geneva, 
^Switzerland,  January  29,  1761,  and  died 
in  Astoria,  Long  Island,  Augu.st  12,  1849.  Of 
those  who  in  1830-ICS31  shared  in  tlie  founding 
of  the  University  of  the  City  of  New  York,  he 
was  the  second  in  age  and  the  first  in  national 
reputation.  He  graduated  from  tlie  University  of 
Geneva  in  1779,  standing  tirst  in  Mathematics, 
Natural  Philosophy  and  Latin  translation.  His 
love  of  political  freedom  and  an  idealizing  aspect 
of  the  nascent  republic  of  the  Western  World  in- 
duced him  to  sail  for  America  from  I'Orient  late 
in  May  1780.  He  reached  Boston,  July  14.  1780. 
In  October  1781  he  returned  from  a  luckless 
trading  venture  in  Maine.  He  then  supported 
himself  by  giving  French  leSsons  in  Boston,  and 
received  ^300  from  Harvard  for  French  instruc- 
tion to  students.  After  the  peace  in  1783  he 
went  to  Philadelphia  and  then  made  successful 
investments  in  land  in  Western  Virginia,  opening  a 
country  store  in  Fayette  county,  Pennsylvania, 
(then  a  part  of  Virginia).  From  1790  to  1792  he 
served  in  the  State  Legislature  and  was  elected  to 
the  United  States  Senate  in  1793,  but  was  declared 
ineligible  on  the  ground  that  he  had  been  a  citizen 
of  the  United  States  only  eight  years.  In  1794  he 
was  largely  instrumental  in  bringing  about  a  peace- 
ful settlement  of  the  "Whiskey  Insurrection."  He 
entered  Congress  in  December  1795.  becoming 
identified  witii  the  Anti-Federalists,  remaining  in 
the  House  until  he  was  made  Hamilton's  successor 


as  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  in  1801.  He  was  a 
most  orderly  and  systematic  financier,  initiating  the 
system  of  separate  departmental  appropriations, 
and  the  establishment  of  the  Committee  on  Ways 
and  Means  was  due  to  his  suggestion.  He  pre- 
sided over  the  national  treasury  to  181 3,  acquiring 
great  and  deserved  renown  in  this  career.  He 
was  one  of  tlie  United  States  Commissioners  who 
signed  the  Treaty  of  Ghent,  Christmas  day  18 14, 
and  was  rewarded  by  the  appointment  as  Minister 
to  Fiance  in  18:5,  entering  tlie  duties  of  that  post 
in  i8i6.  He  returned  in  1823,  refusing  a  seat  in 
the  Cabinet  and  the  nomination  to  the  Vice-Presi- 
dency by  the  Democratic  party,  choosing  New  York 
as  his  home.  F'rom  1831  to  1839  he  was  President 
of  the  National  Bank  of  New  York.  He  urged 
in  1840,  at  seventy-nine  years  of  age,  in  a  pub- 
lication of  his  own,  the  "  Right  of  the  L^nited 
States  to  the  Northeastern  Boundary."  He  was 
bitterly  opposed  to  the  annexation  of  Texas  and 
the  entire  policy  wiiich  led  to  the  Mexican  War. 
His  publications  had  much  to  do  with  the  estab- 
lisiiment  of  peace.  The  cosmopolitan  sentiment 
which  ran  through  his  character  and  political  phil- 
osophy was  partly  clue  to  his  own  career,  but  partly 
imbibed  through  the  eighteenth  century  ideas 
ultimately  deduced  from  Rousseau.  His  share  in 
the  Literary  Convention  of  1830,  which  was  con- 
nected with  the  establishment  of  New  York  Uni- 
versity, has  been  fully  presented  in  the  first  chapter 
of  the  History  of  New  York  L^niversity.  His  own 
position  in  the  whole  matter  —  popularization  of 
education  as  a  safeguard  of  democratic  institutions 
—  was  stated  by  himself  a  few  years  after  he  with- 
drew from  the  movement,  in  a  letter  to  his  inti- 
mate friend  Badollet,  dated  New  York.  F'ebruary 
7.  1833  :  "  I  had  another  favorite  object  in  view,  in 
which  I  have  failed.  My  wish  was  to  devote  what 
may  remain  of   life   to   the   establishment,  in   this 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR   SONS 


immense  and  fast-growing  city,  of  a  system  of 
rational  and  practical  education,  fitted  for  all  and 
gratuitously  opened  to  all.  For  it  appeared  to  me 
impossible  to  preserve  our  democratic  institutions 
and  the  right  of  universal  suffrage  unless  we  could 
raise  the  standard  of  general  education  and  the 
mind  of  the  laboring  classes  nearer  to  a  level  with 
those  born  under  more  favorable  circumstances. 
I  became  accordingly  the  President  of  the  Council 
of  a  new  University,  originally  established  on  the 
most  liberal  principles.  But  finding  that  the  ob- 
ject was  no  longer  the  same,  that  a  certain  portion 
of  the  clergy  had  obtained  the  control,  and  that 
their  object,  though  laudable,  was  special  and  quite 
distinct  from  mine,  I  resigned  at  the  end  of  one 
year  rather  than  to  struggle,  probably  in  vain,  for 
what  was  nearly  unattainable."  Albert  Gallatin  is 
considered  as  the  father  of  the  science  of  American 
ethnolog)-;  Henry  Adams  says  of  him  :  "he  devoted 
immense  labor  and  many  years  of  life  to  the  routine 
work  of  collecting  and  sifting  vocabularies,  study- 
ing the  grammatical  structure  of  languages,  and 
classifying  the  groups  and  families  of  our  American 
Indians  on  the  principles  thus  worked  out.  Thus 
it  was  he  who  first  established  the  linguistic  groups 
of  the  North  American  Indians  on  a  large  scale, 
and  made  the  first  ethnographical  map  of  North 
America  which  had  real  merit."  e.  g.  s. 

[See  portrait  page  57,  Part  I.] 


LEWIS,  Morgan,  1754-1844. 

President  of  Council  1831-1834. 
Born  in  New  York  City,  1754;  attended  Grammar 
School,  Elizabethtown,  N.J.;  graduated  Princeton, 
1773 ;  served  in  the  Revolution  with  rank  of  Colonel ; 
practiced  law;  Assemblyman,  1783;  Atty.-Gen.  of 
N.  v.,  1791  ;  Judge  of  Supreme  Court,  1792,  and  Chief- 
Justice,  1793;  Gov.  of  N.  Y.,  1804-1807;  a  founder  of 
N.  Y.  Univ.,  and  and  Pres.  of  Council,  1831-34;  died 
1844. 

MORGAN  LEWIS  was  born  in  New  York 
City  in  1754.  His  name  is  one  to  be 
uttered  with  particular  veneration  by  every  friend 
and  alumnus  of  New  York  University;  for  he  it  is 
who  forms  the  link  between  our  academic  begin- 
nings and  the  era  of  the  days  and  years  of  our 
incipient  independence  from  Great  Britain,  the 
pioneer  era  of  the  Republic.  Francis  Lewis,  his 
father,  was  born  in  Llandaff,  Wales,  in  17 13  and 
died  in  New  York  City  in  1803.  He  emigrated 
to  the  New  World  and  became  a  shipping  mer- 
chant in  New  York,  personally  venturing  to  the 


African  coasts  in  his  trading  enterprises.  In  the 
French  and  Indian  war  of  1 756-1 761  he  was 
delivered  by  the  cruel  French  to  the  Indians  with 
some  fifteen  fellow  victims  of  whom  many  were 
slain  by  the  savages  one  at  a  time  ;  Lewis  escaped. 
He  shared  not  in  the  Tory  sentiments  after  1765 
but  joined  the  '•  Sons  of  Liberty  "  and  later  signed 
the  Declaration  of  Independence.  His  second 
son,  Morgan  Lewis,  went  to  school  in  the  country 
where  Morrisania  now  is,  visiting  his  parents  in 
New  York  (mainly  south  of  Wall  Street  then)  by 
a  stage  which  went  once  a  week.  He  once,  as  a 
young  boy,  lost  himself  in  the  woods  where  Green- 
wich Street  now  is,  pursuing  a  squirrel.  Later  he 
attended  a  grammar  school  at  Elizabethtown  and 
graduated  at  Princeton  in  1773,  maintaining  at 
College  a  friendship  with  young  James  Madison 
of  ^'irginia.  His  law  studies  were  interrupted  by 
the  war  with  England,  at  the  beginning  of  which 
he  was  made  Major  in  the  Second  New  York 
Regiment,  soon  advancing  to  grade  of  Colonel 
and  serving  at  Ticonderoga  in  the  winter  of  1776- 
1777.  He  served  on  Gates's  staff  during  the 
campaign  which  ended  with  the  convention  of 
Saratoga.  His  own  father,  by  the  by,  who  was 
then  an  influential  member  of  the  Continental 
Congress  was  largely  instrumental  in  foiling  the 
designs  of  a  certain  cabal  of  public  men  to  depose 
George  Washington  and  put  Horatio  Gates  in  his 
place.  Morgan  Lewis  in  May  1779  married  Mar- 
garet Livingston  of  the  New  York  family  which 
then  —  taking  all  in  all  —  was  probably  the  most 
influential  in  the  post-colonial  generation  of  New 
York  City  and  State  —  the  autocratic  era  of  our 
political  history.  Morgan  Lewis  thus  entered 
that  circle  to  which  also  belonged  the  Schuylers, 
Cortlandts,  Rensselaers,  Beekmans,  Ten  Broecks: 
mainly  Dutch  families.  At  Washington's  inaugura- 
tion in  1789  Morgan  Lewis  was  the  Commander-in- 
Chief  of  the  militia.  Resuming  law  after  1783  he 
entered  the  Assembly  for  Dutchess  county,  hav- 
ing established  himself  at  "  Grassmere  "  on  the 
Hudson.  In  1791  he  became  Attorney-General; 
in  1792  was  placed  on  the  Bench  of  the  Su- 
preme Court;  in  1793,  at  thirty-nine,  he  became 
Chief-Justice.  In  1804,  at  fift}-,  he  was  elected 
Governor.  His  farm  at  Staatsburghon-Hudson 
extended  a  full  mile  inland  from  the  noble  river, 
the  "  Kaatskills  "  constituting  the  western  sky- 
line. He  also  built  a  winter  home  in  Maiden 
Lane,  New  York  City.     His  only  child,  Margaret 


UNIFERSiril'.S   AND    I'llElR    SONS 


Lewis,    married     Matiirin     Livingston,     May    29, 
1798;  their  daughter  Julia  married  John  Deiafield, 
son  of  an   Knglisliman,  who  came  to  New  York  in 
1783  with  the  first  copy  of  the  Treaty  of  Peace  in 
his   pocket.       The    strong    interest    in    education 
which  Morgan  Lewis  exhibited  in  his  old  age   in 
the   founding  of    New    York    University   he    had 
evidenced   as   Governor  twenty-six   years   before, 
when,  advocating  the  establishment  of   a  perma- 
nent fund  for  common  schools,  he  uttered  the  fol- 
lowing :    "  In    a   government    resting    on    public 
opinion  and   deriving  its   chief  support   from  the 
affection  of  the  people,  religion  and  morality  can- 
not be  too  strongly  inculcated.     To  them  science 
is  a  handmaid,  ignorance   the  worst  of  enemies. 
Literary  information  should  be  placed  within  the 
reach  of  every  description  of  citizens,  and  poverty 
should  not  be  permitted  to  obstruct  the  path  to 
the    sacred    fane    of    knowledge."      (The    phrase 
"  sacred  fane  "  occurs  also  irt  his  centenary  address 
of   1832  ;    Lewis  trained  himself  in  his  early  man- 
hood in  reproducing  the  Spectator  of  Addison  and 
Steele.)     "  Common  Schools  under  the  guidance 
of  respectable   teachers  should  be  established  in 
every  village,  and   the   indigent  educated   at  the 
public    expense.      The    higher     seminaries    also 
should  receive  every  support  and  patronage  within 
the    means    of    enlightened    legislators ;    learning 
would    then     flourish    and   vice    would    be    more 
effectually  restrained   than   by  volumes    of   penal 
statutes."     In  1807  Lewis  was  succeeded  by  Gov- 
ernor Tompkins.    Of  Lewis's  important  services  in 
the  War  of  18 12   no  account  can  be  given  here; 
he  suffered  great  privations  in   his  expedition  in 
the    St.  Lawrence   country  with   General    Wilkin- 
son, and  was  after  the  Peace  of  Ghent  a  member 
of  the  court-martial  that  tried  that  military  func- 
tionar)-.    About  this  time  his  brother-in-law,  Chan- 
cellor Livingston,  who  had  as  United  States  Min- 
ister in  Paris  negotiated  the  Louisiana  purchase, 
died  and  in  his  will  gave  to  each  of  his  six  sisters 
twenty    thousand    acres    in    the    "  Hardenbergh 
Patent ;  "  thus  General  Lewis  became  the  owner 
of  a  vast  tract  of  land  between  what  is  now  Delhi, 
New  York,  and  Margaretville,  New  York,  the  name 
of  the  latter  being  derived  from  Mrs.  Lewis  or  her 
daughter.     In  1824  he  received  General  Lafayette 
on    his    Hudson    River  estate.     His   descendants 
preserve    letters    from    the    eminent    Frenchman 
bearing  date  December  29.  1828;  and   August  8. 
1830.      (Of  his  services  as  presiding  officer  in  the 


meetings  of  1829- 1830  for  the  establishment  of 
New  York  University  we  have  spoken  in  the 
History:  the  reader  will  consult  Chapter  I.  and 
appendix  thereto.)  In  1832  he  was  chosen  to 
deliver  the  address  in  commemoration  of  the  one- 
hundredth  anniversary  of  George  Washington's 
birth.  After  1777  he  had  been  not  a  little  near 
the  person  of  tlial  revered  man.  And  it  is  a  note- 
worthy coincidence  that  in  the  fall  of  that  year 
(1832)  actual  instruction  in  New  York  University 
began  —  in  (Minton  Hall  ;  whereas  the  first  perma- 
nent home  of  the  academic  institution  was  on 
JVas/iinf;/on  Square;  while  University  Heights 
looks  out  upon  IVds/iing/on  Heig/its.  In  his  \\'ash- 
ington  address  the  most  venerable  of  our  Founders 
thus  —  in  part  —  spoke  of  George  Washington 
from  his  personal  knowledge:  "His  temper  was 
by  nature  quick  and  his  passions  .strong  ;  but  by 
strict  and  constant  discipline  brought  into  subjec- 
tion to  his  reason  and  judgment  and  thus  subdued, 
excited  him  to  nought  but  deeds  of  high  renown. 
His  heart  was  warm  and  affectionate,  his  attach- 
ments firm  and  enduring,  and  his  resentments 
disarmed  by  the  slightest  contrition.  In  his  man- 
ners dignified  without  austerity,  polite  without 
affectation,  easy  of  access,  mild  and  affable  in  his 
intercourse  with  strangers  as  well  as  friends,  giving 
confidence  to  timidit}^  and  dispelling  restraint  with- 
out diminishing  respect;  of  a  temperament  cheerful 
and  social,  convivial  though  abstemious,  assiduous 
and  laborious  in  the  discharge  of  his  duties  he  was 
rigid  in  the  exaction  of  similar  observances  from 
others.  In  stature  he  was  tall,  his  form  and  mien 
noble,  his  frame  large,  well-proportioned  and 
athletic ;  his  physical  powers  great  and  his  mental 
vigour  adapted  as  well  to  civil  as  military  pre- 
eminence." General  Lewis  died  April  7,  1844, 
one  year  after  the  present  President  of  the  Coun- 
cil graduated  from  Washington  Square.  General 
Lewis  was  the  President  of  the  Historical  Society 
and  President  of  the  Order  of  Cincinnati.  The 
funeral  was  held  at  St.  Paul's  Chapel,  Broadway, 
and   the   interment  was   made  at   Hyde   Park  on 

the  Hudson.  e.  g.  s. 

[See  portrait  page  51,  Part  I.] 


BETTS,  Samuel  Rossiter,  1787-1868. 

Member  First  Council,  1830-183;. 
Born  in  Richmond,  Mass.,  1787  ;  graduated  Williams, 
1806 ;  studied  law,  and  began  practice  in  Sullivan  Co., 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


N.Y. ;  served  in  army  during  'War  of  1812,  and  ap- 
pointed Judge-Advocate ;  elected  to  Congress,  1815  ; 
Dist.-Atty.  for  Orange  Co.,  N.Y.  ;  Judge  of  U.S.  Dist. 
Court,  1823-67;  LL.D.  Williams,  1830;  member  Coun- 
cil N.Y.   Univ.,  1830-35;   died  1868. 

SAMUEL  ROSSITKR  BETTS,  LL.l).,  was 
born  in  Richmond,  Berkshire  county,  Mas- 
sachusetts, June  8,  1786.  He  was  graduated  at 
Williams  College  in  1806,  and  after  studying  law 
in  Hud.son,  New  York,  was  admitted  to  the  Bar  of 
that  state  and  entered  upon  practice  in  Sullivan 
county.  At  the  outbreak  of  the  \\'ar  of  181 2  he 
left  his  professional  duties  to  serve  the  countr)-,  and 
after  a  term  of  service  in  the  army  he  was  appointed 
Judge  Advocate  by  Governor  Tompkins.  Elected 
to  Congress  for  the  district  comprising  Orange  and 
Sullivan  counties,   he  served  from    18 15   to    1817, 


S.AMUKL    k.    HEITS 

and  then  declined  longer  to  abandon  his  pro- 
fessional work  for  the  re-election  which  was 
assured.  At  this  time  there  were  in  active  prac- 
tice at  the  New  York  Bar  such  eminent  lawyers 
as  Martin  Van  Buren,  Elisha  Williams,  Thomas  J. 
Oakley,  Prescott  Hall,  George  Griffin,  Ogden  Hoflf- 
man.  Thomas  Addis  Emmet,  and  others  of  equal 
note,  and  being  in  con.stant  association  with  them, 
the  young  lawyer  soon  profited  so  far  by  their  influ- 


ence and  his  own  untiring  effort  that  he  became 
recognized  as  a  peer  of  the  master  minds  of  the 
profession.  For  several  years  he  was  District 
Attorney  of  Orange  county,  and  in  1823  was  ap- 
pointed Judge  of  the  United  States  District  Court, 
for  the  Southern  District  of  New  York,  his  con- 
tinual office  during  the  next  forty-four  years,  with 
his  residence  in  New  York  City.  At  all  times  exer- 
cising the  greatest  care  and  patience  in  legal  inves- 
tigation, and  a  singular  profundity  of  knowledge 
of  the  law,  and  treating  all  with  an  affable,  though 
dignified  courte.sy,  he  won  the  universal  respect  of 
all  with  whom  he  became  associated.  A  notable 
achievement  of  his  judicial  career  was  the  formula- 
tion into  a  definite  code  of  the  maritime  laws  of 
the  I'nited  States,  the  obscure  laws  regulating  sal- 
vage, general  average,  wages  of  seamen,  freighting 
contracts,  prizes,  etc.,  being  reduced  to  clear  and 
adequate  system.  It  is  recorded  that  during  the 
first  twenty  years  of  Judge  Betts'  connection  with 
the  District  Court  there  was  never  an  appeal  from 
his  decisions.  His  opinions  in  his  own  court  on 
maritime  questions,  and  in  the  Circuit  Court  on 
patents,  have  been  uniformly  upheld.  In  the  Civil 
War  period,  when  the  questions  of  neutrality  laws, 
slave-trade  and  other  new  issues  arose,  involving 
an  entirely  new  class  of  questions,  affecting 
national  and  international  rights,  with  no  prece- 
dents established.  Judge  Betts,  although  nearly 
eighty  years  of  age,  applied  himself  vigorously  to 
the  task  of  meeting  the  new  conditions,  and  many 
of  his  decisions  on  these  questions  are  referred  to 
as  notable  cases  of  constitutional  judgment.  Judge 
Betts  was  one  of  the  first  to  serve  in  the  Council 
of  New  York  University  and  retained  his  seat 
there  until  1835.  He  received  the  honorary  de- 
"■rce  Doctor  of  Laws  from  Williams  in  1830.  In 
1838  appeared  his  work  on  Admiralty  Practice, 
which  became  a  standard.  He  resigned  his 
judicial  office  in  1867,  and  removed  to  New 
Haven,  Connecticut,  where  he  died  at  his  home, 
in  his  eighty-second  year,  November  3,  1868.     * 


MATHEWS,   James   M.,    1785-1870. 

Councillor  1830-1847  — First  Chancellor,  iSsi-iSag. 

Born  in  Salem,  N.  Y.,  1785;  graduated  Union  Col- 
lege, 1803;  graduated  Theol.  Sem.  of  Associate  Re- 
formed Church,  1807;  Assist.  Prof.  Ecclesiastic  Hist, 
and  Biblical    Lit.    at    the    Seminary,    1807-17;     Pastor 


UNIFERSITIES   AND    Till': IK    SONS 


South    Ref.   Dutch    Church,   New  York   City,   1812  40; 
First  Chancellor  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1831-39;  died   1870. 

JAMKS  M.  iMA'lIIKWS,  D.l)..  was  born  in 
Salcin,  Wasliiiij^loii  county.  New  York. 
March  18,  17S5.  His  parents  were  Scotch  Pres- 
byterians who  emigrated  to  America  before  the 
Kevohition  against  Knj^land.  Dr.  Mathews's  father 
served  in  the  war.  James  was  educated  in  tiie 
Academy  of  Salem  and  entered  the  Junior  Class 
at  Union,  graduating  in  1803,  at  eighteen  years 
of  age.  Spending  some  time  then  on  his  father's 
farm  he  joined  the  church  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Proud- 
fit  in   Salem,  and   in    1807    he   graduated  from  the 


JAMKS    M.     iMATHKWS 

Theological  Seminary  of  the  Associate  Reformed 
Church.  Attracting  the  attention  of  Professor 
John  M.  Mason  of  the  Theological  Seminary,  he 
was  after  graduation  appointed  Assistant  Profes- 
sor of  Ecclesiastic  History  and  Biblical  Literature, 
which  post  he  held  for  nine  years.  From  18 12  he 
held  the  Pastorate  of  the  South  Dutch  Church  in 
Garden  Street  (E.\change  Place)  New  York,  at  first 
in  connection  with  his  Professorship,  but  ulti- 
mately alone.  After  the  great  fire  of  1836  it  was 
thought  best  to  remove  the  place  of  worship.  The 
wishes  of  the  congregation  were  divided.  A  part 
of  the  members  established  a  church  on  the  corner 
of  Murray  and  Church  streets,  near  the  College 


(ireen  of  Columbia  (iollege.  Dr.  Mathews  how- 
ever established  a  new  and  thrifty  organization  on 
Washington  S(|uare,  near  the  University  building, 
the  location  and  building  of  which  had  very  largely 
been  his  work  as  first  Chancellor.  He  was  twice 
married,  his  second  wife  being  Julia  Hone,  of  a 
family  which  at  that  time  was  foremost  in  wealth 
and  social  standing.  When  Mathews  was  a  young 
clergyman  in  New  York  in  the  earlier  part  of  the 
century,  there  were  old  clergymen  like  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Livingston  of  the  Dutch  Church  who  in  their 
outward  carriage  still  manifested  that  palpable 
eminence  freely  accorded  to  leading  clergj-men  at 
the  time.  In  moving  in  the  street  Dr.  Livingston 
walked  "erect  as  a  grenadier  on  parade,  his  gold 
headed  cane  carried  upright  before  him,  his  spa- 
cious and  broadbrimmed  hat  surmounting  the 
white  wig  which  spread  its  curls  upon  his  shoul- 
ders, the  ample  square  skirts  of  his  coat  falling 
below  his  knees,  and  his  shoebuckles  glittering  on 
his  feet  as  though  the  dust  did  not  dare  to  soil 
them."  Dr.  Hobart  (afterwards  Bishop)  was  par- 
ticularly active  in  the  Episcopal  Church.  Temper- 
ance societies  were  not  yet  generally  established ; 
in  fact  intemperance  ruined  probably  a  far  greater 
proportion  of  college  men  than  is  now  the  case. 
Dr.  Mathews  recalled  the  exultation  of  Robert  Ful- 
ton when  the  "  Car  of  Neptune  "  and  the  "  Para- 
gon "  steamed  to  Albany,  with  wind  and  tide  in 
their  favor,  in  sixteen  hours.  Dr.  ^Lathews  knew 
De  Witt  Clinton  well,  as  he  did  Chancellor  Kent 
and  Stephen  Van  Rensselaer.  As  to  another  New 
Yorker  of  a  different  kind  of  fame,  Aaron  Burr 
himself.  Dr.  Mathews  was  commissioned  by  a 
church  society  of  ladies  to  make  a  pastoral  visit  to 
Burr,  at  a  time  not  long  after  Burr's  return  from 
a  prolonged  sojourn  abroad.  Dr.  Mathews  in 
his  memoranda  made  at  the  time  (but  published 
only  when  the  author  was  an  octogenarian,  in 
1865)  shows  the  weight  of  social  proscription 
under  which  Burr  suffered  at  the  time.  Colonel 
Burr,  by  the  by,  was  a  grandson  of  Jonathan 
Edwards.  Dr.  Mathews  also  was  well  acquainted 
with  Colonel  Henry  Rutgers,  the  eminent  phi- 
lanthropist. When  John  Quincy  Adams  passed 
through  New  York  he  generally  spent  an  even- 
ing in  a  small  circle,  containing  Albert  Gallatin, 
James  Kent  and  others,  of  whom  Dr.  Mathews 
was  one.  Gallatin  and  Adams  "  were  about  of 
the  same  height,  both  bald,  with  well  developed 
heads,  and  notwithstanding  the  collisions  of  past 


8 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


years  in  the  political  arena,  you  could  see  in  every 
expression  of  their  speaking  countenances  not 
only  that  mellowed  benevolence  which  is  a  fitting 
ornament  of  old  age,  but  a  very  hearty  delight  in 
the  company  of  each  other."  Dr.  Mathews  was  a 
very  sociable  man  and  in  the  quasi-literary  circle, 
of  which  he  was  a  frequent  member  in  the  free 
association  at  the  different  houses,  the  plan  of  a 
new  institution  of  learning  was  first  broached  and 
ultimately  brought  to  execution.  He  himself  said 
in  his  memoirs  (p.  192):  "As  these  views  were 
constantly  acquiring  new  weight  among  us,  at  the 
request  of  several  gentlemen  in  December  1829  I 
invited  a  meeting  of  a  few  friends  at  my  house, 
when  the  outline  of  a  plan  embracing  these  various 
objects  was  laid  before  them."  These  "  various 
objects"  were,  in  the  main:  (i)  lines  of  suitable 
training  for  boys  who  had  completed  merely  the 
public  and  connnon  schools,  with  scholarships  to 
be  founded  fcjr  this  class  of  candidates ;  (2)  higher 
branches  of  learning  for  which  Americans  had 
been  compelled  to  go  abroad  ;  (3)  Pedagogy,  then 
called  "  The  Philosophy  of  Education  " ;  (4)  a 
school  for  artists ;  (5)  Medicine ;  (6)  Law ;  (7) 
a  school  of  Commerce  and  Finance ;  (8)  the  a]5pli- 
cations  of  science  to  all  the  great  pursuits  of  life ; 
(9)  public  lectures;  (10)  harmony  of  science  and 
religion.  If  Dr.  Mathews  and  his  friends  had 
either  limited  their  efforts  to  one  or  two  of  these, 
or  if  they  had  succeeded  in  creating  an  endow- 
ment nine  or  tenfold  of  what  they  actually  achieved, 
substance  and  design  would  have  been  more  in 
harmony.  P"rom  1840  to  his  death  Dr.  Mathews 
lived  as  a  private  gentleman  in  New  York  City, 
which,  however,  he  frequently  left  to  deliver  lec- 
tures in  the  principal  cities  of  the  country,  on  the 
relations  of  the  Bible  and  science,  and  on  the  Bible 
and  civil  government.  Toward  the  close  of  his 
life  he  became  greatly  interested  in  the  welfare  of 
the  medical  students  who  thronged  to  New  York 
from  all  parts  of  the  country ;  these  he  tried  in 
every  way  to  benefit.  His  last  earnest  work  was 
bringing  together  the  representatives  of  the  vari- 
ous branches  of  Evangelical  Churches  in  the 
Council  which  met  in  the  autumn  of  1869.  at  the 
invitation  of  the  General  Synod  of  his  Church. 
This  Council  was  his  project,  and  over  its  as- 
semblage he  watched  with  eager  interest-  Nery 
soon  after  its  adjournment  he  gave  signs  of  rap- 
idly increasing  infirmity  and  after  a  tedious  sick- 
ness   he    passed    away  January  28,    1870,  in   the 


eighty-fifth  year  of  his  age.  He  was  a  man  of 
superb  phjsical  development  and  wonderful  vigor 
of  health,  with  great  native  dignity  and  attractive 
courtliness  of  manner.  He  was,  perhaps,  in  too 
great  a  degree  that  which  he  saw  himself  reflected 
in  others  —  in  the  goodwill  or  encomiums  bestowed 
upon  him.  He  too  easily  transferred  from  the 
wonderful  material  growth  around  him  a  computa- 
tion of  similar  growth  in  the  domain  of  higher  edu- 
cation, his  own  ideals  having  never  been  subjected 
to,  and  modified  by,  a  first  hand  knowledge  of 
European  education.  e.  g.  s. 


GRIS\A^OLD,  George,  3rd,  1777-1859. 

Councilor  1830-1851  —  Benefactor. 
Born  in  Giant's  Neck,  Lyme,  Conn.,  1777;  with  his 
brother  formed  firm  of  Nathaniel  L.  &  George  Griswold, 
merchants  in   foreign   trade;   member  of  first  Council 
incorporated  at  the  University,  1830-51  ;  died  1859. 

GEORGE  GRISWOLD,  third,  was  born  in 
Giant's  Neck,  Lyme,  New  London  county, 
Connecticut,  in  1777,  his  ancestor,  Matthew  Gris- 
wold, having  in  1635  emigrated  from  Lyme,  Eng- 
land, to  Windsor,  Connecticut.  He  began  his  com- 
mercial life  as  a  clerk  in  a  store  in  Hartford,  and  at 
nineteen  years  of  age,  in  1796,  he  followed  his  elder 
brother  Nathaniel  to  New  York.  Early  in  1798 
he  formed  a  partnership  with  that  brother  under 
the  firm  name  of  Nathaniel  L.  &  George  Griswold, 
which  remained  in  the  commercial  nomenclature 
of  New  York  until  dissolved,  January  i,  1876. 
The  firm  in  time  acquired  numerous  vessels  and 
directed  their  commercial  operations  to  every  port 
of  the  world.  Not  only  was  George  Griswold 
eminently  successful  in  the  larger  walks  of  com- 
merce but  also  his  personal  integrity  and  fairness 
commanded  wide  public  confidence,  so  that  his 
services  were  frequently  sought  by  merchants  who 
desired  an  arbitrator  or  umpire  in  the  settlement 
of  various  disputes.  He  served  as  Director  of  in- 
surance companies,  banks  and  railways  and  ever 
discharged  his  duties  with  diligence  and  ability. 
In  the  law  of  marine  insurance  he  was  so  well 
versed  that  his  opinion  in  difficult  cases  for  many 
years  carried  a  weight  not  surpassed  by  any  con- 
temporary, lay  or  professional.  He  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  first  Council  incorporated  in  the  begin- 
ning of  New  York  University,  being,  we  believe, 
the  third  in  age  of  the  members  of  the  original 
Council  in   1830,  Morgan  Lewis  and  Albert  Gal- 


UNiyERsrriEs  and   iheir  sons 


latin  alone  bcin^  his  SL-niors.  Durinjj  tlic  preva- 
lence of  the  yellow  fever  in  1832  (the  year  in  which 
instruction  began  in  New  York  University),  he  re- 
mained in  the  city  and  gave  of  his  means  to  the 
sulTcring.  lie  had  a  very  extensive  acquaintance 
with  tile  leading  men  of  all  professions  and 
counted  Daniel  Webster  among  his  intimate 
friends.  Early  in  life  he  was  a  Federalist;  later 
he  joined  the  \N'hig  party  and  remained  devoted 
to  it  to  the  end.  He  was  an  l^lector  for  the  State 
of  New  York  in  1848  wlicn  Zachary  Taylor  was 
chosen  President  of  the  United  States.  He  was 
elected    to    the    ("lianibcr  of    Connnerce  in    18 17. 


(lEORCK    GRISWOLD 

In  person  Mr.  (Iriswold  presented  a  fine  specimen 
of  vigorous  manhood.  Nearly  six  feet  in  height, 
with  broad  shoulders  and  chest,  erect,  muscular 
and  well  balanced,  his  carriage  was  graceful,  and 
his  activity  and  strength  seldom  surpassed.  He 
died  after  a  short  illness  in  New  Brighton,  Staten 
Island,  September  5,  1859,  in  the  eighty-third 
year  of  his  age,  and  was  buried  in  Greenwood 
Cemetery.  E,  G.  s. 

VAN  SCHAICK,  Myndert,  1782-1865. 

Member  Council  1830- 1865  — Benefactor. 
Born  in  Albany,  N.  Y..  1782  ;  engaged  in  business  in 
New  York   City  at   an    early   age ;    member   Council    of 


N.  Y.  Univ.,  1830  65,  founder  and  benefactor;  member 
Bd.  of  Aldermen  and  Treas.  Bd.  of  Health,  New  York 
City;  active  in  building  Croton  Water  Works  as  Pres. 
of  Croton  Water  Dept. ;  died  1865. 

MVNDKRT  \'AN  SCHAICK  was  born 
September  2,  1782,  in  Albany,  New  York, 
a  year  before  the  conclusion  of  peace  with  Great 
Britain,  and  died  December  i,  1865.  The  Van 
Schaicks  are  a  Dutch  Albany  family,  whose  ear- 
liest known  ancestor  there  was  Gozen  Gerritsen 
Van  Schaick,  Albany  1652.  In  the  eighteenth 
century  they  had  close  associations  with  the  Cuylers 
and  Schuylers  of  that  Dutch  community.  A  Van 
Schaick  was  joint  proprietor  with  Philip  Pieterse 
Van  Schuyler  of  the  land  on  which  W'aterford  now 
stands.  Gozen  Van  Schaick,  the  father  of  the 
subject  of  our  sketch,  was  in  1759  Major  in  a 
New  York  regiment ;  in  1762  he  was  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  and  was  wounded  at  Ticonderoga.  On 
June  28,  1775,  he  received  his  commission  from 
Congress  as  Colonel  of  the  Second  New  York, 
serving  on  the  Upper  Hudson  and  Lake  George. 
In  1777  he  received  orders  to  defend  Cherry  Val- 
ley against  the  Indian  chief,  Joseph  Brandt,  and 
then  resumed  command  at  Albany.  In  1778  he 
was  in  the  Battle  of  Monmouth.  In  1779  he  com- 
manded an  expedition  against  the  Onondaga  Indian 
settlements,  covering  one  hundred  and  eighty  miles, 
going  and  returning  without  losing  a  man.  During 
most  of  the  remainder  of  the  Revolutionary  War  he 
was  placed  at  Fort  Schuyler,  Utica,  suffering  much 
from  the  extreme  destitution  and  resourcelessness 
of  the  congressional  administration.  In  October 
1783  he  received  the  rank  of  Brigadier-General  by 
brevet  and  died  on  July  4,  1789.  His  son  Myndert 
went  to  New  York  in  his  youth  and  entered  the 
business  of  John  Hone,  whose  daughter  Elizabeth 
he  married  in  1815.  The  great  ser\-ices  of  Myn- 
dert Van  Schaick  in  the  first  three  administrations 
of  New  York  Ihiiversity  have  been  repeatedly 
brought  out  in  the  history  proper,  especially  in  the 
crisis  of  1850.  A  simple  glance  at  the  length  of 
service  of  the  members  of  the  first  Council  will 
best  emphasize  the  record  of  Myndert  Van  Schaick, 
a  name  which  to  all  true  sons  of  New  York  Uni- 
versity should  be  especially  dear.  Five  members 
of  that  body  served  but  one  year  ;  three,  two  years; 
two,  three  years  ;  five  ser\ed  four  years ;  two  sened 
five  years ;  two,  six  years ;  two,  seven  years ;  six 
served  eight  years  ;  one,  Stephen  Whitney,  sened 
nine  years.     \\'ithin    the    first    decade,   therefore, 


lO 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR    SONS 


twenty-eight  out  of  the  original  thirty-two  members 
of  the  Council  had  retired ;  four  remained :  James 
Tallmadge,  James  M.  Mathews,  George  Griswold 
and  Myndert  Van  Schaick.  Tallmadge  retired  in 
1846,  Mathews  in  1847,  George  Griswold  in  1851, 
Myndert  Van  Schaick  in  1865,  only  when  his  life 
itself  was  ended,  after  thirty-five  years  of  service. 
As  this  patriarch  of  New  York  University  thus  ex- 
emplified a  high  devotion  to  virtues  which  at  bottom 
are  and  are  to  be  designated  as  civic  virtues  (for 
such  is  fostering  education  in  any  given  community) 
so  he  manifested  the  same  sturdy  devotion  to  civic 
service  in  his  labors  for  the  establishment  of  the 
first  general  supply  of  water  for  New  York  City 
and  the  construction  of  the  Croton  Aqueduct.  In 
1832  the  ravages  of  the  cholera  fearfully  decimated 
the  population  of  New  York,  Myndert  Van  Schaick 
being  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen  at  the 
time  and  Treasurer  of  the  Board  of  Health.  The 
main  water  supply  had  been  from  pumps.  Good 
drinking  water  from  beyond  Manhattan  Island  was 
hawked  about  by  the  bucket.  Mr.  Van  Schaick, 
thirty  years  later  said :  "  One  of  my  daily  offi- 
cial duties  was  to  look  after  the  dead  and  dying, 
and  with  my  associates  in  the  Board  of  Health  to 
contri\e  such  measures  as  would  stay  or  remove 
this  pestilence.  Nothing  struck  us  with  so  much 
force,  so  irresistibly  indeed,  as  the  conviction  that 
New  York  must  at  once,  if  possible,  be  supplied 
with  good  and  wholesome  water."  His  chief  com- 
rade in  the  task  of  convincing  the  others  and  in 
other  forms  of  initiative  was  the  Hon.  James  B. 
Murray,  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Water  and 
Sewerage.  In  the  fall  of  1832  (not  long  after  the 
inauguration  of  instruction  in  New  York  Uni- 
versity in  Clinton  Hall)  an  informal  meeting  of  the 
Fire  and  Water  Committee  was  held  at  Mr.  Van 
Schaick"s  house,  and  then  and  there  the  first  Bill 
was  prepared  by  Peter  S.  Titus,  Robert  Emmet, 
counsel  of  the  Corporation,  and  by  Mr.  Van 
Schaick  himself;  this  bill  was  passed  through  the 
Board  of  Aldermen,  and  was  made  a  law  by  the 
Legislature  on  February  26,  1833,  and  signed  by 
(Governor  Marcy  who  appointed  five  Commissioners. 
We  have  every  reason  to  believe  that  Mr.  Van 
Schaick  submitted  the  names  of  the  particular  men 
designated  for  this  very  important  service.  Some 
imperfections  were  promptly  revealed.  Mr.  Van 
Schaick  entered  the  State  Senate  in  January  1834 
as  a  member,  and  said,  twenty-eight  years  later : 
"  The  enactment  of    the  Organic  Law  of   May  2, 


1834,  which  I  prepared  and  copied  in  my  rooms 
in  Congress  Hall,  Albany,  handed  to  the  Senate  as 
reported  and  on  its  passage  through  the  Legis- 
lature recommended  to  the  Governor  (Marcy)  the 
appointment  of  the  same  commissioners,"  etc.  The 
first  general  report  by  an  expert  was  made  by  De- 
Witt  Clinton,  Jr.,  late  in  1832  ;  the  first  accurate 
and  scientific  observation  of  the  volume  of  Croton 
and  the  survey  of  the  route  was  made  by  D.  B. 
Douglas,  Professor  of  Engineering  in  New  York 
University,  who  was  succeeded  in  October  1836  by 
John  B.  Jervis,  who  carried  the  work  through  sub- 
stantially on  the  same  lines.  The  Commissioners 
named  by  Myndert  Van  Schaick  were  Stephen 
Allen,  William  W.  Fox,  Saul  Alley,  Charles  Dusen- 
berry  and  Benjamin  M.  Brown.  A  municipal  elec- 
tion on  the  Croton  project  was  held  in  the  City  of 
New  York  on  April  5,  1835,  when  Mr.  Van 
Schaick's  project  was  adopted  by  an  overwhelming 
majority.  On  June  22,  1842,  the  Aqueduct  re- 
ceived the  water  from  the  Croton  reservoir ;  on 
June  27  the  water  entered  the  receiving  reservoirs 
and  on  July  4  the  distributing  reservoir.  On  Octo- 
ber 1 4  a  great  celebration  was  held,  a  vast  proces- 
sion in  ten  divisions  turning  the  splendid  fountain 
in  lowest  Manhattan  Island;  the  Professors  and 
students  of  New  York  University  marching  in  the 
third  division  (No.  7),  being  immediately  pre- 
ceded by  the  members  of  the  Bar,  and  followed  by 
the  New  York  Lyceum.  '•  In  1848."  said  Mr.  Van 
Schaick  fourteen  years  later,  "  I  recommended  to 
the  Council  to  purchase  one  hundred  and  twenty 
acres  of  land  "  (for  the  storage  reser\'oir  now  at 
Eighty-Sixth  Street,  Central  Park).  On  Saturday 
April  17,  1858,  (under  Mayor  Tiemann)  ground 
was  broken  and  a  statistical  address  made  by  Mr. 
Van  Schaick  to  whom  the  contractors  of  the  new 
Reservoir  presented  a  shovel  inscribed  to  him  as 
President  of  the  Croton  Aqueduct  Department. 
In  1862  on  August  19,  at  last  the  new  reservoir 
was  completed  and  inaugurated  and  again  the 
chief  address  was  by  Myndert  Van  Schaick  the 
octogenarian.  On  August  16,  1862,  the  Hon. 
James  B.  Murray  wrote  from  Saratoga  :  "  You,  who 
more  than  any  other  living  man  labored  in  this 
good  cause."  On  August  11,  1857,  the  following 
letter  was  addressed  to  Mr.  Van  Schaick  by  ex- 
President  Y'an  Buren :  "  Lindenwald  (Kinder- 
hook,  New  York,  August  11,  1857),  I  cannot 
thank  you  too  much,  my  dear  Mr.  Van  Schaick,  as 
well  for  your  obliging  letter  as  for  the  accompany- 


UNIVERSrriKS   AND    'rHI'.IR    SONS 


1 1 


inj;  interesting  panipiilet  by  Colonel  Murray  on  liie 
subject  of  the  origin  of  the  Croton  Ac|ue(luct.  'liie 
good  sense  and  good  taste  displayed  l)y  the 
Colonel  in  the  preparation  of  his  work  cannot  be 
overpraised.  Without  employing  his  lime  or  tax- 
ing the  attention  of  his  readers  in  enlarging  iipcm 
the  importance  of  a  work  which  speaks  in  tlial 
respect  sufficiently  for  itself  and  wliicli  all  admit  to 
be  the  greatest  boon  conferred  upon  your  city 
since  the  establishment  of  our  independence,  he 
proceeds  at  once  to  the  designation  of  the  indi- 
vidual to  whose  meritorious  services  New  York  is 
most  indebted  for  its  successful  accomplishment. 
In  selecting  your  name  from  those  [literatim : 
E.  G.  S.]  your  public-spirited  associates,  among 
whom  Colonel  Murray  himself  occupied  an  honor- 
able position  as  the  one  best  entitled  to  bear  the  palm, 
he  has  I  am  very  certain,  but  avowed  their  united 
opinion  as  well  as  that  of  a  grateful  public.  This 
is  an  honor  upon  which  you  have  reason  to  con- 
gratulate yourself,  and  I  beg  you  to  be  assured 
that  among  your  numerous  friends  there  is  not  one 
who  derives  more  satisfaction  from  your  success 
than  myself.  As  a  personal  and  political  friend, — 
one  who  has  steadily  applauded  the  purity  in  act 
and  intention  with  which  you  have  for  so  long  a 
period  and  through  such  perilous  times  resisted  as 
well  in  public  as  in  private  affairs  the  corrupt  in- 
fluences to  which  many  strong  minds  have  suc- 
cumbed—  and  as  a  brother  Knickerbocker  of  the 
olden  stamp  I  feel  also  that  there  cannot  be  many 
who  have  a  better  right  than  myself  to  indulge 
such  feelings."  (Mr.  Van  Schaick's  son  Henry,  an 
alumnus  of  1843  and  long  a  member  of  the  Council, 
has  kindly  furnished  the  original  matter  from 
which  this  delineation  has  been  derived.)  e.  g.  s. 
[See  portrait  page  106,  Part  I.] 


DELAFIELD,   John,  1786-1853. 

Member  First  Council,  1830-34  — Secretary  1831-32. 
Born  in  New  York  City,  1786  ;  graduated  Columbia, 
1802 ;  entered  shipping  business  in  New  York  City ; 
banker  in  London,  Eng.,  1808-10;  Pres.  Phoenix  Bank, 
New  York  City,  1820-38;  Pres.  N.  Y.  Banking  Co., 
1838 ;  spent  latter  part  of  his  life  in  agriculture  ;  mem- 
ber Council  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1830-34;  died  1853. 

JOHN    DELAFIELD  was  born  in  New  York 
City,  January  22,   1786,  son  of  John   Dela- 
field,  a  wealthy  merchant.     He  was  educated  in  the 


city  of  his  birth,  graduating  at  CcjlumJMa  in  J 80^, 
and  at  an  early  age  commenced  his  cf)mmercial 
career  as  confidential  clerk  and  supercargo  in  the 
shipping  business.  In  1808  after  making  various 
voyages  he  entered  the  banking  business  in  Lon- 
don, England,  where  he  was  engaged  in  managing 
his  large  fortune  until,  in  the  financial  crisis  f(;llow- 
ing  the  War  of  181  j,  his  entire  property  was  swept 
away.  Returning  to  New  York  C!ity  in  1820  he 
became  in  that  year  Cashier  of  the  IMkluIx  Bank 
and  soon  after  its  President.  In  that  relation  he 
remained  until  1838,  when  he  was  chosen  Presi- 
dent of  the  New  York  Banking  C'ompany,  whose 
subsequent  suspension  again  deprived  iiini  of  his 
partially  recovered  fortune.  He  then  withdrew 
from  the  commercial  world  and  dexoled  himself  to 
scientific  agriculture,  in  which  he  had  always  taken 
keen  interest,  and  at  the  "Oaklands"  estate  near 
Ceneva,  New  York,  which  came  to  be  known  as 
the  model  farm  of  tiie  slate,  he  spent  the  remain- 
der of  his  life.  In  the  Transactions  of  the  New 
York  State  Agricultural  Society  for  1847,  of  which 
organization  Mr.  Delafield  was  for  several  years 
President,  appears  a  description  of  this  farm. 
This  country  seat  at  Hell  Gate,  upon  which  he 
spent  much  money  and  careful  attention,  was  also 
noted  as  a  place  of  great  horticultural  beauty. 
Mr.  Delafield  was  the  first  Presiding  Officer  elected 
by  the  State  Agricultural  College.  He  was  active 
in  the  movements  leading  to  the  establishing  of 
New  York  University  and  served  as  a  member  of 
the  first  Council,  from  1830  to  1834,  and  as  Secre- 
tary of  the  Council,  1831-1832;  much  of  the 
money  originally  subscribed  to  the  foundation  was 
obtained  through  his  efforts.  He  was  the  first 
President  of  the  New  York  Philharmonic  Society, 
and  suggested  the  plan  for  the  Musical  Fund 
Society,  of  which  he  was  one  of  the  original  mem- 
bers. It  is  an  interesting  circumstance  that  the 
author,  Washington  Irving,  dedicated  to  Mr.  Dela- 
field the  narrative  entitled  The  Wife,  which  is  one 
of  the  Sketch-Book  stories.  Mr.  Delafield  died 
October  22,  1853.  * 


DELAFIELD,  Joseph,  1790-1875. 

One  of  the  Founders. 
Born   in   New  York  City.  1790;   graduated  Yale,  1808; 
studied  law,  and   admitted   to    practice,   i8ii;   in   U.   S. 
Army  service,    1810--14,  gaining  rank  of    Major;    U.  S. 


12 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


Agent  engaged  in  placing  northern  boundary,  1821-28 ; 
a  founder  of  N.  Y.  Univ.  ;  scientist;   died  1875. 

JOSEPH  DELAFIELD  was  born  in  New  York 
City,  August  22,  1790,  one  of  nine  sons  of 
John  Delafield,  a  rich  merchant  of  that  city.  He 
graduated  Bachelor  of  Arts  at  Yale  in  1808, 
studied  law  and  was  admitted  to  practice  in  181 1. 
At  the  outbreak  of  the  War  of  181 2  he  was  a 
Lieutenant  of  the  Fifth  Regiment,  New  York  State 
Militia,  and  in  18 12  became  a  Captain  of  drafted 
militia  and  was  assigned  to  Hawkins's  regiment 
for  service  under  a  United  States  commission. 
From  that  position  he  was  advanced  to  the  rank  of 
Major  of  the  Forty-sixth  Ignited  States  Infantry  in 
April  1814.  Under  the  Sixth  and  Seventh  articles 
of  the  Treaty  of  Ghent,  Major  Delafield  was  ap)- 
pointed  a  government  agent  in  charge  of  parties 
engaged  in  placing  the  northern  boundary  of  the 
United  States,  and  that  work,  which  occu])ied  the 
years  from  1821-1828,  he  performed  with  such 
notable  efficiency  as  to  win  the  special  thanks  of 
Congress  and  the  President.  It  was  while  engaged 
in  the  northern  region  that  he  began  the  collection 
of  minerals  whicii  was  for  many  years  one  of  the 
best  in  the  country.  Joseph  Delafield  and  his 
brother,  John  Delafield,  were  among  the  nine  citi- 
zens of  New  York  City  from  whose  meetings  re- 
sulted the  plan  for  founding  New  York  l^niversity, 
and  in  the  events  incident  to  the  establishment  of 
the  institution  they  were  constantly  active  workers. 
Major  Delafield  attained  a  considerable  reputation 
as  a  scientist  aside  from  the  fact  of  being  the 
owner  of  the  mineral  collection.  For  fifty-two 
years  a  member  of  the  New  York  Lyceimi  of  Nat- 
ural History,  he  served  as  its  President  from  1827 
to  1866,  in  the  latter  year  refusing  re-election.  At 
his  count)'-seat  in  Yonkers  he  constructed  a  con- 
tinually burning  lime-kiln,  a  contrivance  at  that 
time  unknown  in  the  United  States.  He  died  in 
New  York  City,  February  12,  1875.  * 


LENOX,  James,   1800-1880. 

Councilor  1830-1834. 
Born  in  New  York  City,  1800 ;  graduated  Columbia, 
1818;  A.M.  Princeton,  1821;  member  first  Council 
N.  Y.  Univ.,  1830-34  ;  founder  of  the  Lenox  Library, 
New  York  City,  1870;  benefactor  of  Princeton  and 
Trustee,  1833-57  1  LL.D.  Princeton,  1867,  and  Colum- 
bia, 1875  ;  died  1880. 

JAMES     LENOX,    LL.D.,    Founder     of     the 
Lenox    Library,    was    born    in    New    York 
Cit)',    August     19,     1800.      His    father,    Robert 


Lenox,  was  of  Scotch  birth ;  he  accumulated  a 
princely  fortune  as  a  merchant  in  the  City  of 
New  York,  and  was  actively  interested  in  the  wel- 
fare of  Princeton;  from  18 13  to  the  time  of  his 
death  in  1839  he  was  a  member  of  the  Board  of 
Trustees  of  Princeton.  His  son,  James,  graduated 
at  Columbia  in  the  Class  of  18 18,  taking  the  de- 
gree of  Master  of  Arts  in  182 1,  in  which  year 
Princeton  also  conferred  upon  him  the  same  de- 
gree. The  Lenox  Library  was  founded  by  him 
in  1870.  The  large  fortune  which  he  inherited 
from  his  father  had  enabled  him  to  make  a  \alu- 
able  private  collection  of  rare  books,  manuscripts, 
paintings,  engravings,  busts,  statues,  mosaics  and 
curios,  the  gathering  of  which  consumed  nearly 
half  a  century.  These  he  presented  to  the  City 
of  New  York,  together  with  a  substantial  fire-proof 
building  for  their  safe-keeping,  the  collection, 
land,  structure  and  endowment,  representing  the 
sum  of  $2,000,000.  James  Lenox  inherited  not 
only  his  father's  wealth,  but  also  his  de\otion  to 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  the  various  institu- 
tions connected  with  it.  His  contributions  to  re- 
ligious and  educational  objects  included  large  gifts 
to  Princeton  College,  the  Princeton  Theological 
Seminary,  and  the  American  Bible  Society,  of 
which  last  he  was  President  for  some  years.  He 
served  as  Trustee  of  Princeton  from  1833  to 
1857,  when  he  resigned  the  position.  In  1867  he 
received  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws  from 
Princeton  and  in  1875  from  Columbia.  James 
Lenox  served  as  a  member  of  the  first  Council  of 
New  York  University,  from  1830  to  1834.  He 
died  in  the  City  of  New  York,  February  17,  1880.* 


WARD,   Samuel,  1786-1839. 

Councilor  1830-34  — Treasurer  1831-32. 
Born  in  Rhode  Island,  1786;  engaged  in  banking  as 
member  of  firm  Prime,  Ward,  &  King,  New  York  City ; 
founder  and  Pres.  Bank  of  Commerce  ;  founder  N.  Y. 
Univ.  and  member  ist  Council,  1830-34;  Treasurer, 
1831-32;  died  1839. 

SAMUEL  WARD  was  born  in  Rhode  Island, 
May  21,1 786,  son  of  Samuel  Ward,  a  promi- 
nent officer  in  the  Revolution,  Lieutenant-Col- 
onel in  the  Rhode  Island  Line ;  the  father  was 
also  a  delegate  to  the  Convention  in  Annapolis, 
Maryland,  for  the  regulation  of  inter-state  com- 
merce, and  President  of  the  New  York  Marine 
Insurance  Company.  Samuel  Ward,  Jr.,  after  a 
public   school    education    entered    a    New    York 


UNJyERSJTIES   AND    T/IK/R    SONS 


3 


banking-house  as  clerk,  and  tlicnceforth  his 
career  was  intimately  concerned  with  linancial 
enterprises.  At  the  age  of  twenty-two  he  was  taken 
into  the  banking  tirm  of  Prime,  Ward  iV  King, 
as  a  member,  so  continuing  until  liis  death.  He 
established  the  New  York  IJank  of  Connnerce, 
and  was  its  President.  A  notable  negotiation 
was  the  securing  of  a  loan  of  $5,000,000  through 
the  Hank  of  England  which  enabled  the  United 
States  banks  to  resume  specie  payments  in  1838. 
Samuel  Ward  was  a  member  of  the  first  Council 
of  the  University,  serving  in  that  i^ody  from  the 
time  it  convened  in  1830  until  1834,  and  for  the 
years  1831-1832  filled  the  office  of  Treasurer. 
He  was  a  generous  patron  of  various  educational 
and  beneficent  institutions  in  various  parts  of  the 
country,  his  benefactions  being  directed  chiefly 
toward  churches  and  Colleges  of  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church.  He  married  in  October  181 2, 
Julia  Rush  Cutter,  a  writer  of  some  notable  verse.* 


MOTT,   Valentine,    1785-1865. 

Councilor  1830-1836  — Medical  Professor  1841-1865. 
Born  in  Glencove,  L.  I.,  1785;  graduated  Columbia 
Medical  School,  1806 ;  studied  abroad ;  Prof.  Surgery 
Columbia,  1810-26;  founded  Rutgers  Medical  College, 
and  Prof,  there,  1826-30;  Prof,  at  Columbia,  1830-35; 
traveled,  1835-41  ;  Prof.  Surgery  and  Relative  Anatomy 
N.  Y.  Univ.,  1841-65;  Emeritus  Prof,  after  1852;  Pres. 
Faculty  of  Medicine  ;  LL.D.  Regents  N.  Y.  State 
Univ..  1851  ;  died  1865. 

V.\LENTINE  MOTT.  M.D.,  LL.D,  was 
born  August  20,  1785,  near  Oyster  Bay, 
Long  Island,  the  son  of  Dr.  Henry  Mott,  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Society  of  Friends.  His  earlier  training 
in  general  education  he  received  in  a  private  school 
at  Newtown,  Long  Island.  In  1804,  at  nineteen, 
he  began  the  study  of  medicine  and  received  his 
diploma  as  Doctor  of  Medicine  from  the  Faculty 
of  Physic  of  Columbia  in  1806,  at  twenty-one 
years  of  age.  His  graduation  thesis  did  not 
deal  with  any  surgical  topic.  During  his  student 
period  he  was  a  pupil  of  his  relative  in  New  York 
City,  Dr.  Valentine  Seaman.  Immediately  after 
graduation  he  went  to  Europe.  The  facilities  for 
clinical  experience,  according  to  Samuel  Francis, 
M.D..  were  at  this  time  in  the  United  States  wo- 
fully  inadequate  ;  prisonships.  jails  and  almshouses 
being  then  mainly  under  the  supervision  of  igno- 
rant and  unprincipled  politicians.  Going  to  Lon- 
don, therefore,  Valentine  Mott  pursued  Therapeutics 


and  Surgery  in  St.  Thomas's,  Bartholomew's  and 
(Juy's  hospitals,  under  .Abernethy.  Sir  Charles  Bell 
and  Sir  Astley  Cooper ;  Practice  of  Medicine  under 
Currie,  and  Gynecology  under  Haighton.  At 
lulinbingii  lie  pursued  his  pnjfessional  studies 
under  Hope,  Playfair  and  (iregory,  attending  al.so 
philo.soplii(  a!  lectures  under  the  famous  Dugald 
Stewart.  <  )n  his  return  to  our  country  Dr.  Mott 
was  at  once  called  to  fill  the  Chair  of  Surgery  in 
Columbia.  W'hen  this  Medical  School  was  merged 
into  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  in 
1S13,  under  the  Presidency  of  Dr.  Samuel  Bard, 
he  retained  that  chair  to  1826,  when  difTerences 
with  the  Trustees  of  Columbia  led  to  the  forma- 
tion on  the  part  of  Mott  of  a  new  medical  body, 
known  as  Rutgers  Medical  College,  with  that  im- 
palpable relation  to  that  College  in  New  Bruns- 
wick, New  Jersey,  which  prevented  a  longer  life 
than  one  of  four  years'  duration.  His  as.sociates 
were  Hosack,  Mitchell  and  others;  the  Albany  Legis- 
lature put  a  stop  to  the  work  of  the  new  Medical 
College  after  1830.  The  fame  of  Dr.  Mott  was 
based  on  the  fact  that  he  performed  more  diffi'cult 
and  original  operations  than  any  surgeon  of  his 
time  in  America.  This  fame  was  further,  (in  the 
words  of  Samuel  Francis)  due  to  "  his  bold  care- 
fulness and  self-posse-ssion  when  undertaking  that 
which  was  entirely  new,  and  his  great  success  in 
rescuing  from  prolonged  torture  the  victims  of  a 
morbid  growth."  In  18 18,  when  but  thirty-three 
years  of  age,  Dr.  Mott  placed  a  ligature  around 
the  bracheo-cephalic  or  arteria  innominata  (un- 
named artery)  only  two  inches  from  the  heart, 
for  aneurism  of  the  right  subclavian  artery,  for 
the  first  time  in  tlie  history  of  surgery.  The 
patient  survived  the  operation  twenty-eight  days, 
secondary  hemorrhage  having  set  in  on  the  twentv- 
fifth  day.  In  1828  he  cut  out  the  entire  right 
clavicle  for  malignant  disease  of  that  bone,  fortv 
ligatures  being  placed.  The  patient  survived  the 
operation  more  than  thirty-seven  years.  Dr.  Mott 
was  the  first  to  tie  successfully  the  primitive  iliac 
artery  for  aneurism.  He  tied  the  common  carotid 
artery  forty-six  times,  cut  for  stone  one  hundred 
and  sixty-five  times  and  amputated  nearly  one 
thousand  limbs.  He  cured  the  immobility  of  the 
lower  jaw  by  an  original  operation  in  1822.  In 
referring  to  him  —  we  say  this  on  the  authority 
of  Samuel  Frances — Sir  Astley  Cooper  once  e.x- 
claimed  :  "  He  has  performed  more  of  the  great 
operations  than   any  man   living  or  that  ever  did 


14 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


live."  In  1830,  when  the  organization  of  the  first 
Council  of  New  York  University  was  effected, 
Valentine  Mott  accepted  a  seat  in  that  body,  as 
he  also  attended  the  Literarj^  Con\ention  of  Octo- 
ber, 1830,  without,  however,  taking  any  personal  or 
direct  part  in  the  discussions.  In  1835  at  fifty 
years  of  age  Dr.  Mott's  health  was  greatly  im- 
paired and  he  went  off  to  Europe,  but  did  not 
content  himself  with  the  beaten  paths  of  tourists, 
but  left  Italy  for  Malta,  the  Grecian  Archipelago, 
Greece,  Egypt,  Asia  Minor,  Turkey,  Moldavia, 
Wallachia  and  Hungary.  After  his  return  in 
1842    Harpers    published   his   Travels;   this  book 


gi 

K 

^     -i 

f^ 

VAI.KXTINK     MOTP 

remains  a  valuable  contribution  to  the  history  of 
medicine  in  the  nineteenth  century.  For  the  ob- 
servaticms  and  judgments  of  a  man  of  the  very 
first  rank  are  vastl\'  more  valuable  than  the  most 
painstaking  microscopic  delineation  of  the  general 
observer.  He  was,  indeed,  overworked,  for  con- 
trary to  the  vulgar  opinion  (as  to  the  proverbial 
insensibility  of  surgeons)  he  had  been  nervously 
exhausted  by  the  peculiar  drain  involved  by  the 
practice  of  his  profession,  so  much  more  harrow- 
ing before  the  discovery  and  application  of  anaes- 
thetics. At  London  he  visited  his  old  preceptor. 
Sir  Astley  Cooper,  whom  he  called  "  a  mind  not 
brilliant   but    sound,    inductive    and    of    sleepless 


energies  and  specially  adapted  for  abstruse  ana- 
tomical inquiry  ;  while  also  his  dexterity  with  the 
knife  enabled  him  to  give  to  his  operations  a  finish 
and  a  neatness  seldom  or  never  surpassed."  Before 
leaving  London  Dr.  Mott  received  from  Sir  Astley 
a  beautiful  case  of  surgical  instruments  of  his  own 
invention.  Referring  to  the  earnest  Christian  de- 
votion of  Sir  Astley "s  later  years  Mott  says  :  "  Of 
that  religious  faith,  and  in  the  daily  observation  of 
those  ennobling  duties  which,  when  all  worldly 
sources  of  consolation  that  'keep  the  word  of 
promise  to  the  ear  and  break  it  to  the  hope,'  ha\e 
deserted  us  fore\er.  can  alone  extract  the  thorn 
from  the  couch  of  pain,  disarm  death  of  its  terrors, 
and  bring  hope  and  cheering  joy  to  the  wounded 
and  wearied  spirit."  Among  distinguished  medi- 
cal men  whom  he  met  with  in  London  were  Law- 
rence, Travers,  Sir  Benjamin  Brodie,  Liston,  and 
others.  Of  his  Scottish  teachers  he  speaks  with 
affectionate  regard,  in  fact,  the  great  surgeon  was 
so  radically  removed  from  cynicism  that  whate\er 
remnant  or  memorial  in  the  courses  of  his  travels 
suggested  something  great  of  the  past  or  some- 
thing admirable  in  the  present  time  of  his  actual 
observation,  roused  in  him  li\ely  emotions  of  sym- 
pathy and  regard.  He  had  in  fact  much  of  those 
elements  of  character,  and  that  peculiar  composi- 
tion of  powers  and  impressibilities  which  consti- 
tute the  artistic  temperament.  In  Paris  he  met 
Lisfranc  Roux,  the  successor  of  the  great  Dupuy- 
tren.  \'el|icau  Ricord  ;  his  remarks  on  the  jjlnsio- 
logical  medicine  of  Ikoussais  are  most  instructive, 
a  system  whose  author  claimed  to  have  utterly 
annihilated  the  science  of  past  authorities  such  as 
Hoffman,  Napoleon's  great  surgeon,  Baron  Lar- 
rey,  was  also  met  by  Dr.  Mott,  Larrey  being  then 
of  fourscore  years ;  Guerin's  orthopctdic  institu- 
tion was  visited.  In  Brussels  Sentin's  "  liandage 
Immobile "  was  noted.  In  Leyden  he  lingered 
over  memorials  of  the  immortal  Boerhave ;  the 
town  struck  him  as  almost  sepulchral  in  its  deso- 
lation. And  so  he  passed  on  through  Prussia  and 
Austria  to  Italy  and  Greece,  much  interested  in 
archa'ological  matters  there,  endeavoring  even  on 
occasion  to  give  an  interpretation  of  some  of  the 
legends  e.g.  of  Hercules,  and  citing  St.  Paul 
when  on  the  Isthmus  of  Corinth,  and  taking  the 
ancient  Pausanias  into  the  traveler's  equipment. 
His  interests  in  the  Peloponnesus  were  largely 
centred  on  Epidaurus.  site  of  the  most  renowned 
temple  of  Aesculapius  in  the  Grecian  world.     In 


UNll^ERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


15 


the  orchestra  of  the  amphitheatre  Dr.  Mott  in 
an  exuberance  of  professional  and  anti(|iiarian 
reverence  for  the  mtelary  deity  of  HeaUng,  sacri- 
ficed a  cock,  which  he  had  broii<;ht  on  from 
Naiipha.  When  in  1841  tlic  fust  Faculty  in 
Medicine  which  actually  entered  upon  didactic 
operations  in  connection  with  New  York  Univer- 
sity was  definitely  established,  Mott  had  not  actu- 
ally returned.  It  need  not  be  urged  that  his  was 
the  greatest  name  in  that  Faculty,  soon  coupled 
for  eminence  with  Draper,  great  in  the  lines  of 
pure  science.  "  He  never,"  said  Samuel  Gross, 
"  committed  to  memory  or  wrote  out  his  lectures  ;  a 
few  notes  carefully  digested  and  the  dissection 
always  before  him  furnished  suflicient  topics  to 
carry  him  rapidly  and  pleasantly  through  the 
hour.  Mis  manner  in  the  amphitheatre  was  quiet 
and  dignified  ;  his  voice  clear  and  distinct.  His 
great  forte  was  clinical  teaching,  in  which  he  was 
generally  very  animated,  frequently  facetious,  al- 
ways edifying."  In  1856  he  founded  the  gold, 
silver  and  bronze  medal  which  perpetuates  his 
memory  in  the  New  York  University.  "  I  shall 
be  cheered,"  he  said,  in  connection  with  this 
matter  in  his  will,  "  both  now  and  hereafter  by 
the  thought  that  I  have  thus  been  enabled  to  show 
my  regard  for  him  [the  successful  student].  I 
shall  be  cheered  by  the  thought  that  any  little  dis- 
tinction which  the  possession  of  this  medal  shall 
obtain  for  him  may  enable  him  more  manfully 
and  successfully  to  contend  with  the  vicissitudes  of 
life.  1  shall  be  still  more  cheered  by  the  thought 
that  perhaps  the  la.st  words  1  shall  ever  utter,  in 
relation  to  the  recollections  and  associations  which 
this  emblem  recalls  and  inspires,  shall  enable  him 
to  meet  his  fate  with  serenity,  when,  like  me,  he 
is  preparing  for  the  messenger  of  death."  In 
personal  appearance  \'alentine  Mott  was  ex- 
quisitely scrupulous  as  to  dress  and  urbane 
manners  ;  "  the  handsome  Quaker  doctor  "  was 
the  appellation  by  which  he  was  well  known  dur- 
ing the  earlier  decades  of  his  professional  career. 
The  general  course  of  his  life  was  serene  he  es- 
chewed quarrels  and  quarreling.  His  son,  Dr. 
Alexander  Mott,  was  his  constant  assistant  for 
the  last  sixteen  years  of  his  life.  On  April  22, 
1S65,  he  left  his  residence  on  Ciramercy  Park  for 
the  last  time,  dying  of  a  t)pho-malarial  fever  and 
gangrene  of  the  left  leg.  resulting  from  occlusion 
of  the  arteries  of  that  lower  extremitv.  He  was 
attended  by  Austin   Flint.  M.D..  Sr.     He  expired 


at  his  residence  April  26,  1865,  the  assassination 
of  Abraham  Lincoln  having  given  him  a  shock 
which  may  have  been  conducive  to  the  decline  of 
the  octogenarian.  On  the  marble  slab  which  seals 
the  chamber  of  his  tomb  in  Oreenwood  are  in- 
scribed these  words:  "Valentine  Mott,  M.D., 
LL.D.,  born  at  (Ilencoe,  Long  Island,  August  20, 
1785  ;  died  in  New  York,  April  26,  1865. 

My  implii  it  faith  aiul  hope  are  in  a  merciful   Redeemer 
Who  is  the  Resuriection  and  the   Life.     Amen,  Amen. — 
V.  Mott." 

Dr.  Mott  was  married  in  18 19  to  Louisa  Den- 
more  Mums,  a  lady  of  F'.nglish  descent,  who  in  1866 
incor])orated  the  Mott  Memorial  Library  in  memory 
of  her  husband.  He  took  an  active  part  in  the  es- 
tablishment of  the  New  York  Academy  of  Medi- 
cine, and  was  for  some  time  President  of  the 
same.  He  was  for  fifteen  years  Senior  C^onsult- 
ing  Surgeon  of  Kellevue  Hospital,  also  for  some 
time  at  St.  Luke's,  the  Jews',  St.  Vincent's  and 
the  Woman's  Hospital.  e.  o.  s. 


DELAFIELD,    Edward,    1794-1875. 

Councilor  1830-1838. 
Born  in  New  York  City,  1794;  graduated  Yalt,  1812; 
College  Phys.  and  Surgeons,  1816;  studied  abroad; 
founder  of  N.  Y.  Eye  and  Ear  Infirmary,  1820,  and 
Surgeon  there  1820-70;  Prof.  Obstetrics,  College  Phys. 
and  Surg.,  1835-38;  President.  1858  75 ;  Pres.  Roose- 
velt Hosp.  Bd.  of  Governors;  member  first  Council 
N.  Y.  Univ.,  1830-38;  died  1875. 

EDWARD  DFLAFIKLD.  M.D..  Physician, 
was  born  in  New  York  City.  May  17,  1794. 
He  was  a  son  of  John  Delafield.  who  came  to  this 
country  in  1783,  established  himself  as  a  merchant 
in  New  York  and  became  one  of  the  wealthiest 
men  in  the  country  in  his  day:  of"  his  nine  sons 
one,  also  named  John,  was  a  graduate  of  Colum- 
bia in  1802,  a  banker  in  London  and  New  York. 
Fxlwaid  Delafield  was  graduated  at  Vale  in  1812, 
studied  medicine  at  the  College  of  Physicians  and 
Surgeons,  now  the  Medical  Department  of  Colum- 
bia, and  received  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medi- 
cine in  18 1 6.  Dr.  Delafield  had  obtained  valuable 
experience  from  his  service  as  Surgeon  in  the 
United  States  Army  during  the  war  with  Great 
f^ritain,  before  taking  his  degree,  and  soon  after 
peace  was  declared  he  went  abroad  for  further 
study.  He  became  a  pupil  of  Sir  Astley  Cooper 
and  Dr.  Abernethy  in  London,  passed  several 
months  in  the  hospitals  of  Paris,  and   returning  to 


i6 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


New  York  in  1820,  founded  the  Eye  and  Ear 
Infirmary  in  that  city,  with  which  he  retained  his 
connection  as  Surgeon  for  fifty  years.  His  private 
practice  was  very  large,  and  in  1838  he  was 
obliged  to  resign  the  Professorship  of  Obstetrics 
in  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  which 
he  had  held  since  1835,  and  also  the  position  of 
Attending  Physician  at  the  New  York  Hospital, 
because  of  the  pressing  demands  upon  his  time. 
In  1858,  however,  he  accepted  the  Presidency  of 
the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  and  held 
that  office  until  his  death.  He  was  one  of  the 
founders  and  the  first  President  of  the  New  York 
Ophthalmological  Society  and  held  professional 
and  official  connection  witii  a  number  of  hospitals, 
being  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Governors  of  the 
Roosevelt  Hospital  from  its  organization  and 
President  of  that  body  during  tlie  latter  years  of 
his  life.  He  was  a  member  of  the  first  Council 
of  New  York  University  from  its  inception  in 
1830  until  1838.  Dr.  Delafield  died  in  New  York 
City.  February  13.  1875.  * 


COX,   Samuel   Hanson,  1793-1880. 

Councilor  1830-1835,  1837-1838. 
Born  in  Rahway,  N.  J.,  1793  ;  studied  law,  and  later 
divinity;  licensed  by  N.  Y.  Presbytery,  1816;  Pastor  at 
Mendham,  N.  J.,  1817  20  ;  Spring  St.  Church,  New  York 
City,  1820;  lectured  at  the  University,  1831  32;  Prof,  at 
Auburn  Theol.  Sem.,  1834-37;  Pastor  First  Church 
Brooklyn,  1837-54;  member  University  Council,  1830- 
35.  1837  38;  died  1880. 

SAAH^'.L  HANSON  COX.  D.D..  LL.I)., 
Clergyman,  was  born  August  25,  1793,  in 
Rahway,  New  Jersey.  Wiiile  studying  law  in 
18 13  he  voluntarily  withdrew  from  the  Society 
of  Friends  in  which  he  was  born  and  joined 
the  Presbyterian  Church  at  Newark,  New  Jersey. 
Soon  after  he  substituted  the  study  of  divinity  for 
that  of  law  and  in  October  1816  was  licensed  to 
preach  by  the  Presbytery  of  New  York.  The 
Rev.  Dr.  Gardiner  Spring  of  the  Brick  Cluirch, 
New  York  City,  took  a  strong  interest  in  young 
Cox  at  the  beginning  of  Cox's  professional  career. 
In  July  18 1 7  Cox  was  installed  Pastor  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  at  Mendham,  New  Jersey,  and 
in  1820  was  called  to  the  Spring  Street  Presby- 
terian Church  in  New  York  City,  the  greater  part 
of  the  congregation  in  1825  removing  to  a  new 
edifice  on  the  corner  of  Laight  and  Yarick  streets, 
and  being  known  thenceforth  as  the  Laight  Street 


Church.  Dr.  S.  H.  Cox  was  very  active  in  the 
establishment  of  New  York  University,  delivering 
himself  a  memorable  course  of  lectures  —  popular 
lectures  we  would  say  now  —  on  Moral  Philosophy 
in  the  winter  of  183 1-1832.  During  the  cholera 
season  of  1832  he  remained  at  his  post  until 
stricken  down.  \'isiting  Britain  in  1833  to  restore 
his  health  he  publicly  defended  his  country  when 
anti-slavery  agitators  attacked  it.  Still,  soon  after 
his  return  he  delivered  a  celebrated  sermon  against 
slavery  which  ultimately  made  him  one  of  the 
objects  of  the  furious  pro-sla\ery  riots  during 
Cornelius     Lawrence's     Mayoralty,    although    the 


.SAMUEL    H.    cox 

systematic  riots  of  that  disgraceful  year  in  the 
annals  of  New  York  City  were  directed  not  only 
against  Abolitionists  or  their  sympathizers.  The 
motives  of  that  mob  of  1834  included  hatred  of 
Christianity,  of  temperance  and  of  all  moral  re- 
forms. The  free  Presbyterian  Church  system  had 
become  hateful  to  the  libertine  element  and  was 
to  be  overthrown  by  violence.  Dr.  Cox's  house 
and  church  were  mobbed.  "  His  windows  were 
broken  and  his  parlor  strewn  with  stones  but  his 
family  escaped  uninjured,  and  he  himself  passed 
out  through  the  crowd  without  molestation,  receiv- 
ing only  a  sprinkling."  From  1834  to  1837  he 
served  as  Professor  of  Pastoral  Theology  at  the 


UNiyERSITIES   AND    'llllUR    SONS 


Auburn  Theological  Seminary.  Me  was  a  meinber 
of  the  hrst  Council  of  New  York  University  for  one 
year,  1837-1838.  From  1837  to  1854  he  was 
Pastor  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of 
Brooklyn.  In  the  latter  year  his  health  declining 
he  returned  to  a  pleasant  property  which  the  devo- 
tion of  his  parishioners  enabled  him  to  purchase, 
at  Owego,  on  the  Susquehanna,  New  York.  In 
May  1846  Dr.  Co.\  was  chosen  Moderator  of 
the  (Jeneral  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 
He  was  a  man  of  singular  directness  and  of  strong 
sympathies  and  antipathies,  of  quick  impulses 
which,  said  Rev.  Dr.  Prentiss,  "  not  infrequently 
found  vent  in  extravagant  words,  but  back  of 
them  all  and  beneath  them  all  was  a  heart  glowing 
with  the  piety  and  charities  of  the  Gospel."  For 
thirty-six  years  he  was  a  member  of  the  Board  of 
Directors  of  the  Union  Theological  Seminary,  and 
for  several  years  acted  as  Professor  Extraordinary 
of  Biblical  and  Kcclesia.stical  History.  His  faculty 
of  memory  was  extraordinary.  He  died  in  1880, 
having  spent  the  closing  years  of  his  life  in  retire- 
ment at  Bronxdale,  New  York,  in  \Vestchester 
county.  Bishop  A.  C.  Coxe  of  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Diocese  of  Western  New  York,  his  oldest 
son,  was  one  of  the  earliest  Alumni  of  New  York 
University.  e.  g.  s. 


MILNOR,  James,  1773-1844. 

Councilor  1830-1838,  1842-1844 —  Vice-President  1834-1838. 
Born  in  Philadelphia,  1773;  educated  in  Philadel- 
phia Academy  and  Univ.  of  Pa.  ;  admitted  to  Phila- 
delphia Bar,  1794  ;  practicing  lawyer  in  Philadelphia  ; 
member  Philadelphia  City  Council,  1800,  1805-09  ;  mem- 
ber of  Congress,  i8n  1813  ;  studied  for  ministry  and 
ordained  Deacon  P.  E.  Church,  1814;  Presbyter,  1815; 
Rector  St.  George's  Church,  New  York  City,  1816^44; 
founder  of  N.  Y.  Univ.  ;  member  First  Council,  1830- 
38,  and  again  member  of  Council,  1842-44;  Vice-Pres. 
1834-38;  D.D.  Univ.  of  Pa.,  1819;  died  1844. 

JAMES  MILNOR,  D.D.,  was  born  in  Phila- 
delphia, June  20,  1773.  son  of  parents  who 
belonged  to  the  Society  of  Friends.  His  educa- 
tion preparatory  to  College  was  had  in  the  Phila- 
delphia Academy,  and  then  he  entered  the  l^niver- 
sity  of  Pennsylvania  as  a  student  of  the  Academic 
Department.  He  did  not  graduate,  as  financial 
resources  failed,  and  leaving  the  College  work  he 
applied  himself  to  the  study  of  law.  in  1794  being 
admitted  to  the  Bar  in  Philadelphia.  He  com- 
menced practice  in  Norristown,  Pennsylvania,  but 


.soon  after  returned  to  PhiladLl|)hia  wiicre  he  be- 
came established  in  a  large  practice.  Entering 
political  life  in  1800,  James  Milnor  was  elected 
a  member  of  the  .Sek'(  t  Council  of  Philadelphia 
in  that  year  and  again  in  1805.  the  latter  term 
lasting  until  1809;  during  the  last  year  of  that 
service  he  was  President  of  the  Council.  He  was 
also  a  member  of  Congress  from  November  181 1 
to  March  1813,  and  being  of  strong  Federalist 
jirinciples,  he  oppo.sed  the  second  war  with  (Jreal 
Britain.  Soon  after  the  close  of  his  term  in  Con- 
gress he  determined  to  prepare  himself  for  the 
ministry.  In  Augu.st  18 14  he  was  ordained  Dea- 
con HI  the  Protestant  F^piscopal  Church  and 
became  a  Presbyter  in  the  following  year.  As 
Rector  of  St.  (Jeorge's  Church  in  New  \'ork  City 
he  continued  in  professional  duties  from  18 16 
until  his  death  in  1844.  He  was  made  a  Doctor 
of  Divinity  by  the  University  of  Penn.sylvania  in 
1819.  Dr.  Milnor  may  properly  be  spoken  of  as 
a  founder  of  New  York  University,  as  he  was  one 
of  that  body  who,  elected  by  the  citizens  who 
endowed  the  foundation,  composed  the  First  Uni- 
versity Council,  of  which  more  adequate  mention 
is  to  be  found  in  the  History  of  New  York  Uni- 
versity. Dr.  Milnor's  term  of  service  in  the  Coun- 
cil extended  from  1830  to  1838,  and  during  the 
latter  half  of  that  period  he  acted  as  Vice-Presi- 
dent. He  was  widely  known  as  a  promoter  of 
educational  and  beneficent  institutions,  and  was 
one  of  the  founders  of  the  American  Bible  and 
American  Tract  Societies.  His  bibliography  con- 
sists of  various  addresses  and  sermons.  Dr.  Mil- 
nor died  in  New  York  City,  April  8,  1844.         * 


MACLAY,   Archibald,  1776-1860. 

Member  First  Council,  1830-1838. 
Born  in  Killearn.  Scotland,  1776;  educated  in  Univ. 
of  Edinburgh  ;  entered  the  University  ;  emigrated  to 
New  York  City,  1805;  and  there  preached  in  a  Baptist 
Church  thirty  years  ;  Gen'l  Agt.  Amer.  and  Foreign 
Bible  Soc.  ;  member  Council  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1830-38; 
died  i860. 

ARCHIBALD  I\L\CLAY,  D.D.,  was  born  in 
Killearn.  Scotland.  May  14.  1776,  and  when 
but  twelve  vears  old  by  the  death  of  his  father  he 
was  forced  to  provide  for  the  support  of  the  family. 
He  managed  to  obtain  educational  advantages  at 
the  l^niversity  of  Edinburgh,  and  while  there  began 
to   preach  with  immediate    success.     He    became 


i8 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR    SONS 


a  regularly  installed  Pastor  in  Kirkcaldy  in  1802, 
and  two  years  later  received  an  appointment  to 
engage  in  missionary  work  in  India.  This,  how- 
ever, he  was  unable  to  do,  and  in  1805  he  left  for 
America,  landing  in  New  York  City,  where  he 
soon  assumed  charge  of  a  Congregational  Church. 
In  1809  Dr.  Maclay  went  over  to  the  Baptist 
faith,  to  which  he  had  been  drawn  by  a  change  of 
view  in  regard  to  the  scriptural  mode  of  baptism. 
He  was  appointed  Pastor  of  a  Baptist  Church 
which  he  continued  to  serve  during  the  next  thirty 
years.  He  resigned  in  1837  to  become  General 
Agent  of  the  American  and  Foreign  Bible  Society, 
a  position  which  entailed  extensive  travel  through- 
out the  United  States,  Canada  and  Great  Britain. 
The  Bible  Translation  Society  of  England  was 
organized  mainly  under  Dr.  Maclay "s  suggestion 
and  direction.  He  was  also  active  in  the  founding 
of  the  American  ]?ible  Union,  of  which  he  was 
elected  General  Agent.  In  the  work  of  revision 
his  views  were  at  first  opposed,  but  he  (inally  suc- 
ceeded in  winning  cooperation  and,  raising  by  sub- 
scription large  sums  of  money  for  the  purpose,  he 
became  recognized  as  a  leader  in  that  movement. 
He  occupied  a  seat  in  the  first  Council  of  New 
York  University  from  1830  to  1838,  and  was  an 
earnest  friend  of  the  institution.  He  also  secured 
the  funds  for  founding  a  Baptist  College  in  Canada, 
called  the  Maclay  College.  Dr.  Maclay  died  in 
New  York  City,  May  2,  i860.  * 


CONE,   Spencer   Houghton,  1785-1855. 

Member  First  Council,  1830-1838. 
Born  in  Princeton,  N.  J.,  1785;  entered  Princeton 
College,  1797  ;  taught  schools  in  Princeton,  Burlington, 
N.  J.,  and  Philadelphia  ;  followed  actor's  profession, 
1805-12;  fought  in  War  of  1812;  publisher  and  part 
owner  of  The  Baltimore  Whig ;  began  to  preach  in 
Washington,  and  elected  Chaplain  U.  S.  House  of 
Reps.,  1815;  Pastor  Presbyterian  Church,  Alexandria, 
Pa.,  1816-23;  Oliver  St.  Baptist  Church,  New  York 
City,  1823-41  ;  First  Baptist  Church,  New  York  City, 
1841-55;  Pres.  American  and  Foreign  Bible  Soc,  1837- 
50;  member  Council  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1830-38;  D.D. 
Princeton,  1832  ;  died  1855. 

SPENCER  HOUGHTON  CONE,  D.D..  was 
born  in  Princeton,  New  Jersey.  April  30, 
1785.  At  the  age  of  twelve  he  had  passed  through 
all  the  studies  preliminarj'  to  College  work  and 
was  admitted  to  the  Freshman  Class  at  Princeton. 
After  two  years,  obliged  by  the  permanent  illness 


of  his  father  to  confront  the  problem  of  support- 
ing the  family,  he  left  College  and  applied  himself 
to  teaching.  Until  1805  he  was  engaged  as 
teacher  in  various  schools  —  in  Princeton  and  Bur- 
lington, New  Jersey,  and  in  the  Academy  at  Phila- 
delphia, where  he  was  associated  with  Dr.  Aber- 
crombie,  the  Principal.  The  meagre  salary  to  be 
earned  in  this  work  soon  proved  insufficient  for 
the  proper  support  of  the  family  and  the  young 
man  turned  to  the  actor's  profession,  for  which  he 
was  peculiarly  adapted  on  account  of  a  highly 
musical  and  powerful  voice.  In  July  1805  he  pre- 
sented the  part  of  Achmet  in  the  tragedy  Ma- 
homet, and  then  for  seven  years  acted  with  much 
success  in  various  roles,  appearing  in  Philadelphia, 
Baltimore,  and  Alexandria,  Virginia.  This  profes- 
sion, which  he  had  entered  rather  from  necessity 
than  from  choice,  became,  finally,  entirely  distaste- 
ful, and  in  18 12  he  entered  the  employ  of  The 
Baltimore  American,  soon  after  becoming,  in  asso- 
ciation with  his  brother,  owner  and  publisher  of  the 
Baltimore  Whig.  The  War  of  18 12,  in  which  Dr. 
Cone  took  active  part,  left  the  business  of  the  city 
in  a  seriously  constricted  state,  and  though  thou- 
sands of  dollars  were  standing  on  the  credit  side  of 
the  newspaper's  books,  collections  were  all  but  im- 
possible and  the  enterprise  was  abandoned.  Dr. 
Cone's  first  experiences  in  ministerial  work  were 
in  \\'ashington,  District  of  Columbia,  where  he 
had  obtained  a  position  in  the  Treasury  Depart- 
ment after  the  collapse  of  his  paper.  In  that  city 
he  began  preaching  about  18 14  and  with  an 
immediate  and  striking  success,  so  that  in  1815  he 
was  elected  Chaplain  of  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives. Seven  years  were  spent  with  a  Presbyte- 
rian Church  in  .Alexandria,  Virginia,  and  he  was 
then  called  to  the  Oliver  Street  Baptist  Church  in 
New  York  City,  where  he  continued  as  Pastor 
until  1 84 1,  in  that  year  entering  the  Pastorate  of 
the  First  Baptist  Church  in  the  same  city,  in  which 
work  he  was  engaged  during  the  remaining  four- 
teen years  of  his  life.  He  was  one  of  the  original 
Council  of  New  York  University,  serving  from 
1830  to  1838.  In  1832  Princeton  conferred  upon 
him  the  degree  Doctor  of  Divinity.  From  1837  to 
1850  Dr.  Cone  was  President  of  the  American  and 
Foreign  Bible  Society,  and  at  the  foundation  of 
the  American  Bible  Union  he  was  chosen  Presi- 
dent, so  continuing  until  his  death.  He  was  also 
President  of  the  Baptist  Triennial  Conventions  of 
1832  and  1841.     He  died  August  28,  1855.      * 


UNIf'KRS/riKS   ^JND    THEIR    SONS 


19 


WAINWRIGHT,       Jonathan      Mayhew, 
1792-1854. 

Councilor  1830-1831. 
Born  in  Liverpool,  England,  1792;  prepared  for 
College  at  Sandwich  Acad..  Mass. ;  graduated  Harvard, 
1812;  Proctor  and  Tutor  at  Harvard;  studied  divinity, 
and  ordained  Deacon,  1816;  served  in  Christ's  Church, 
Hartford,  Conn.;  Asst.  Minister  Trinity  Church,  New 
York  City,  1819-1821 ;  Rector  Grace  Church,  New 
York  City,  1821-34;  Trinity  Church,  Boston,  1834-38; 
Trinity,  New  York  City,  1838-52  ;  Provisional  Bishop, 
P.  E.  Diocese  of  N.  Y.,  1852  54  ;  member  N.  Y.  Univ. 
Council,  1830-31;  founder;  died  1854. 

JONATHAN  iMAVlIKW  W  AINWRK]!!']', 
D.U.,  D.C.L..  was  burn  in  Liverpool,  Eng- 
land, February  24,  1792,  son  of  Peter  W'ainwright, 
an  Engli.sh  merchant,  who  had  established  himself  in 
Boston  not  long  after  1 7S3,  and  had  there  married 
Elizabeth,  daughter  of  the  Rev.  Jonathan  Mayhew, 
D.D.,  one  of  the  earliest  representatives  of  Unita- 
rianism  in  the  Congregational  Church  of  America. 
His  earlier  training  Bishop  W'ainwright  received 
in  part  at  the  school  of  Rev.  Mr.  Hughes,  an 
Anglican  clergyman  of  Ruthven,  North  \\'ales. 
In  1803  Peter  U'ainwright  returned  to  America 
and  his  son  Jonathan  was  prepared  for  College  at 
the  Sandwich  Academy,  Cape  Cod,  Massachusetts. 
He  entered  Harvard  in  1808  and  graduated  in 
1812,  at  twenty.  For  several  years  afterwards  he 
was  a  Proctor  and  Tutor  at  Harvard.  Subse- 
quently he  began  the  study  of  law  but  soon 
changed  to  divinity,  studying  chiefly  under  the 
care  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  (Gardiner,  Rector  of  Trinity 
Church,  Boston,  and  was  ordained  Deacon  in 
1816,  at  twenty-four.  \\'hile  serving  at  Christ 
Church,  Hartford,  he  was  ordained  Priest  by 
Bishop  Hobart  (then  in  provisional  charge  of  the 
diocese)  and  in  1818,  May  29,  was  instituted 
Rector  of  the  same  parish.  In  November  18 19  he 
was  called  to  be  an  assistant  minister  of  Trinity 
Church,  New  York  City,  and  in  182 1  accepted  the 
Rectorship  of  Grace  Church,  which  post  he  held 
from  182 1  to  1834.  It  was  as  Rector  of  Grace 
that  he  was  active  in  the  plans  and  initial  steps  that 
led  to  the  establishment  of  New  York  University, 
had  a  seat  in  the  Literary  Convention  of  October 
1830.  and  became  a  member  of  the  first  Council 
in  the  same  month  of  the  same  year.  "  He  had 
collected,"  says  Bishop  William  Croswell  Doane  of 
him,  "  an  extensive  library,  admirably  chosen.  He 
found  or  made  the  leisure,  amid  his  numerous 
and  arduous  duties,  to  be  much  among  his  books. 
...    His   hearth  was  the  center  of  the  most  re- 


lincd  and  genennis  hospitality  and  strangers  of 
every  clime  were  attracted  about  him  by  his  culti- 
vated tastes,  his  wide  and  varied  information,  his 
elegant  manners  and  his  kind  and  sympathizing 
heart."  In  1834  he  went  to  Trinity  Church,  Bo.ston, 
hilt  remained  not  long,  returning  early  in  1838 
to  Trinity,  New  Y(;rk  City,  the  congregation  of  St. 
John's  Chapel  being  more  particularly  a.ssigned  to 
him.  In  1852  he,  as  Secretary  of  the  I  louse  of 
Bishops  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  of  the 
United  States,  was  sent  to  Canterbury,  England,  as 
a  delegate  to  attend  the  one  hundred  and  fiftieth 
anniversary  of  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of 
the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts,  receiving  during  his 
visit  to  England  the  degree  Doctor  of  Canon  Law  at 
O.vford.  He  was  al.so  made  a  Doctor  of  Divinity 
by  Union  in  1823.  On  November  10,  1852,  he 
was  consecrated  Provisional  Bishop  of  the  Protes- 
tant Episcopal  Diocese  of  New  York,  the  ceremony 
taking  place  in  Trinity  Church.  The  diocese  had 
long  been  without  a  diocesan  and  the  friends 
of  Dr.  Wainwright  fondly  hoped  for  him  a  l<jng 
episcopate,  but  he  died  on  September  21,  1854, 
in  the  si.xty-third  year  of  his  life,  having  visited  in 
the  first  eleven  months  of  his  episcopate  all  the 
three  hundred  clergjmen  of  his  diocese.  "  His 
work,"  said  Bishop  Doane,  "  seemed  just  begun. 
And  yet  he  had  settled  and  harmonized  a  diocese 
which  had  been  long  distracted,  and  had  given  to 
the  whole  Church,  till  every  life  and  heart  was 
filled,  '  assurance  '  of  a  Bishop."  The  church 
edifice  occupied  by  the  Parish  of  St.  John  the 
Evangelist  is  regarded  as  the  "  Wainwright  Memo- 
rial." but  there  never  was   any  parish  bearing  the 

name.  e.  g.  s. 

[See  portrait  page  4S,  Part  1.] 


DISOSWAY,   Gabriel    Poillon,    1799-1868. 

Member  First  Council,  1830-1838. 
Born  in  New  York  City,  1799;  graduated  Columbia, 
1819;  A.M.  in  course;  merchant  in  New  York  City;  a 
founder  of  Randolph-Macon  College,  Va.  ;  member 
Council  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1830-1838  ;  writer  and  antiquarian  ; 
died  1868. 

GABRIP:L  POILLON  DISOSWAY  was  born 
in  New  York  City,  December  6,  1799,  and 
was  graduated  at  Columbia  in  18 19,  receiving  the 
Master's  degree  in  course.  For  several  years  he 
was  a  resident  of  Petersburg,  Virginia,  and  subse- 
quently returned  to  New  York  Citj-  and  there 
entered  mercantile  pursuits.     He  was  a  constant 


20 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


student  of  antiquities,  and  freely  contributed  his 
learning  to  the  newspapers  and  current  magazines. 
He  published  in  1865  The  Earliest  Churches  of 
New  York  and  its  Vicinity.  Mr.  Disosway  was  a 
member  of  the  first  Council  of  New  York  Univer- 
sity when  that  body  convened  in  1830  and  so  con- 
tinued until  1838.  He  was  also  a  founder  of 
Randolph-ISIacon  College  in  Ashland,  Virginia, 
established  in  1832.  He  died  on  Staten  Island, 
July  9,  1868.  * 


McILVAINE,    Charles    Pettit,   1799-1873. 

First  Lecturer  in  University  College,  Professor  Evidences  of 
Revealed  Religion,  1832-1833. 

Born  in  Burlington,  N.  Y.,  1799;  graduated  Prince- 
ton, 1816;  Rector  Georgetown,  D.C.,  1821-35;  Prof. 
Ethics  and  Chaplain  West  Point  Mil.  Acad.,  1835-37; 
St.  Ann's  Church,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  1837;  Prof.  Evi- 
dences of  Revealed  Religion  and  Sacred  Antiquities, 
N.  Y.  Univ.,  1832-33 ;  Bishop  of  Ohio,  1832  ;  Pres. 
Kenyon  College,  Gambier,  Ohio,  1832;  D.C.L.  Oxford, 
England,  1853;  LL.D.  Cambridge,  1858;  died  1873. 

CII.VRLES  PETTIT  McILVAINE,  D.C.L.. 
LL.l).,  was  born  in  Burlington,  New  Jer- 
sey, January  18,  1799,  and  died  in  Florence,  Italy, 
March  13,  1873.  His  father,  Joseph  Mcllvaine, 
was  a  native  of  Bristol,  Bucks  county,  Pennsylva- 
nia, born  1768,  died  in  Burlington,  New  Jersey, 
August  19,  1826.  He  was  chosen  United  States 
Senator  from  New  Jersey  to  take  the  place  of  the 
Hon.  Samuel  S.  Southard,  who  resigned  in  1823, 
and  served  from  December  1823  to  his  own  death. 
Charles  Pettit  Mcllvaine  graduated  from  Prince- 
ton in  18 1 6  and  took  orders  as  Priest  in  the  Prot- 
estant Episcopal  Church  in  182  i,  serving  as  Rector 
of  Christ  Church,  Georgetown,  District  Columbia, 
to  1835,  when  he  became  Professor  of  Ethics  and 
Chaplain  at  West  Point.  After  two  years  he  was 
called  to  St.  Ann's  Church,  in  the  (then)  village  of 
Brooklyn.  He  was  in  1831  appointed  Professor 
of  the  Evidences  of  Revealed  Religion  and  Sacred 
Antiquities  in  New  York  University  and  lectured 
as  such  to  large  audiences,  a  year  before  general 
instruction  was  begun  in  Clinton  Hall.  In  1832, 
October  31,  he  was  in  New  York  City  consecrated 
as  Bishop  of  Ohio  and  became  at  the  same  time 
President  of  Kenyon  College,  Gambier,  Ohio,  and 
of  the  Theological  Seminary  connected  with  that 
institution  of  learning.  He  received  the  degree 
of  Doctor  of  Canon  Laws  from  Oxford,  England, 
and  that  of  Doctor  of  Laws  from  Cambridge,  the 


first  in  1853,  the  second  in  1858.  Bishop  Bedell 
was  appointed  Assistant  Bishop  in  1859.  Bishop 
Mcllvaine  was  a  man  of  earnest  evangelism  and 
not  friendly  to  the  High  Church  movement  in  his 
own  denomination.  His  lectures  in  the  prelimi- 
nary work  of  New  York  University  proved  not 
only  his  own  most  successful  work  but  one  of  the 
most  successful  American  books  dealing  with  so 
serious  a  subject.  Published  first  in  1832,  they 
were  reprinted  in  1833  in  England  under  advice 
of  Dr.  Olinthus  Gregorj^  of  the  Royal  Military 
Academy,  (Woolwich).  In  1844  the  book  had 
reached   its   sixth   edition    and    altogether   it    has 


CHARLES    p.    McILVAINE 

passed  through  thirty  editions.'  There  is  in  this 
book  a  temperate  form  of  statement,  coupled  with 
warm  and  spiritual  eloquence.  We  take  the  follow- 
ing from  the  preface :  '•  In  the  autumn  of  183 1,  when 
the  University  of  the  City  of  New  York  had  not 
yet  organized  its  classes  nor  appointed  its  instruc- 
tors, it  was  represented  to  the  Council  that  a  course 
of  lectures  on  the  Evidences  of  Christianity  was 
exceedingly  needed  and  would  probably  be  well 
attended  by  young  men  of  intelligence  and  educa- 
tion. On  the  strength  of  such  representation  the 
author  of  this  volume  was  requested  by  the  Chan- 
cellor of  the  L^niversity  to  undertake  the  work 
desired ;    not,    he    is    well    aware,    on    account  of 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


21 


any  special  qualitications  for  a  task  wliicli  many 
others  in  the  city  would  have  executed  imu  li  more 
satisfactorily,  but  because  having  lectured  on  the 
Evidences  of  Christianity  while  connected  witii 
the  Military  Academy  at  West  I'oiiU  he  was  sup- 
posed to  be  in  a  great  measure  ])repared  at  this 
time  for  a  similar  effort."  .  .  .  •  liie  next  thing 
was  the  honour  of  an  appointniLMit  by  the  Coun- 
cil of  the  University  to  the  otVice  of  Lecturer 
on  the  Evidences  of  Christianity."  ..."  Mean- 
while a  class  of  many  hundreds  from  among  the 
most  intelligent  in  the  conununity  and  composed 
to  a  considerable  extent  of  members  of  the  New 
York  Young  Men's  Society  for  Intellectual  and 
Moral  Improvement  had  been  formed  and  was 
waiting  the  commencement  of  the  course.  A  more 
interesting,  important  or  attentive  assemblage  of 
mind  and  character  no  one  need  wish  to  address." 
..."  The  idea  of  publication  did  not  originate 
with  the  author.  He  began  the  work  with  no  such 
view.  Had  it  not  been  for  the  favorable  opinion 
of  the  Council  of  the  University  as  to  the  probable 
usefulness  of  the  step,  and  the  urgent  advice  of 
distinguished  individuals  of  that  body,  he  would 
have  shrunk  from  contributing  another  volume  to 
a  Department  of  Divinity  already  so  well  supplied 
by  authors  of  the  highest  grade  of  learning  and 
intellect."  e.  g.  s. 


TORREY,    John,    1796-1873. 

Professor  Chemistry,  Mineralogy  and  Botany,  1832-33. 
Born  in  New  York  City,  1796  ;  educated  in  public 
schools;  graduated  N.  Y.  College  Phys.  and  Surg.; 
Asst.  Surg.  U.  S.  Army;  Prof.  Chem.  Mineralogy  and 
Geol.  West  Point,  1824-27  ;  Prof.  Chem.  and  Botany 
College  Phys.  and  Surg.,  1827-55,  and  Emeritus  ;  Prof. 
Chem.  Princeton,  1830-54;  Prof.  Chem.  Mineralogy 
and  Botany  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1832-33;  U.  S.  Assayer  in 
New  York;  Trustee  and  Emeritus  Prof.  Chem.  and 
Botar.y  Columbia;    LL.D.  Amherst,  1845;  died  1873. 

J()H\  TORREY,  LL.D.,  Botanist,  was  born 
in  New  York  City,  August  15,  1796,  son  of 
Captain  William  Torrey,  a  Revolutionary  soldier. 
After  completing  his  early  education  in  the  public 
schools  of  his  native  city  he  seriously  contemplated 
the  adoption  of  mechanical  pursuits,  but  through 
the  influence  of  Amos  Eaton  he  was  taught  the 
rudiments  of  Botany,  Mineralogy^  and  Chemistry. 
In  18 1 5  he  began  the  study  of  medicine  with  Dr. 
Wright  Post,  and  after  graduating  from  the  Col- 
lege of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  he  engaged  in 
practice,  at  the  same  time  devoting  his  leisure  to 


the  accumulation  of  knowledge  relating  to  Botany 
and  other  sciences.  The  simple  practice  of  medi- 
cine was,  however,  far  from  being  pleasant  for  one 
whose  chief  delight  lay  in  the  investigation  of 
other  sciences  more  congenial  to  his  tastes,  and 
entering  the  United  States  Army  as  Assistant  Sur- 
geon in  1824,  he  was  for  the  succeeding  four  years 
Acting  Professor  of  Chemistrj',  Mineralogy  and 
Geology  at  the  United  States  Military  Academy. 
He  was  Professor  of  Chemistry  and  Botany  at  the 
College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  from  1827  to 
1855,  when  he  was  made  Professor  Emeritus;  was 
Professor  of  Chemistry  at  Princeton  from  1830  to 
1854;  and  Professor  of  Chemistry,  Mineralogy 
and  Botany  at  the  University  of  the  City  of  New 
York  in  1832-1833.  In  1853  the  United  States 
Assay  office  was  opened  in  New  York,  and  Dr. 
Torrey  received  the  appointment  of  Assayer,  which 
he  filled  with  marked  ability  until  his  death.  In 
1856  he  became  a  Trustee  of  Columbia  College, 
to  which  he  presented  his  herbarium  containing 
some  fifty  thousand  specimens.  In  i860  he  was 
made  Emeritus  Professor  of  Chemistry  and  Botany, 
and  after  the  consolidation  of  the  College  of  Physi- 
cians and  Surgeons  with  Columbia,  which  took 
place  in  the  same  year,  he  continued  to  remain 
upon  the  Board  of  Trustees,  and  also  held  his 
Emeritus  Professorship.  Dr.  Torrey  died  March 
10,  1873.  He  was  the  last  surviving  charter 
member  of  the  New  York  Lyceum  of  Natural  His- 
tory (now  the  Academy  of  Sciences),  of  which  he 
was  at  one  time  President,  held  the  same  office  in 
the  Torrey  Botanical  Club  and  the  American  Asso- 
ciation for  the  Advancement  of  Science,  and  was 
one  of  the  original  members  of  the  National  Acad- 
emy of  Science,  to  which  he  was  nominated  by  Act 
of  Congress.  Besides  being  the  author  of  many 
books  he  contributed  numerous  articles  upon  botan- 
ical and  other  subjects  to  the  various  periodicals 
and  made  voluminous  reports  upon  the  plant  speci- 
mens collected  by  different  government  and  pri- 
vate expeditions.  His  report  as  Botanist  of  the 
Geological  Survey  of  the  State  of  New  York  sur- 
pas.ses  anything  of  the  kind  ever  i.ssued  in  the 
United  States.  The  degree  of  Master  of  Arts  was 
conferred  upon  him  by  Yale  in  1823,  and  that  of 
Doctor  of  Laws  by  Amherst  in  1845.  A  sketch 
of  his  life  by  his  pupil  and  collaborator.  Asa  Gray. 
was  prepared  and  contributed  to  the  Biographical 
Memoirs  of  the  National  .Academy  of  Science 
(Washington)  in  1877.  * 


22 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


VETHAKE,    Henry,    1792-1866. 

Prof.  Mathematics,  Astronomy  and  Natural  Philosophy,  1S32-33. 
Born  in  British  Guiana,  1792;  came  to  U.  S.  1796; 
graduated  Columbia,  1808;  Instr.  Math.  Columbia, 
1813;  Prof.  Math,  and  Nat.  Phil.  Queen's  College, 
1813-17;  in  Princeton,  1817-21;  in  Dickinson,  1821-29; 
in  N.  Y.  Univ.  1832-33  ;  Pres.  Washington  College, 
1835-36;  LL.D.  Columbia,  1836;  Prof.  Math.  Univ. 
of  Pa.,  1836-54;  Provost,  1854-59;  Prof.  Higher  Math. 
Philadelphia  Polytechnic,  1859-66;  died  1866. 

HKNRY  YETHAKE,  LL.D.,  was  born  in 
British  Guiana  in  1792  and  was  brought 
to  this  country  b}-  his  parents  when  a  cliild  of  four 
years.  He  was  educated  at  Columbia,  graduating 
at  that  LTniversity  in  1808  and  subsequently  study- 
ing law.  He  was  engaged  for  a  short  time  as 
Instructor  in  Mathematics  and  Geography  at 
Columbia  in  18 13,  but  resigned  the  positicm  in 
that  year  to  become  Professor  of  Mathematics 
and  Natural  Philosophy  in  Queen's  College,  New 
Jersey,  where  he  remained  foiu'  years.  He  then 
went  to  Princeton  to  fill  a  chair  in  the  same 
branches,  1817-1821,  and  occupied  similar  posi- 
tions at  Dickinson  College,  182  1-1829,  and  New 
York  University,  where  he  also  taught  Astrononn-, 
1832-1833.  He  was  President  of  Washington 
College,  Lexington,  Yirginia,  during  the  year 
1835-1836,  taking  the  Chair  of  Intellectual  and 
Moral  Philosophy,  and  then  accepted  a  call  to 
the  University  of  Pennsylvania  as  Professor  of 
Mathematics.  He  retained  his  connection  with 
this  University  for  twenty-three  years,  being  chosen 
Vice-Provost  in  1846  and  Provo.st  in  1854,  when 
he  resigned  that  office,  together  with  the  Chair  of 
Moral  and  Intellectual  Philosophy  and  became 
Professor  of  the  Higher  Mathematics  in  the  Phila- 
delphia Polytechnic  College.  This  position  he 
held  to  the  time  of  his  death.  Dr.  Vethake's 
published  works  include :  Principles  of  Political 
Economy ;  a  supplemental  volume  of  the  En- 
cyclopedia Americana,  and  numerous  mono- 
graphs. Columbia  gave  him  the  degree  of  Doctor 
of  Laws  in  1836.  He  died  in  Philadelphia, 
December  16,  1866.  * 

[See  portrait  page  64,  Part  I.] 


guages  N.  Y.  Univ.  1832-46;  joined  the  Church  of  the 
New  Jerusalem ;  contributor  to  religious  literature ; 
died  1859. 

GEORGE  BUSH,  D.D.,  was  born  in  Nor- 
wich, Vermont,  June  12,  1796.  The 
Bachelor's  and  Master's  degrees  were  conferred 
upon  him  by  Dartmouth,  from  which  he  was 
graduated  in  1818.  His  divinity  studies  were 
pursued  at  Princeton,  where  he  acted  as  a  Tutor 
in  1822-1833,  and  after  his  ordination  to  the 
Presbyterian  ministry  he  spent  four  years  in 
Indiana  as  a  missionary.  In  1832  he  accepted  a 
call  to  the  Chair  of  Oriental  Languages  at  New 
York  University  where  he  taught  courses  in 
Hebrew  language  and  literature  until  1846. 
He  subsequently  withdrew  from  the  Presbyterian 
faith  and  united  with  the  Church  of  the  New 
Jerusalem.  Prior  to  his  conversion  to  the  latter 
faith  he  wrote :  A  Life  of  Mohammed ;  Trea- 
tise on  the  Millennium  and  Illustrations  of  the 
Scriptures ;  a  Hebrew  Grammar,  and  Commen- 
taries on  the  Exodus  and  other  books  of  the  Old 
Testament.  He  opposed  the  doctrine  of  the 
literal  resurrection  of  the  body  in  a  work  en- 
titled Anastasis  which  created  no  little  excitement 
among  theologians,  and  he  responded  to  the  at- 
tacks made  upon  it  in  a  subsequent  work  called 
Tiie  Resurrection  of  Christ.  After  joining  the 
New  Jerusalem  Church,  he  issued  a  translation 
of  the  Diary  of  Swedenborg  and  became  Editor 
of  the  New  Church  Repositoiy  in  1845.  His 
later  works  are  :  The  Soul,  an  Inquiry  into 
Scripture  Psychology' ;  Mesmer  and  Swedenborg, 
in  which  he  maintains  that  the  developments  of 
the  former  corroborate  the  doctrine  of  the  latter  ; 
New  Church  Miscellanies,  and  Priesthood  and 
("lergy  unknown  to  Christianity.  Dr.  Bush  died 
in  Rochester,  New  York,  September  19.  1859.  * 


BUSH,    George,    1796-1859. 

Professor  Oriental  Languages,  1832-1846. 
Born  in  Norwich,  Vt.,  1796;   graduate  of  Dartmouth 
and  of  Princeton  Theol.  Sem.  ;  Tutor  at  Princeton  two 
years;     missionary    in    Indiana;    Prof.    Oriental     Lan- 


GALLAUDET,    Thomas    Hopkins,    1787- 
1851. 

Professor  Philosophy  of  Education,  1832- 1833. 
Born  in  Philadelphia,  1787;  graduated  Yale,  1805; 
studied  theology  at  Andover,  and  licensed  to  preach, 
1814  ;  established  School  for  Deaf-Mutes  in  Hartford, 
Conn.,  1817,  and  remained  in  charge  as  President  until 
1830;  Prof.  Phil,  of  Education  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1832-33; 
Chaplain  of  Retreat  for  the  Insane,  Hartford,  1838-58; 
LL.D.  \A^estern  Reserve,  1850;  died  1851. 

THOMAS        HOPKINS       GALLAUDET, 
LL.D.,     founder    of    the    .system     of     in- 
struction   of    deaf-mutes    in    the    LTnited    States, 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR    SONS 


23 


was  born  in  rinlaclclphia,  December  10,  1787, 
of  Huguenot  descent.  While  he  was  yet  a  child 
iiis  parents  removed  to  Hartford,  C'onnecticut, 
and  lie  was  sent  to  Yale  and  there  graduated  in 
the  Class  of  1805,  receiving  the  Master's  degree 
in  course  three  years  later,  and  serving  as  Tutor 
there  from  1808  to  1810.  After  hesitating  for 
some  time  between  business  and  professional  life, 
he  entered  Andover  Theological  Seminary  in  181 1, 
pursued  the  course  there  and  was  licensed  to 
preach  in  18 14.  Meantime  he  had  become  im- 
pressed with  the  prevalent  neglect  of  the  deaf 
and  dumb  in  this  country  and  went  abroad  to  ex- 
amine the  methods  of  education  pursued  in  France 
by  the  Abb^  Sicard  and  in  I'.ngiand  by  Dr.  Wat- 
son. He  brought  back  with  him  a  pupil  of  Si- 
card,  Laurent  Clerc,  as  assistant,  and  in  181 7 
opened  in  Hartford,  Connecticut,  a  school  for 
deaf-mutes.  Beginning  with  seven  pupils,  his 
school  grew  to  a  large  and  prosperous  institution, 
the  pioneer  of  this  great  work  of  humanity  in  the 
United  States  and  the  most  widely  noted.  Dr. 
Gallaudet  remained  in  charge  as  President  until 
1830,  when  failing  health  compelled  his  retire- 
ment from  active  labors.  In  1832  he  again 
entered  upon  active  duties  as  Professor  of  the 
Philosophy  of  Education  at  New  York  University, 
in  which  position  he  continued  for  one  year.  In 
1838  he  also  took  upon  himself  the  duties  of  Ciiap- 
lain  at  the  Retreat  for  the  Insane  at  Hartford. 
Just  before  his  death,  which  occurred  in  Hartford, 
September  9.  1851,  the  Western  Reserve  College 
conferred  upon  him  the  degree  of  Doctor  of 
Laws.  * 

MORSE,     Samuel    Finley    Breese,    1791- 
1872. 

Piof.  Literature  of  Arts  of  Design,  1832-1882. 
Born  in  Charlestown,  Mass.,  1791  ;  graduated  Yale, 
1810;  M.  A.,  1816  ;  engaged  in  art  work  in  London, 
1811-15,  as  member  Royal  Acad.;  Pres  Nat.  Acad- 
Arts  of  Design,  1826-42  ;  Prof.  Lit.  of  the  Arts  of  Design 
N.  Y.  Univ.,  1832-72 ;  inventor  of  Morse  magnetic 
telegraph;   LL.D.  Yale,  1846;    died   1872. 

SAMUEL  FINLEY  BREESE  MORSE, 
LL.D.,  was  born  in  Charlestown,  Massa- 
chusetts, April  27,  1 79 1,  son  of  Jedidiah  Morse, 
D.D.  He  died  in  New  York  C\ty  April  2,  1872. 
The  career  of  Samuel  Finley  Breese  Morse  be- 
longs not  to  us,  but  to  America,  and  indeed  to 
the  world.  Still,  so  essential  in  his  great  career 
was    his    association   with    New   York    Universitj^ 


and  with  the  structure  on  Washington  Square, 
tiiat  lie  mu.st  not  be  excluded  from  this  part  of 
this  volume.  We  know  that  he  cherished  the 
title  of  Professor,  which  came  to  him  from  his 
honorary  Professorship  in  New  York  Univer- 
sity. We  have  traced  his  life  in  the  third  chap- 
ter of  the  History  of  New  York  University. 
He  is  not  recorded  in  John  Delalield's  volume 
as  having  sat  in  the  "  Literary  Convention  "  of 
October  1830;  although  his  older  rival,  Colonel 
John  Trumbull,  had  a  place  there.  Morse  was 
thirty-nine  years  old  when  the  fir.st  (Council  was 
chosen   from  and   by  tiie    shareholders.      During 


SAMUEL    F.    B.    MORSE 

these  initial  years  of  organization  Morse  was  on 
his  second  visit  in  Europe.  In  one  of  the  earliest 
single  sheets  of  announcement  of  courses,  in 
the  thirties,  Professor  Morse  is  placed  second 
in  the  Faculty,  as  Professor  of  the  Literature  of 
the  Arts  of  Design.  Whether  in  that  early 
period,  if  a  proper  endowment  had  been  secured, 
the  histor}'  of  art  as  we  now  take  it  could  have  found 
fitting  reception  among  professional  or  merely 
culture-loving  auditors  may  be  doubted.  We  may, 
in  the  absence  of  firsthand  utterances,  assume 
that  while  Morse  in  his  divided  allegiance  to  the 
useful  and  to  the  beautiful  was  in  a  measure  trj'- 
ing  to   serve  two  masters,  the    telegraph    clearly 


24 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR   SONS 


kept  gaining  on  the  fine  arts ;  the  latter  were 
probably  conceived  by  him,  in  his  plan  of  the 
immediate  future,  as  a  possible  means  of  susten- 
tation  for  the  former :  curious  and  unique  muta- 
tion of  their  proper  relations.  The  names  of 
Gale,  professor,  and  Vail,  student  and  partner, 
both  of  the  Washington  Square  College,  will 
always  be  associated  with  the  name  of  Professor 
Morse  in  the  annals  of  his  life.  The  Morse  of 
the  last  decade,  with  his  features  framed  by  a 
venerable  beard,  hardly  permits  the  modern  visitor 
to  Central  Park,  who  gazes  upon  the  familiar 
statue,  to  recognize  the  Morse  of  middle  life,  with 
closely  shaven  features,  wan  and  spare,  a  mission- 
ary of  a  great  idea,  living  on  a  minimum  of  physi- 
cal substance  and  sustenance  ;  endeavoring  amid 
severe  privations  to  support  himself  with  the 
painter's  brush  while  establishing  telegraphic  cir- 
cuits in  the  University  Building.  The  date  of 
fall  1832,  when  Morse  returned  from  Europe  with 
his  design  fairly  matured  in  his  mind,  is  coincident 
with  the  beginning  of  College  instruction  in  Clin- 
ton Hall;  twenty-one  years  later,  in  June  1853. 
when  Morse  addressed  the  Alumni  Association  of 
New  York  University,  and  referred  to  the  (later) 
Philomathean  room  at  Washington  Square  as  the 
place  where  he  perfected  his  invention  —  at  this 
date  we  say  —  he  could  survey  the  battle  of  life 
and  consider  it  won.  Professor  Morse  late  in 
1852  sent  to  Myndert  Van  Schaick  $2000  in  tele- 
graph stock,  toward  the  extinction  of  the  debt  on 
the  Uni\ersity  Building.  E.  G.  S. 


TAPPAN,  Henry  Philip,  1805-1881. 

Professor  Philosophy,  i832-r838. 
Born  in  Rhinebeck,  N.Y.,  1805;  graduated  Union, 
1825;  studied  theology  at  Auburn  (N.  Y.)  Seminary, 
1825-27  ;  Asst.  Pastor  Reformed  Dutch  Church,  Sche- 
nectady, N.  v.,  1827-28;  Pastor  Cong.  Church,  Pitts- 
field,  Mass.,  1828-32  ;  Prof.  Intellectual  and  Moral  Phil, 
and  Belles-Lettres,  1832-38 ;  conducted  school  for 
young  ladies  in  New  York  City ;  first  Pres.  Univ.  of 
Michigan,  1852-63  ;   died  1881. 

HENRY  PHILIP  TAPPAN,  D.D.,  Ph.D., 
was  born  in  Rhinebeck,  Dutchess  county. 
New  York,  April  23,  1805.  His  College  training 
was  had  at  Union  under  President  Eliphalet  Nott, 
he  graduating  there  in  1825,  after  which  he  studied 
theology  in  Auburn,  New  York,  Seminary  for  three 
years.  He  served  as  Assistant  Pastor  of  the 
Reformed  Dutch  Church  in  Schenectady  and  as 


Pastor  of  the  Congregational  Church  in  Pittsfield, 
Massachusetts,  until,  on  account  of  impaired  health, 
he  was  obliged  to  go  to  the  West  Indies.  In  1832 
he  took  his  seat  in  the  Faculty  of  New  York 
University,  as  Professor  of  Intellectual  and  Moral 
Philosophy  and  Belles-Lettres,  and  remained  in 
the  University  for  six  years,  carrying  on  his  meta- 
physical and  logical  studies,  and  maturing  those 
views  on  the  topics  of  Psychology'  which  he  after- 
wards gave  to  the  world  in  his  several  works  on 
the  Philosophy  of  the  Will.  His  work  along  these 
lines  in  the  University  College  afterwards  was 
elaborated  in  forms  which  attracted  public  atten- 
tion both  at  home  and  abroad.  In  the  conflict  of 
1838  Professor  Tappan  severed  his  relations  with 
the  young  College.  Professor  B.  N.  Martin,  writ- 
ing in  February  1882,  said  of  him  :  "  He  was  then 
one  of  the  most  earnest  of  the  younger  thinkers 
and  writers  of  our  country,  and  the  central  and 
influential  position  which  he  ocupied  was  one  of 
the  most  favorable  for  the  prosecution  of  such 
studies.  The  Chair  of  Philosophy  has  never 
found  an  abler  student  or  a  nobler  man  to  suc- 
ceed him."  For  some  fourteen  years  after  this 
time  Dr.  Tappan  conducted  a  private  school  for 
young  women  in  the  city  of  New  York.  During 
this  time,  in  1839,  1840,  1841,  his  great  treatise 
on  The  ^^'ill  was  published :  the  first  part  being 
An  Examination  of  the  Doctrine  of  Edwards;  the 
second  The  Doctrine  of  the  Will  as  Determined 
by  Consciousness,  and  the  third  The  Application 
of  the  Doctrine  of  the  \\\\\  to  Moral  Agency  and 
Responsibility.  Professor  Martin  designated  the 
second  part  as  the  most  important,  and  says  of  it : 
"  He  shows  the  fatalistic  doctrine  to  be  incon- 
sistent with  the  dicta  of  consciousness  directly, 
and  at  variance  with  the  profoundest  convictions 
of  mankind.  He  carries  the  scheme  out  into  its 
consequences  with  great  directness  and  vigour, 
and  presents  a  view  of  it  which  shows  beyond 
dispute  its  inconsistency  with  all  moral  distinc- 
tions. We  do  not  know  anywhere  in  our  philo- 
sophical literature,  a  more  thorough  and  convincing 
discussion  of  the  subject,  or  a  more  satisfactory 
exhibition  of  the  moral  bearings  of  the  fatalist 
scheme,  whether  asserted  in  the  interest  of  a  theo- 
logical system  as  was  the  case  with  the  reasonings 
of  Edwards,  or  advocated  on  philosophical  grounds, 
for  its  own  sake.  In  all  the  criticisms  to  which 
his  writings  were  subjected,  we  have  seen  no  reply 
to  this  portion  of  Professor  Tappan's  work."  These 


UNiyERsrriKs  and  'iiieik  sons 


25 


treatises  were  very  widely  read  and  were  subse- 
quently repuijlished  in  a  single  volume  in  Glasgow. 
In  1852  Professor  Tappan  was  again  elected  to 
the  Chair  of  Philosophy  in  New  York,  June  28, 
conjointly  with  Howard  Crosby  who  was  desig- 
nated for  (ireek  on  the  same  date.  But  he 
never  resumed  his  seat  in  the  College  Faculty 
of  New  York  University,  being  called  to  a  much 
greater  charge,  viz.  the  position  of  President  of 
the  University  of  Michigan,  (v.  History  of  Higher 
Education  in  Michigan  by  Andrew  C.  McLaugh- 
lin, Assistant  Professor  of  History  in  the  University 
of  Michigan,  Washington,  Government  Printing 
Office,  1 89 1,  pp.  47-58.)  This  foremost  of  the 
State  Universities  of  the  country  had  been  opened 
in  1841,  with  a  Faculty  of  two,  and  six  students 
enrolled.  Immediately  before  Tappan's  advent 
the  contention  between  the  Faculty  and  the  secret 
fraternities  had  reached  such  a  point  of  bitterness 
that  the  number  of  students  was  reduced  to  fifty- 
seven.  It  was  only  in  1852  that  Regents  were 
elected,  and  these  began  their  work  with  a  clean 
sweep  of  retiring  the  entire  extant  Faculty  —  with 
one  exception.  Dr.  Tappan  (whose  chief  fellow 
candidate  was  Henry  Barnard  of  Connecticut)  was 
chosen  on  August  12,  1852,  the  first  President  of 
Michigan  University.  In  assuming  this  important 
task  he  said  :  "  A  young,  vigorous,  free,  en- 
lightened and  magnanimous  people  had  laid  the 
foundation  of  a  State  University  ;  they  were  aiming 
to  open  to  themselves  one  of  the  great  fountains 
of  civilization,  of  culture,  of  refinement,  of  true 
national  grandeur  and  prosperity."  Among  the 
ideas  which  he  carried  into  action  were  e.g.  these : 
to  have  the  fixed  four  year  course  of  the  Literary 
Department  and  its  frigid  rigidity  give  place  to  a 
more  liberal  and  inspiring  system  ;  to  keep  the 
preparatory  schools,  i.e.  the  public  high  schools  of 
the  State  of  Michigan,  in  close  union  with  the 
State  University,  which  was  the  highest  organic 
part  in  the  educational  system  of  the  state.  James 
R.  Boise  became  Professor  of  the  Greek  and 
Latin  Languages  at  first,  the  Rev.  Erastus  O. 
Haven  taking  the  Latin  Chair  in  the  following 
year.  An  Astronomical  Observatory  was  built  and 
equipped  at  an  expense  of  about  $22,000  and 
Professor  Brunnow.  an  assistant  of  Encke  of  Berlin, 
was  called  to  take  charge  :  his  most  eminent  pupil 
being  James  C.  Watson.  Henr}^  S.  Frieze  in 
1854  came  from  Providence  to  fill  the  Chair  of 
Latin    which    he    held    until    1889.     Andrew    D. 


White  of  the  famous  Yale  Cla.ss  of  1853  became 
liic  first  l'rofe.s.sor  of  History  in  1857,  a  chair 
which  he  held  to  1867.  In  1854  Alexander  Win- 
chell  began  to  teach  engineering.  In  fact  Presi- 
dent Tappan  successfully  combated  the  idea  that 
the  Professorships  in  the  State  University  should 
be  divided  with  some  equality  and  fairness  among 
the  different  denominations,  his  own  standards 
being  simply  good  character  and  professional 
superiority.  He  thus  solved  the  sectarian  prob- 
lem. A  parallel  course  for  the  degree  of  Bachelor 
of  Science,  a  course  of  four  years  and  requiring 
no  classics  for  entrance  was  established  ;  dormi- 
tories were  done  away  with ;  a  "  partial  course  " 
was  announced.  In  1861  the  requirements  in 
Greek  reached  the  limit  which  they  have  since 
maintained.  In  1856  a  Chemical  Laboratory  was 
built.  In  March  1859  the  first  Law  Faculty  was' 
appointed,  viz.  James  V.  Campbell,  Thomas  M. 
Cooley  and  Charles  T.  Walker.  The  library  of 
the  Law  Department  in  the  first  thirty-two  years 
reached  the  number  of  ten  thousand  volumes. 
In  1863  the  essential  danger  of  the  constitution 
of  the  State  University  was  revealed  in  an  Act 
prompted,  so  it  is  claimed,  by  personal  rancour. 
At  the  June  meeting,  1863,  after  the  transaction 
of  other  business  the  following  resolution  was 
introduced :  "  Whereas  it  is  deemed  expedient 
and  for  the  interests  of  the  University  that  sundry 
changes  be  made  in  the  offices  and  corps  of  pro- 
fessors :  Therefore,  Resoh-ed  That  Dr.  Henr)'  P. 
Tappan  be  and  he  is  hereby  removed  from  the 
offices  and  duties  of  President  of  the  University 
of  Michigan  and  Professor  of  Philosophy  therein." 
We  quote  from  the  Michigan  historian  to  whom 
we  owe  this  account :  "  Dr.  Tappan  withdrew  " 
(he  was  ex-officio  a  member  of  the  Board  of 
Regents)  "  and  the  resolution  was  at  once  passed, 
as  well  as  a  number  of  others,  making  extensive 
changes  in  the  Faculty.  The  Board  was  on  the 
very  eve  of  dissolution.  Their  duties  closed  De- 
cember 31,  1863,  and  their  action  was  all  the  more 
spiteful  and  malicious,  that,  at  the  verj-  last  mo- 
ment, actuated  almost  entirely  by  personal  motives, 
they  removed  from  office  him  who  had  done  so 
much  for  the  University,  him  who  had  founded  a 
College  and  created  a  University,  who,  with  con- 
stant care,  had  nourished  and  protected  the  inter- 
ests committed  to  him  until  he  could  well  say : 
"  This  matter  belongs  to  history ;  the  pen  of  his- 
tory is  held  by  Almighty  Justice  and  I  fear  not  the 


26 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


record  it  will  make  of  my  conduct,  whether  private 
or  public,  in  relation  to  the  affairs  of  the  Uni- 
versity." The  Regents  in  1874  and  again  in 
1876  passed  resolutions  commending  in  the  high- 
est degree  the  work  of  Henry  Philip  Tappan. 
Professor  Tappan's  daughter  we  believe  was  mar- 
ried to  Professor  Brunnow,  and  as  this  gentleman 
subsequently  was  appointed  Astronomer  Royal  for 
Ireland,  and  Professor  in  Trinity  College,  Dublin, 
Dr.  Tappan  spent  much  of  the  remainder  of  his 
life  in  Europe.  He  died  in  Vevay,  Switzerland, 
on  the  lake  of  Geneva,  November  15,  1881.  Pro- 
fessor Tappan's  other  noted  work  in  philosophy 
was  The  Elements  of  Logic,  1844,  of  which  Victor 
Cousin,  the  distinguished  French  philosopher, 
said :  "  It  is  equal  to  any  work  on  this  subject  that 
has  appeared  in  Europe."  Professor  Tappan  had 
a  fine  countenance,  a  tall  and  commanding  form 
and  an  air  of  great  dignity  and  self-respect.  He 
was  at  the  same  time  cordial  in  feeling  and  genial 
in  manner  and  commanded  the  respect  and  the 
love  of  his  associates.  e.  g.  s. 

[See  portrait  page  72,  Part  I.] 


DOUGLASS,    David  Bates,  1790-1849. 

First  Prof.  Natural  Phil.  1832-33,  Prof.  Civil  Engineering  and 
Architecture  1839-53. 
Born  in  Pompton,  N.  J.,  1790;  entered  U.  S. 
Engineer  Corps,  1813  ;  served  in  War  of  1812,  reaching 
rank  of  Major;  Asst.  Prof.  Natural  Phil.  West  Point, 
1819-20;  practicing  civil  engineer;  first  Prof.  Natural 
Phil,  at  the  University,  1832-33;  Prof.  Civil  Engineer- 
ing and  Architecture,  1839-53;  Pres.  Kenyon  College, 
Ohio,  1840-44;  Prof.  Math.  Hobart  College,  N.  Y., 
1840-49;   died  1849. 

DAMl)  BATES  DOUGLASS,  LL.D., 
Engineer,  was  born  in  Pompton,  New 
Jer.sey,  March  21,  1790.  He  graduated  with  high 
honors  from  Yale.  September  18,  18 13.  The 
need  for  men  in  tlie  army  was  at  that  time  great, 
owing  to  the  war  with  England.  Douglass  ap- 
plied for  an  appointment  in  the  Army  Engineer 
Corps  of  the  Ihiited  States.  He  was  at  once 
successful,  so  that  by  October  i,  1813,  as  Lieu- 
tenant of  Engineers  he  was  ordered  to  the  front. 
After  the  battle  of  Lundy's  Lane  Douglass  was 
assigned  to  duties  at  Fort  Erie  where  he  con- 
structed and  maintained  entrenchments  which 
were  instrumental  in  saving  the  little  army  of 
defense  from  total  annihilation.  The  siege  of 
Fort  Erie  extended  over  a  period  of  nearly  six 
weeks.     General   Gaines   writing   of    it   in   1815, 


remarks  that  "  among  the  brilliant  scenes  that 
enlighten  the  gloom  of  this  period  the  defense  of 
Douglass  battery  stands  equalled  by  few :  the 
constancy  and  courage  of  the  young  commander 
in  this  defense  against  a  vast  majority  of  num- 
bers cannot  cease  to  be  cherished  in  my  memory 
as  among  the  most  heroic  I  have  ever  witnessed." 
This  defense  was  followed  by  promotion.  At  the 
end  of  the  war  he  became  engaged  in  works  in 
connection  with  the  harbors  of  New  Haven,  New 
London,  Stonington  and  Newport ;  and  he  was 
then  appointed  Assistant  Professor  of  Natural 
Philosophy  at  the  Military  Academy  at  West 
Point.  The  next  fifteen  years  of  his  life  were 
occupied  with  official  duties  and  the  practice  of 
civil  engineering.  During  this  period  he  was 
interested  in  many  canal  constructions  and  other 
enterprises.  Among  the  most  important  of  these 
was  one  which  finally  caused  his  resignation  from 
the  army.  The  Directors  of  the  Morris  Canal 
wished  him  to  assume  charge  of  a  large  portion 
of  their  undertaking  as  chief  engineer ;  he  several 
times  applied  for  a  furlough,  but  as  the  Secretary 
of  the  Navy  was  unwilling  to  grant  it  he  wrote : 
"  As  this  work  is  one  of  great  importance  to  the 
civil  engineer,  I  think  it  best  to  give  it  my 
whole  time  and  attention.  For  this  reason  and 
not  because  the  office  is  one  of  higher  pay,  I  sub- 
mit to  you  my  resignation."  In  1832  he  entered 
the  University  of  the  City  of  New  York  as  its  first 
Professor  of  Natural  Philosophy.  His  outside 
duties  so  multiplied  as  to  interfere  with  this  work 
so  that  the  year  afterward  he  was  obliged  to  re- 
linquisii  it.  He  was  however  retained  on  the  roll 
of  the  University  as  Professor  of  Civil  Engineer- 
ing and  Architecture,  and  during  1836-1837  he 
delivered  a  course  of  eighty  lectures  upon  these 
subjects.  Professor  Douglass  designed  the  Uni- 
versity Building  on  Washington  Square  so  lately 
familiar  to  us.  This  building  was  at  the  time  of 
its  erection  one  of  the  wonders  of  the  city.  In 
1833  he  was  called  upon  to  survey  the  route  for 
the  Brooklyn  tv-  Jamaica  Railway,  Long  Island. 
In  the  same  year  (February  26,  1833)  an  Act  was 
passed,  the  most  important  features  of  which  had 
been  prepared  by  Hon.  Myndert  Van  Schaick, 
one  of  the  founders  of  New  York  University,  for 
supplying  New  York  City  with  water.  Professor 
Douglass  and  Canvass  White  were  immediately 
appointed  engineers.  Mr.  White  soon  resigned 
and    the     whole    responsibility     devolved     upon 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


27 


Douglass.  While  the  selection  of  the  Croton  as 
source  of  supply  was  cleterniinecl  upon  by  Myn- 
dert  Van  Schaick  before  Mr.  Douglass  was  called 
in,  the  latter  was  the  lirst  e.xpert  who  made  a 
scientific  computation  of  the  volume  of  water 
passing  in  the  bed  of  the  Croton  at  a  given  point. 
While  Douglass  was  relieved  in  October  1836  — 
largely  it  seems  because  Myndert  Van  Schaick's 
Commissioners  demanded  greater  speed  in  the 
operations,  the  general  plans  of  Douglass  were  not 
changed  by  his  successor,  John  B.  Jervis.  Pro- 
fessor Douglass  later  laid  out  Greenwood  Ceme- 
tery, whose  beautiful  surface  is  largely  due  to  his 
artistic  skill.  Over  $5,000,000  have  been  here 
expended  since  1839.  In  January  1841  he  with- 
drew to  the  Presidency  of  Kenyon  College,  Ohio, 
where  he  remained  until  1844  when  he  again  re- 
turned to  important  professional  work.  In  1848 
he  was  called  to  the  Chair  of  Mathematics  at 
Geneva,  now  Hobart  College.  He  accepted  this 
appointment  although  many  other  propositions 
involving  offers  of  greater  remuneration  were 
made  to  him.  President  Hale  of  Hobart  states 
of  Professor  Douglass  at  this  time  that  "he  was 
a  man  who  looked  reverently  upon  books,  reading 
not  for  amusement  but  for  nourishment  of  mind 
and  heart.  He  loved  books,  but  was  less  a  reader 
than  a  thinker.  He  possessed  great  power  of 
analysis.  He  knew  what  he  knew  thoroughly 
and  systematically,  his  views  were  therefore  al- 
ways definite  and  hence  the  depth  and  clearness 
of  his  instruction.  In  conversation  he  was  still  a 
teacher  and  without  any  of  the  forms  of  argu- 
ment his  discourse  was  clear  and  full  of  informa- 
tion." He  died  in  Geneva,  New  York,  October 
21,  1849,  '**^  th^  ^S^  o^  fifty-nine,  and  is  now 
buried  at  Greenwood.  c.  h.  s. 


HACKLEY,    Charles  William,  1809-1861. 

Professor  Mathematics,  1834-1838. 
Born  in  Herkimer  Co.,  N.  Y.,  1809  ;  graduated  West 
Point,  1829;  Asst.  Prof.  West  Point;  studied  theology, 
and  ordained  clergyman,  1835;  Prof.  Math.  N.  Y. 
Univ.,  1834-38;  Pres.  Jefferson  College,  Miss.;  Rector 
St.  Peter's  Church,  Auburn,  N.  Y. ;  Prof.  Math,  and 
Astronomy  Columbia,  1843-61  ;  died  1861. 

CHARLES  WILLIAM  HACKLEY  was  born 
in  Herkimer  county.  New  York,  March  g, 
1809.  I^^  ^^'1''  graduated  from  the  United  States 
Militar)'  Academy.  West  Point,  in  1829,  and  re- 
mained  there  as  Assistant  Professor  until    1832. 


He  then  studied  law,  and  later  theology,  and  in 
1835  was  ordained  as  a  clergyman  of  the  Protes- 
tant Episcopal  Church.  Soon  afterwards  he  be- 
came Professor  of  Mathematics  in  New  York 
University,  remaining  in  that  position  from  1834 
to  1838,  and  subsequently  President  of  JefTerson 
College,  Mississippi.  He  was  also  for  a  time 
Rector  of  St.  Peter's  Church  at  Auburn,  New 
York.  He  was  appointed  Profes.sor  of  Mathe- 
matics and  Astronomy  at  Columbia  in  1843,  ^"^^ 
in  1857  assumed  the  Chair  of  Astronomy  alone, 
which  he  held  until  his  death.  Professor  Hack- 
ley  was  particularly  active  in  his  efforts  to  e.stab- 
lish  an  astronomical  observatory  in  New  York 
City.  He  was  a  profuse  contributor  to  secular 
and  scientific  journals  and  periodicals,  and  pub- 
lished a  Treatise  on  Algebra,  an  Elementary 
Course  in  Geometry,  and  Elements  of  Trigonom- 
etry. He  died  in  New  York  City,  January  10, 
1861.  * 


NORTON,  William  Augustus,  1810-1883. 

Professor  Natural  Philosophy  and  Astronomy,  1833-1838. 
Born  in  Bloomfield,  N.  Y.,  1810;  graduated  U.  S. 
Mil.  Acad.,  183 1  ;  Asst.  Prof,  there  two  years;  served 
in  the  Black  Hawk  expedition  as  2d  Lieut.  ;  Prof. 
Natural  Phil,  and  Astronomy  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1833-38; 
held  same  chair  at  Delaware  College  till  1849;  Pres. 
Delaware  College  1849  50;  Prof.  Nat.  Phil,  and  Civil 
Engineering  at  Brown,  1850-52  ;  Prof.  Civil  Engineer- 
ing at  Yale,  1850-83  ;   died  1883. 

WILLIAM  AUGUSTUS  NORTON  was 
born  in  Bloomfield,  New  York,  Octo- 
ber 25,  18 10.  Appointed  a  cadet  at  the  United 
States  Military  Academy,  West  Point,  he  was 
graduated  in  1831,  and  was  detailed  as  Assistant 
Professor  of  Natural  and  Experimental  Philosophy 
for  two  years,  during  which  time  he  served  in  the 
Black  Hawk  expedition  as  Second  Lieutenant  in 
the  Fourth  Artillerj-.  Resigning  from  the  army  in 
1833  to  accept  the  Chair  of  Natural  Philosophy 
and  Astronomy  at  New  York  University,  he  re- 
mained there  luitil  1838.  accepting  in  1839  a 
similar  Professorship  at  Delaware  College,  which 
he  retained  for  ten  years  and  was  elected  Presi- 
dent of  that  institution  in  1849.  Joining  the 
Faculty  of  Brown  University  as  Professor  of 
Natural  Philosophy  and  Civil  Engineering,  he 
served  in  that  capacity  until  called  to  the  Chair 
of  Civil  Engineering  in  the  then  recently  organ- 
ized Scientific  Department  of  Yale,  and  he  con- 
tinued   in    active    service    there    until    his    death, 


28 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


which  occurred  September  21,  1883.  Professor 
Norton  was  made  a  Master  of  Arts  by  the  Uni- 
versity of  Vermont  in  1842.  He  was  a  member 
of  several  learned  bodies,  including  the  National 
Academy  of  Sciences.  He  contributed  numerous 
papers  on  molecular  and  astronomical  physics  and 
terrestrial  magnetism  to  the  American  Journal  of 
Science,  and  to  scientific  societies  to  be  read  at 
the  meetings ;  and  he  was  also  the  author  of  the 
First  Book  of  Natural  Philosophy,  and  An  Ele- 
mentary Treatise  on  Astronomy.  * 


BECK,  Lewis  Caleb,  1798-1853. 

Professor  Chemistry ,  1834-1838. 
Born  in  Schenectady,  N.Y.,  1798;  graduated  Union, 
1817  ;  studied  medicine  and  entered  practice  in  Sche- 
nectady, N.  Y.,  1818  ;  Prof.  Botany  Rensselaer  Poly- 
technic Institute,  1824-29  ;  Prof.  Botany  and  Chem. 
Vt.  Acad,  of  Medicine,  1826-32  ;  Prof.  Chem.  and  Nat. 
Hist.  Rutgers,  1830-37,  and  1838-53;  Prof.  Chem.  N.  Y. 
Univ.,  1834-38;  Prof.  Chem.  and  Pharmacy  Albany 
Med.  College,  1841-53;  Mineralogist  to  N.  Y.  Geol. 
Surv.,  1837;    author  scientific    writings;  died    1853. 

LEWIS  CALEB  BPXK,  M.I).,  was  born  in 
Schenectady,  New  York,  October  4,  1798, 
and  graduated  at  Union  in  1817.  He  later 
studied  Medicine  and  followed  the  physician's 
profession,  commencing  to  practice  in  his  native 
place  in  18 18,  and  later  living  in  St.  Louis,  Mis- 
souri, and  in  Albany,  New  York.  In  1824  Dr. 
Beck  became  Professor  of  Botany  in  the  Rensse- 
laer Polytechnic  Institute,  where  he  remained  five 
years,  in  the  meantime  receiving  and  accepting 
the  additional  appointment  as  Professor  of  Botany 
and  Chemistry  in  the  Vermont  Academy  of  Medi- 
cine, retaining  the  latter  position  from  1826  to 
1832.  He  was  also  Professor  of  Chemistry  and 
Natural    History  at  Rutgers  College  from   1830  to 

1837,  and  again  from  1838  to  1853,  Professor  of 
Chemistry  in   New  York  University  from   1834  to 

1838,  and  Professor  of  Chemistry  and  Pharmacy 
in  the  Albany  Medical  College  from  1841  until 
his  death  in  1853.  He  conducted  a  cour.se  of 
lectures  at  Middlebury  in  1827.  Dr.  Beck  was 
appointed  Mineralogist  to  the  Geological  Survey 
of  New  York  in  1837,  and  while  serving  the  state 
in  that  office  gained  material  and  inspiration  for 
the  greatest  of  his  notable  scientific  writings  — 
The  Mineralogy  of  the  State  of  New  York,  1842. 
This  work,  which  constitutes  Part  III.  of  the 
Natural   History  of  New  York,  presents  detailed 


descriptions  of  the  minerals  of  the  state  with 
comments  as  to  their  economic  value.  He  also 
contributed  to  scientific  literature  :  A  Manual  of 
Chemistry,  1831;  A  Gazetteer  of  Illinois  and 
Missouri,  1823  ;  An  Account  of  the  Salt  Springs 
at  Salina,  1826;  On  Adulterations,  1846;  and 
Botany  of  the  United  States  north  of  Virginia, 
N.Y.,  Harper  &  Brothers,  1848.  Dr.  Beck  died 
in  Albany,  New  York,  April  20,  1853.  * 


BUTLER,  Benjamin   Franklin,  1795-1858. 

Founder  of  Law  School,  and  Law  Prof,  after  1837. 
Born  in  Kinderhook  Landing,  N.  Y.,  1795  ;  prac- 
ticing lawyer  in  N.  Y.  State  ;  U.  S.  Atty.  Gen.  under 
Jackson,  1833-38  ;  revised  N.  Y.  Statutes  ;  U.  S.  Dist. 
Atty.  So.  Dist.  N.  Y.,  1838-41  ;  planned  organiza- 
tion of  the  Law  School  of  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1835;  Law 
Prof,  after  1837;  died  1858. 

BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN  BUTLER,  Lawyer, 
was  born  in  Kinderhook  Landing,  New 
York,  December  17,  1795,  son  of  Medad  Butler, 
an  industrious  painstaking  man,  who  for  a  while 
held  a  seat  in  the  Assembly  at  Albany.  Favored 
by  the  support  of  his  older  townsman,  Martin  Van 
Buren,  whom  he  soon  followed  to  Albany,  he  rose 
rapidly  to  a  high  rank  in  the  councils  of  the 
Democratic  party  of  the  State  of  New  York  as  well 
as  of  the  nation.  The  bitterness  of  the  struggle 
about  the  United  States  Bank,  the  act  of  Jackson 
which  most  strongly  embittered  his  political  op- 
ponents, caused  Mr.  Butler  too  to  become  the 
object  of  political  animosity  which  found  vent  in 
publications  of  unmeasured  fury  and  reckless 
assaults,  from  all  of  which  he  emerged  with  per- 
sonal and  political  integrity  unstained  and  unas- 
sailable. It  was  in  Jackson's  second  term  that  he 
held  the  distinguished  post  of  Attorney-General 
of  the  United  States.  He  had  before  this  mani- 
fested his  fitness  for  higher  work  in  jurisprudence 
as  one  of  the  three  commissioners  named  by  the 
Legislature  of  New  York  to  revise  the  statutes  of 
New  York.  Of  this  work  Chancellor  Kent  said  : 
"  the  plan  and  order  of  the  work,  the  learning  of 
the  notes,  the  marginal  references  should  be 
ascribed  to  Mr.  Butler."  From  1838  to  1841 
he  was  United  States  District  Attorney  for  the 
Southern  District  of  New  York.  He  was  one  of 
the  men  who  lent  dignity  and  strength  to  the 
Democratic  party  in  the  State  of  New  York,  but 
his  strong  sense  of   justice  and  equity  could  not 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR   SONS 


29 


stomach  the  devices  of  the  successful  ultras  in  his 
own  i)arty  to  propagate  slavery  in  the  territories 
and  to  undo  measures  of  compromise  and  delimi- 
tation in  these  grave  issues.  Although  not  the 
recipient  of  a  Collegiate  education  in  his  youth 
Mr.  Butler  through  reading  and  literary  effort 
gained  culture  of  the  highest  order ;  his  plan  for  a 
Law  School  in  New  York  University,  while  far  in 
advance  of  the  actual  demands  of  the  law  educa- 
tion in  the  thirties  and  forties,  reveals  a  man  at 
once  of  great  penetration  and  great  breadth.  Mr. 
Butler  belongs  to  those  distinguished  Americans 
who,  like  the  Romans  before  the  first  and  second 
Scipios,  attained  the  highest  personal  eminence 
and  lofty  standards  of  judgment  and  faculty  of 
expression  in  the  service  of  the  state,  and  ver}- 
largely  ihrough  that  service.  Mr.  Butler  died  in 
Paris,  France,  November  8,  1858.  He  was  a 
brother  of  Charles  Butler,  who  was  one  of  the 
chief  patrons  and  perhaps  of  all  men  of  his  genera- 
tion the  most  consistent  and  faithful  supporter  of 
New  York  University.  B.  F.  Butler's  son  is  Wil- 
liam  Allen    Butler,  the  distinguished  author  and 

jurist.  E.  G.  s. 

[See  portrait  page  iS5,  Part  I.] 


KELLY,  Robert,  1808-1856. 

Member  Council,  1835-38  and  1839-50 
Born  in  New  York  City,  1808;  graduated  Columbia, 
1826;  had  successful  business  career  in  New  York 
City;  Chamberlain  New  York  City,  1856;  member 
Council  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1805-08  and  1809-50;  founder  and 
Pres.  Trustees  Univ.  of  Rochester;  Pres.  Bd.  of  Edu., 
New  York  City;  died  1856. 

ROBERT  KELLY  was  born  in  New  York 
City,  December  15,  1808,  and  died  April 
29,  1856.  His  father  emigrated  from  Ireland 
seeking  American  freedom  about  the  time  when 
Robert  Emmet  was  tried,  condemned  and  executed. 
The  elder  Kelly,  Robert,  Sr.,  engaged  in  mercantile 
pursuits  and  accumulated  a  considerable  fortune. 
Robert  Kelly,  Jr.,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  entered 
Columbia  in  1822.  Here  he  devoted  himself  to 
classics  with  vigor,  consulting  many  commentaries 
in  his  study  of  allotted  texts.  His  love  of  learn- 
ing, however,  which  he  carried  into  mature  life  was 
a  satisfaction  of  an  inner  impulse  rather  than  an 
outward  decoration,  l^^pon  graduation  he  entered 
the  counting-room  of  his  brothers,  and  in  ten  years 
was  able  to  retire  from  it  and  assume  that  form  of 
life  which  corresponded  to  his  deeper  and  nobler 


impulses,  viz.,  to  take  an  active  interest  in  every 
form  of  public  amelioration,  and  his  fortune  was 
esteemed  by  him  mainly  as  the  support  which  gave 
him  the  freedom  to  do  so.  Even  during  his 
business  career  he  kept  his  classics  afresh,  and, 
besides,  made  himself  master  of  French,  Spanish, 
Italian  and  German.  Nor  was  he  a  mere  book- 
worm but  took  a  most  honorable  and  active  part 
in  public  affairs,  serving  at  ward  meetings  and  on 
General  Committees,  being  identified  with  the 
Democratic  party,  holding  at  the  time  of  his  death 
the  post  of  Chamberlain  of  the  City  of  New  York. 
In  the  work  of  the  new  New  York  University  his 
regular  attendance  in  Council  and  his  faithful  and 
substantial  work  in  Committee  mark  him  one  of 
the  most  active  and  useful  members,  particularly 
in  the  eleven  years  between  1839  and  1850,  from 
his  thirty-first  to  his  forty-second  year,  when  there 
were  associated  with  him  men  like  the  Rev.  Drs. 
Skinner,  Phillips,  and  Gardiner  Spring,  and  Messrs. 
Shepherd  Knapp,  George  Griswold,  John  Cleve 
Green,  Myndert  Van  Schaick  and  others,  particu- 
larly Charles  Butler  with  whom  he  was  as.sociated 
on  the  Committees  which  discussed  and  helped  to 
organize  the  Medical  School  in  1841.  He  took 
also  much  interest  in  the  establishment  of  the 
University  of  Rochester  and  of  the  Free  Academy 
of  New  York  City,  and  was  for  some  time  Presi- 
dent of  the  Board  of  Education.  One  of  the 
central  figures  in  the  Columbia  College  Alumni 
Association,  he  still  was  of  mind  so  broad  as  to 
welcome  growth  or  birtii  at  many  other  points  in 
the  field  of  education  and  of  intellectual  betterment. 
His  home  at  9  West  Sixteenth  Street,  now  the 
home  of  his  daughter  and  son-in-law,  Colonel  and 
Mrs.  W.  P.  Prentice,  was  gradually  adorned  with 
a  library  which  at  the  time  of  his  death  was 
reputed  to  be  one  of  the  ver)'  best  private  libraries 
in  New  York  City.  Particularly  in  classics  it 
remains  to-day  a  notable  collection.  The  second 
host  of  this  house.  Colonel  Prentice,  was  for  many 
years  a  member  of  the  Greek  Club  which  most 
fitly  often  met  for  its  readings  in  the  library 
gathered  by  Mr.  Kelly.  One  of  the  grand.sons  of 
Mr.  Kelly,  William  Prentice,  now  a  junior  mem- 
ber of  the  Faculty  of  Princeton,  took  a  Doctor 
of  Philosophy  degree  in  Greek  studies  at  the 
LTniversity  of  Halle,  Germany.  Robert  Kelly 
and  his  brothers  had  the  rare  fortune  of  weather- 
ing the  financial  gale  of  1837,  and  it  is  said 
by   eminent    authorities    that    they   even    steadied 


3° 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR    SONS 


by  their  counsels  and  their  money  several  young 
firms  which  they  had  encouraged  to  go  into  busi- 
ness and  would  not  permit  to  fail.  In  March 
1843,  Robert  Kelly  was  married  to  Arietta  A., 
daughter  of  George  Hutton,  Esq.,  of  Grasmere  on 
Hudson,  not  far  from  Ellerslie,  the  well  known 
present  seat  of  Hon.  Levi  P.  Morton.  At  the 
time  of  his  death  (besides  being  Chamberlain 
of  the  City  of  New  York)  Mr.  Kelly  was  Trus- 
tee of  the  Clinton  Hall  Association  and  of  the 
Mercantile  Library  Association,  being  Chairman 
of  its  Board,  Vice-President  of  the  Bank  of  Sav- 
ings for  Merchants'  Clerks,  President  of  the  Board 
of  Managers  of  the  House  of  Refuge,  President  of 
the  Board  of  Education,  and  a  member  of  the 
Board  of  Regents  of  the  University  of  the  State  of 
New  York.  e.  g.  s. 


BUTLER,    Charles,  1802-1897. 

Councilor  (1836-97),  President  of  Council  1844-51  and  18S6-97, 
Benefactor. 
Born  in  Kinderhook,  N.  Y.,  1802;  attended  Green- 
ville Acad. ;  studied  Law  with  Martin  Van  Buren ; 
prominent  in  political  campaigns  ;  one  of  the  Found- 
ers of  the  University  and  of  Union  Theol.  Sem.  ; 
Pres.  of  the  University  Council ;  made  important 
gifts  to  the  University  ;  died  1897. 

CHARLES  BUTLER,  LL.D.,  was  born  in 
Kinderhook-on- the- Hudson,  February  15, 
1802,  a  few  years  after  the  death  of  Washington. 
He  was  the  fifth  son  of  Medad  and  Hannah 
(Tyler)  Butler,  in  a  family  of  twelve  children. 
Among  his  ancestors  he  counted  the  Rev.  Daniel 
Buckingham,  one  of  the  founders  of  Yale.  The 
first  American  abode  in  the  annals  of  the  Butler 
family  was  Saybrook,  Connecticut.  His  education 
was  had  in  the  district  school  of  Kinderhook 
Landing  and  in  the  Greenville  Academy.  After 
this  he  studied  law  with  Judge  Vanderpool  in 
Kinderhook,  and  with  Martin  Van  Buren  in  Al- 
bany, to  which  place  his  brother,  Benjamin 
Franklin  Butler,  had  already  preceded  him  and 
had  become  there  the  junior  partner  of  Van 
Buren.  At  that  time  the  western  part  of  the 
State  of  New  York  was  to  a  great  extent  fresh 
territory  and  offering  large  possibilities  to  dili- 
gence and  enterprise.  At  Geneva,  New  York, 
Mr.  Butler  settled  as  lawyer,  and  sodn  after 
married  Eliza  A.  Ogden  of  Walton,  Delaware 
county.  New  York.  He  soon  entered  upon  the 
pursuit  of  furnishing,  as  agent  and  attorney  of 
the    New    York  Life   Insurance   and    Trust   Com- 


pany, loans  to  the  farmers  of  that  part  of  the 
state.  It  was  then  that  many  leaseholds,  held 
from  the  so  called  Holland  patent  and  other  land 
grant  interests,  were  converted  into  estates  in  fee 
simple.  And  in  occupations  of  this  t}-pe  which 
ever  expanded  Mr.  Butler  came  to  invest  great 
funds  in  the  development  of  Michigan,  of  Indiana, 
of  Illinois.  In  the  summer  of  1833  he  visited 
Fort  Dearborn  (Chicago) ;  his  interesting  letters 
are  among  the  very  incunabula  in  the  literary  docu- 
ments of  that  great  city.  "  At  this  time,"  he  says, 
"  there  were  perhaps  from  two  to  three  hundred 
people  in  Chicago,  mostly  strangers  to  each  other. 
The  tavern  was  filled  with  emigrants  and  travel- 
lers, many  of  whom  could  only  find  a  sleeping 
place  on  the  floor  which  was  crowded  with  weary 
men  at  night."  In  1834  Mr.  Butler  removed  to 
New  York  City,  and  here  he  soon  identified  him- 
self with  three  very  important  movements,  viz., 
the  founding  of  the  Mercer  Street  Presbyterian 
Church,  the  University  of  the  City  of  New  York 
and  the  Union  Theological  Seminary.  Soon  in 
his  professional  career  vast  interests  came  to  be 
entrusted  to  him.  His  efforts  to  baffle  the  dema- 
gogues in  Michigan  and  Indiana,  who  under  guise 
of  unimpeachable  and  politically  irresponsible 
state  sovereignty  were  openly  or  secretly  clamor- 
ing for  repudiation  —  these  patriotic  efforts  of 
Charles  Butler,  in  Michigan  in  1843,  and  in 
Indiana  in  the  winter  of  1845-1846,  are  remark- 
able. They  reveal  a  character  resourceful,  large, 
well  balanced,  rigidly  honorable  and  unyielding 
in  matters  of  conscience  and  right,  wise  and 
endowed  with  a  freedom  of  soul  which  kept 
itself  free  from  rancor  and  vindictiveness,  no 
matter  in  what  contact  or  however  assailed.  In 
Indiana  particularly  the  task  was  one  of  appalling 
magnitude.  He  says  in  a  letter  to  his  wife  dated 
Indianapolis,  December  7,  1845:  "This  morning 
I  heard  a  sound,  practical  discourse  in  Mr. 
Gurley's  church,  and  this  evening  another  like 
it  from  Mr.  Beecher.  What  a  different  world  this 
would  be  if  all  its  inhabitants  were  influenced  by 
the  simple  principles  of  the  gospel !  \^'hat  a 
beautiful  world  it  would  be  and  how  sweet  would 
be  our  existence  in  it!  The  Sabbath  has  come 
to  me  as  a  thing  to  be  coveted.  My  spiritual 
nature  was  famishing  and  wearied  and  needed 
food  and  rest.  I  find  that  I  am  engaged  in  a 
great  undertaking,  involved  in  the  most  compli- 
cated and  perhaps  insuperable  difficulties.      I   am 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


31 


fully  persuaded  that  it  is  only  by  addressinji;  my- 
self to  the  conscience  of  the  people,  stirring  that 
up,  and  bringing  that  to  bear,  that  I  stand  the 
sliglitest  chance  of  success;  and  this  cannot  be 
done  in  a  day.  A  revolution,  a  reformation,  is 
required  to  be  wrought.  Tiu'  whole  jxipulation 
has  got  to  be,  in  a  sense,  made  over  again,  be- 
fore justice  can  or  will  be  done  to  the  holders  of 
the  pledged  faith  of  the  State.  W'iio  is  sufficient 
for  these  things  ?  I  am  sure  I  am  not.  The 
difficulty  in  the  way  is  radical ;  it  lies  at  the 
very  heart  of  the  people.  Such  is  the  sentiment 
produced  by  the  efYorts  of  heartless,  unprincipled 
politicians,  that  it  has  become  a  question  whether 
it  would  be  honest  and  right  to  pay  the  debt  1  " 
This  great  struggle  in  the  case  of  Michigan  was 
crowned  with  success.  The  growth  and  pros- 
perity of  our  great  commonwealths  owe  not  a  little 
to  men  like  Charles  Butler,  who  have  stoutly  urged 
them  to  maintain  their  credit  and  keep  unsullied 
their  financial  honor.  This  intimate  personal 
relation  of  Mr.  Butler  with  the  growing  and 
advancing  portions  of  the  newer  states  of  our 
common  country  had  a  powerful  influence  upon 
his  disposition  and  bent  of  character.  As  he  saw 
over  and  over  again  how  the  weakness  of  to-day 
became  the  strength  and  hopefulness  of  to-morrow 
he  treated  questions  of  design  and  construction 
with  a  broadness  of  view  and  an  eye  to  the  future, 
revealed  in  his  services  in  connection  with  New 
York  University.  To  her  he  gave  a  service  of 
sixty-one  years,  during  which  he  never,  like  many 
others,  abandoned  the  institution  or  even  tempo- 
rarily lost  heart.  The  splendid  benefactions 
which  he  bestowed  upon  New  York  University  are 
recorded  elsewhere.  We  owe  to  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Marvin  R.  Vincent  a  delineation  of  his  charac- 
teristic traits,  a  delineation  which  was  a  part  of 
his  funeral  address.  "  It  has  been  truthfully  said 
of  Mr.  Butler  that  a  prophetic  instinct  dominated 
all  his  acts,  and  that  each  act  was  so  conceived 
and  so  fulfilled  as  to  insure  increasing  usefulness 
with  the  increasing  lapse  of  years.  This  was 
manifest  in  that  work  by  which  he  is  best  known 
—  the  promotion  of  liberal  learning.  He  was 
one  of  the  earliest  patrons  of  the  New  York  Uni- 
versity, and  became  a  member  of  its  Council  six 
years  after  its  organization.  He  completed  the 
fiftieth  year  of  his  service  in  the  Council  in  De- 
cember 1886.  and  was  its  President  to  the  day  of 
its  death.      During  all  these  years,  by  the  example 


of  ills  character,  by  his  wisdom  and  energy,  and 
by  iiis  generous  gift  he  helped  to  prepare  the  way 
for  that  new  and  larger  career  upon  which  the 
institution  has  entered,  the  beginnings  of  which 
he  lived  to  witness  and  rejoice  in."  His  only 
son,  Abraham  Ogden  Butler,  founder  of  the 
Hutlcr  Eucleian  Essay  Prizes,  a  graduate  of 
the  Class  of  1853,  died  at  Mr.  Butler's  coun- 
try seat,  I''ox  Meadow,  Scarsdale,  Westchester 
county.  New  York  in  June  1856.  He  was  car- 
ried forth  to  rest  out  of  the  old  city  home  on 
Fourteenth  Street.  Among  the  mourning  friends 
were  William  C.  Bryant,  Samuel  J.  Tilden  and  a 
score  more  of  the  most  eminent  citizens  of  New 
York.  Among  the  absent  friends  who  despatched 
to  the  grieving  father  a  message  of  sympathy  in 
writing  was  Thomas  Carlyle.  For  many  years 
his  only  surviving  child.  Miss  Emily  Butler,  cared 
for  her  venerable  father  with  incessant  and  inde- 
fatigable care.  Mr.  Butler's  features  betrayed 
strength  and  firmness  coupled  with  prudence  and 
wisdom.  A  marble  bust  designed  by  his  grate- 
ful friend,  Mrs.  Anne  Lynch  Botta,  commemo- 
rates in  the  Council  Room  this  noble  benefactor. 
Mr.  Butler  passed  away  peacefully  on  the  morn- 
ing of  December  3,  1897,  having  almost  com- 
pleted his  ninety-sixth  year,  having  lived  under 
all  the  Presidents  of  the  United  States  save  the 
first  two:  for  John  Adams  gave  way  to  JefYerson 
only  eleven  months  before  the  birth  of  Charles 
Butler,  who  lived  to  see  the  election  and  inaugu- 
ration of  McKinley.  The  physical  laboratory  on 
the  brow  of  the  beautiful  slope  at  University- 
Heights  overlooking  Inwood  and  providing  the 
delighted  eye  a  skyline  of  ihe  Palisades,  is  called 
the  Charles  Butler  Hall.^  E.  G.  S. 

[See  portrait  page  10^,  Part  I.] 


FERRIS,  Isaac,   1798-1873. 

Councilor  1837  and  1853-73,  Chancellor  1853-70,  Chancellor  Emeritus 
1870-73- 
Born  in  New  York  City,  1798;  graduated  Columbia, 
1816  ;  graduated  New  Brunswick  Divinity  School,  N.  J., 
1820;  Pastor  Reformed  Dutch  Church,  New  Bruns- 
wick, 1821-24;  Second  Reformed  Church,  Albany,  N. 
Y.,  1824-36;  D.D.  Union  College,  1833;  LL.D.  Colum- 

1  The  Union  Theological  .Seitiinarj-  in  the  City  of  New 
York:  Its  Design  and  Another  Decade  of  its  History, 
with  a  sketch  of  the  Life  and  Public  Services  of  Charles 
Butler  I.I-.D.  by  G.  L.  Prentiss.  Asbury  Park,  N.  J. 
M.  \V.  &  C.  Penny-packer,  1S99. 


32 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


bia,  1853;  Pastor  Market  St.  Church,  New  York  City, 
1836-53;  Councilor  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1837  and  1852-73; 
third  Chancellor,  1853-70;  Chancellor  Emeritus,  1870- 
73  ;  Sec.  Finance  Com.  of  the  Council ;  Prof.  Moral 
Phil,  and  Evidences  of  Revealed  Religion,  1850-70; 
died  1873. 

ISAAC  FERRIS,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  was  born  in 
New  York  City,  October  9,  1798.  Retraced 
his  ancestry  to  Guolschenie  de  Feriers,  who  came 
into  England  with  William  the  Conqueror  in  1066, 
and  who  received  lands  in  Staffordshire,  Derby- 
shire and  Leicestershire.  Seven  Earls  of  Derby 
were  descended  from  Henry  de  Feriers,  Lord  of 
Tutbury.  Lateral  branches  were  scattered  over 
England  and  Scotland,  the  name  appearing  as 
Ferrerr,  Ferrers,  Ferreis  and  Ferris.  John  Ferris 
emigrated  from  Leicestershire  to  Fairfield,  Connec- 
ticut, and  thence  in  1654  removed  to  New  York 
state,  becoming  one  of  the  proprietors  of  Throck- 
morton's (Throgg's)  Neck  in  Westchester  county 
on  the  Sound.  The  great-grandson  of  the  immi- 
grant was  John  Ferris  of  New  York,  the  father  of 
Isaac  Ferris.  John  Ferris  was  born  in  1771.  The 
third  of  his  ten  children  was  Isaac  Ferris.  John 
Ferris  had  accumulated  a  goodly  sum  of  money  in 
the  form  of  C'ontinental  currency,  which  in  the 
economic  development  of  our  early  history,  having 
no  intrinsic  value  behind  it,  became  a  total  loss, 
which  fact  threw  young  Isaac  Ferris  largely  upon 
his  own  resources.  His  liberal  education  began 
by  an  act  of  barter  ;  he  exchanged  a  pair  of  skates 
for  a  Latin  grammar.  His  father,  John  Ferris, 
was  Captain  and  Quarter-Master  in  War  of  18 12, 
and  although  Isaac  often  aided  his  father  in  tills 
work,  the  lad  had  the  good  fortune  of  enlisting  the 
help  of  the  noted  blind  classical  teacher  Neilson, 
by  whom  he  was  prepared  for  College.  Isaac 
Ferris  graduated  from  Columbia  in  1816.  before 
completing  his  eighteenth  year.  Immediately 
afterward  he  became  teacher  of  Latin  in  wiiat  was 
afterward  the  Albany  Academy.  He  decided,  how- 
ever, for  a  permanent  vocation  to  follow  theology 
and  began  that  study  under  Dr.  John  M.  Mason  in 
the  Associate  Theological  Seminary.  Dr.  Mason's 
failing  health  caused  the  closing  of  this  seminary 
and  so  Isaac  Ferris  turned  to  the  Divinity  School 
of  New  Brunswick  whence  he  graduated  in  1820. 
Having  worked  in  home  missions  in  the  Mohawk 
Valley  from  Mannheim  to  Herkimer  for  part  of  a 
year  he  was  in  182 1  installed  as  Pastor  of  the 
Reformed  Dutch  Church  at  New  Brunswick.  In 
1822   he  was  elected  a  Trustee  of  Queen's  (now 


Rutgers)  College.  In  October  1824  he  accepted 
a  call  to  the  Second  Reformed  Dutch  Church  at 
Albany,  where  he  remained  for  twelve  years,  to 
1836.  His  fidelity  was  particularly  tested  by  the 
cholera  epidemic  of  1832,  when  during  the  whole 
summer  he  continued  to  search  out  and  care  for 
the  sick  and  dying  of  all  creeds  and  denominations. 
So  strong  was  the  impression  which  he  left  at 
Albany  that,  although  in  1873,  when  he  died, 
thirt3'-seven  years  had  elapsed  after  he  had  dis- 
solved connection  with  his  Albany  church,  the 
consistory  adopted  a  suitable  minute  and  the 
church  edifice  was  draped  in  mourning.  From 
LTnion  College  in  1833  he  received  the  degree  of 
Doctor  of  Divinity,  and  that  of  Doctor  of  Laws  from 
Columbia  in  1853.  He  left  Albany  in  1836  with 
the  purpose  of  assuming  the  position  of  Secretary 
of  the  American  Sunday  School  Union,  but  as 
matters  turned  out,  he  accepted  an  urgent  call 
from  the  Market  Street  Reformed  Church  of  New 
York,  a  field  demanding  much  labor  from  the 
Pastor.  It  was  pursuant  to  his  advice  that  the 
Reformed  Dutch  C'hurch  had  withdrawn  in 
November  1832  from  the  American  Board,  and 
the  Board  of  T'oreign  Missions  of  the  Reformed 
Dutch  Church  was  organized  under  his  direction 
and  through  his  exertions.  He  was  the  first  Cor- 
res])onding  Secretary  of  the  Board  under  the 
present  organization,  and  to  his  energy  were  due 
in  great  measure  the  extensive  labors  of  the  Board 
in  India,  China  and  Japan.  The  large  girls' 
school  in  Yokohama,  Japan,  was  named  Ferris 
Seminary  in  memory  of  Dr.  Ferris.  In  1840  Dr. 
Ferris  became  connected  with  the  American  Bible 
Society.  He  was  CMiairman  of  the  Conunittee  on 
Distribution  for  the  last  twenty-six  years  of  his 
life.  His  Jubilee  Memorial,  1866,  resulted  in  an 
extension  of  the  distributions  to  cover  all  the 
southern  .states.  In  May  1852  he  took  a  most 
active  part  in  the  organization  of  the  Young  Men's 
C:hristian  Association  of  New  York  City,  being 
one  of  the  seven  original  honorary  members  and 
becominff  later  a  life  member  of  the  As.sociation. 
In  the  corner  stone  of  the  building  of  the  Associa- 
tion on  Twenty-third  Street  was  placed  a  copy  of 
the  address  delivered  by  Dr.  Ferris  at  tnat  meet- 
ins:  of  organization.  Dr.  Ferris  furthermore 
planned  and  established  the  Rutgers  Female 
Seminary  in  New  York  City,  afterwards  the  Rutgers 
Female  College.  In  the  fall  of  1852  Dr.  F"erris 
made     those    arrangements     to    enter     into    the 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


33 


Chancellorship  of  the  struggling  New  York  Uni- 
versity, which  had  been  as  to  administration  in  an 
unsettled  status  since  i<S5o,  and  was  inaugurated 
in  1853.  The  prospect  was  dark;  only  a  man  of 
great  courage,  strong  self-reliance  and  marked 
ability  would  ha\e  dared  to  assume  the  responsi- 
bilities involved  at  that  time.  Of  his  service  in  the 
Chancellorship  the  history  of  New  York  Univer- 
sity gives  a  full  account.  During  his  seventeen 
and  a  half  years  of  active  labor  some  $2  15,000  was 
gathered  into  the  University  Treasury,  the  gifts  of 
Loring  Andrews,  John  'I".  Johnston  and  John  C. 
Green  marking  the  beginning  of  larger  gifts. 
Besides,  the  debt  was  removed.  Dr.  Ferris  did 
the  College  a  great  service  in  assuming  the  Secre- 
taryship of  the  Finance  Committee  of  the  Council, 
his  practical  mind  clearly  discerning  the  essential 
importance  of  such  service  at  tiiat  stage  of  the 
University's  career.  /.  Ferris,  Scriba,  is  the  signa- 
ture which  he  was  wont  to  append  to  the  transac- 
tions of  that  important  committee.  No  undertak- 
ing was  too  great  for  his  energy,  no  detail  too 
petty  to  receive  his  attention.  He  saved  in  one 
instance  $2000,  nearly  lost  through  the  dishonesty 
of  a  collecting  agent.  It  was  his  plan  to  obtain 
further  endowment  so  as  to  secure  all  the  pro- 
fessorships, and  then  to  make  the  Classical  and 
Scientific  departments  free.  Had  he  remained  in 
the  University  a  few  years  longer  the  plan  would 
have  been  matured.  After  his  retirement  from  the 
active  duties  of  the  Chancellorship,  Dr.  Ferris 
removed  to  Roselle,  New  Jersey,  where  he  had 
built  a  home;  and  here  his  life  ended  June  13, 
1873.  Perhaps  no  more  fitting  close  to  this 
sketch  can  be  found  than  these  words,  written  by 
a  graduate  of  the  University  at  the  time  of  the 
death  of  the  Chancellor:  "Wise  in  instruction; 
enthusiastic  in  encouragement ;  kindly  in  reproof ; 
warm  in  praise ;  just  in  punishment,  the  white- 
haired  Chancellor  was  truly  a  model  teacher ;  and, 
oh,  rarer  type  1  a  wise  man.  He  returns  now  a 
pleasant  picture  to  the  memory  as  he  stood  at 
prayer  in  the  College  chapel,  his  tall  form  bowed 
with  age,  his  snowy  locks,  his  face  beaming  with 
the  blessed  knowledge  of  that  fountain  of  divine 
goodness  whence  he  sought  a  daily  bounty  for 
those  committed  to  his  care.  Chiefly  shall  his 
memory  be  dear  to  those  who  drank  knowledge 
from  his  teaching  and  profited  by  his  faitliful 
counsels."  e.  g.  s. 

[See  portrait  page  114,  I'art  I.] 


VAN     RENSSELAER,     Cortlandt,    1808- 
i860. 

Professor  Sacred  Literature,  1837-1838. 

Born  in  Albany,  N.  Y.,  1808;  graduated  Yale,  1827; 
studied  at  Union  and  Princeton  Theological  Semina- 
ries; missionary  to  the  slaves  in  Virginia,  1833  35; 
Pastor  in  Burlington.  N.  J.,  and  Washington.  D.  C, 
1837;  Prof.  Sacred  Literature,  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1837-38; 
Secretary  of  the  Presbyterian  Board  of  Education, 
1846-60;  D.  D.  N.  Y.  University,  1845;  Trustee  of 
Princeton,  1846-60;  died  i860. 

CoR'ILANDT  VAN  RENSSELAER,  D.D., 
was  born  in  Albany,  New  York,  May  26, 
1S08,  and  graduated  at  Yale,  1827.  After  study- 
ing at  tile  Union  'I'iicological  Seminary,  Virginia, 
and  at  the  Trinceton  Seminary,  he  went  as  a  Mis- 
sionary to  the  slaves  in  Virginia  in  1833,  laboring 
in  lliat  licld  until  1835,  in  which  year  he  was 
ordained,  and  shortly  after  was  called  to  the  Pa.s- 
torate  of  a  Presbyterian  Church  in  Burlington, 
New  Jersey.  During  the  year  1837- 1838  Dr. 
Van  Rensselaer  was  Professor  of  Sacred  Litera- 
ture at  New  York  University.  His  next  charge 
was  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church  in  Washing- 
ton, District  of  Columbia,  which  he  assumed  in 
1841.  During  his  Pastorate  at  Washington  he 
was  made  Agent  of  the  Princeton  Theological 
Seminary  and  raised  $100,000  for  its  endowment. 
He  was  Secretary  of  the  Presbyterian  Board  of 
Education  for  a  number  of  years  before  his  death, 
and  was  the  founder  and  Editor  of  The  Presbyte- 
rian Magazine.  From  his  large  private  fortune  he 
gave  liberally  to  benevolent  and  religious  enter- 
prises. The  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity  was 
conferred  upon  him  by  New  York  University  in 
1845.  He  was  a  Trustee  of  Princeton  from  1845 
to  his  death,  which  occurred  in  Burlington,  New 
Jersey,  July  25,  i860.  * 


JOHNSON,  Ebenezer  Alfred,  1813-1891. 

Professor  Latin,  1838-1891. 
Born  in  New  Haven,  Conn.,  1813  ;  graduated  Yale, 
1853  ;  taught  school  in  Conn.,  1833-35  >  Tutor  in 
Yale,  1835-37  I  studied  law,  and  admitted  to  Bar,  1837  ; 
Prof.  Latin  Language  and  Literature,  N.  Y.  Univ., 
1838-91;  LL.D.,  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1867;  L.H.D,  1888;  died 
1891. 

EBENEZER  ALFRED  JOHNSON,  LL.D.. 
L.H.D.,  was  born  in  New  Haven,  Con- 
necticut, July  18.  18 13,  son  of  Ebenezer  and  Sarah 
Brjan  (Law)  Johnson,  and  died  at  Yonkers,  New 
York,  July  18,  1891.     He  was  bom  near  the  old 


34 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


"brick  row  "  of  the  famous  campus  of  Yale,  and  there 
he  graduated  with  credit  in  1833.  From  1835  to 
1837  he  served  as  tutor  at  Yale,  studying  law 
meanwhile,  and  was  admitted  to  the  Bar  in  1838. 
In  the  convulsions  of  183 7-1 838  at  Washington 
Square  the  classical  chairs  became  vacant.  John- 
son was  called  to  New  York  University  in  the  fall 
of  1838,  and  served  to  his  death  in  1891,  fifty- 
three  years  in  all.  Of  his  service  and  personality 
some  account  will  be  found  in  the  History  proper 
of  New  York  University,  with  which  indeed  he 
was  identified  in  a  most  extraordinary  measure. 
"  Professor  Johnson's  fondness,"'  said  his  biog- 
rapher, Professor  A.  S.  Isaacs,  in  1891,  "for  rural 
life  and  occupations,  as  well  as  a  constitutional 
inclination  to  avoid  publicity,  led  him  in  1857  to 
retire  from  his  city  home  to  what  was  then  \\'est- 
chester  county  where  he  resided  until  the  end. 
Here  in  the  intervals  of  College  life  he  carried 
out  the  theories  of  his  favorite  Horace  and  to 
some  extent  the  practice  of  the  elder  Cato.  He 
was  never  happier  than  when  working  in  his  gar- 
den or  exhibiting  to  a  visitor  the  flourishing  pro- 
ducts of  his  industry.  On  the  last  day  of  his  life 
he  had  been  busy  some  h.nirs  with  his  vegetables, 
and  was  found  by  his  daughter,  after  the  fatal 
stroke  of  apoplexy,  lying  by  the  garden  gate  with 
his  garden  tool  in  his  hand."  ...  "  He  taught 
more  than  the  study  of  language  —  he  taught  the 
language  of  study  —  earnestness,  thoroughness, 
high  ambition,  simple  duty.  He  was  strict,  but 
not  stern  ;  reserved  but  not  unapproachable ;  dig- 
nified, but  kind ;  exacting,  but  always  just."  \\'e 
are  greatly  favored  in  being  able  to  append  the 
following  lines  from  the  pen  of  Dr.  H.  M.  Baird. 
who  was  a  pupil  of  Professor  Johnson  from  1846 
to  1850,  and  was  his  colleague  from  1859  to  1891  : 
"  Professor  Ebenezer  Alfred  Johnson  was  one 
of  the  most  remarkable  men  in  the  history  of  the 
University,  for  over  half  a  century  a  Professor, 
for  all  this  time  the  senior  Professor,  and  generally 
the  most  influential  member  of  the  Faculty.  As 
a  scholar,  he  was  marked  b)-  the  singular  accu- 
racy that  characterized  his  work,  even  to  the  mi- 
nutiae of  the  subject.  He  seemed  to  grasp  it  in 
every  aspect.  This  was  the  impression  he  gave 
to  the  students  under  his  charge.  He  was  the 
enemy  of  slavish  translation,  and  demanded  of 
the  student  what  he  himself  exhibited  —  a  thor- 
ough appreciation  of  the  spirit  of  the  authors  with 
whom  he  dealt.     He  taught  English  while  teach- 


ing Latin.  Men  that  possessed  any  literary  taste 
and  discrimination  delighted  in  after  years  as  they 
recalled  the  terse  and  forcible  phrases  into  which 
he  turned  the  Latin,  whether  prose  or  poetry,  of 
the  author  in  hand.  In  his  treatment  of  the  stu- 
dents he  was  always  just,  though  leaning  to  what 
they  were  apt  to  regard  as  severity,  more  so  dur- 
ing his  earlier  years  than  in  the  later  years  when 
mellowed  by  age.  His  temperament  was  calm. 
He  was  never  perturbed.  He  saw  clearly  and 
with  precision.  He  formed  his  judgments  with 
judicial  impartiality.  He  was  as  fair  as  possible, 
and  having  deliberately  taken  a  position  he  never 
swerved  from  it.  He  was  never  discouraged  and 
was  a  tower  of  defence  in  adversity.  The  faint- 
hearted gained  fresh  hopes  from  his  wise  and  judi- 
cious suggestions.  He  was  withal  a  man  of  great 
considerateness,  ready  to  help  the  jounger  and 
weaker  by  his  sound  and  wise  counsel.  These 
qualities  exhibited  themselves  conspicuously  in  his 
intercourse  with  his  colleagues  his  juniors  in  years 
and  experience.  The  Council  of  New  York  Uni- 
\ersity  which  had  conferred  on  him  the  Doctor 
of  Laws  degree  in  1867,  honored  him  with  the 
degree  of  Doctor  of  Humanities  in  1888,  on  the 
occasion  of  his  completion  of  the  fiftieth  year  of 
his  professorate."  e.  g.  s. 

[See  portrait  page  93,  Part  .1] 


DRAPER,  John  William,   1811-1882. 

Prof.  Chemistry  and  Natural  History,  1838-1882. 
Born  near  Liverpool,  England,  181 1;  attended  Univ. 
of  London;  came  to  U.  S.,  1832;  graduated,  M.D., 
Univ.  of  Pa.,  1836;  Prof.  Chem.  and  Nat.  Phil.  Hamp- 
den-Sidney  College,  1836-38;  Prof  Chem.  and  Nat. 
Hist.  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1838-82;  made  many  scientific  dis- 
coveries ;  first  to  use  daguerreotype  process  in  mak- 
ing portraits ;  author  of  many  writings  on  philosophy 
and  science;  LL.D.  College  of  N.  Y.,  i860;  died  1882. 

JOHN  WILLIAM  DRAPER,  M.D.,  LL.D.,  was 
born  in  the  Parish  of  St.  Helen,  near  Liver- 
pool, England,  May  5,  181 1  ;  his  father,  the  Rev. 
John  C.  Draper,  being  a  clerg}inan  of  the  Wes- 
leyan  denomination,  who  was  greatly  interested  in 
chemistry  and  astronomy,  and  possessed  a  Grego- 
rian reflecting  telescope.  John  W.  Draper  at  the 
age  of  eleven  was  sent  to  a  public  school  at 
^^'oodhouse  Grove,  then  supported  by  the  \\'es- 
leyans.  Here  young  Draper  studied  with  marked 
success  and  distinguished  himself  so  that  he  was 
selected  in  1824  to  deliver  the  customary  address 


UNIVERSITIES  JND    THEIR    SONS 


35 


from  the  school  to  the  Wesleyan  Conference  which 
met  in  that  year  at  Leeds.  The  University  of 
London  having  been  opened  for  instruction  in  1829, 
Draper  was  sent  there  to  study  ciiemistry  under  Dr. 
Turner.  The  death  of  Draper's  father  cut  siiort 
these  studies  and  had  otherwise  a  most  incisive  influ- 
ence upon  his  life.  The  mother  determined  —  it  was 
in  1832  —  to  cross  the  Atlantic  and  join  her  kin- 
dred in  tlie  State  of  Virginia,  where  in  fact  there 
was  a  colony  of  Methodists.  So  they  settled  in 
Christiansville,  Mecklenburg  county,  young  Draper 
devoting  himself  entirely  to  research,  for  in  iiim 
the  impulse  towards  solving  the  problems  of  na- 
ture directly  and  to  pursue  the  \ista  of  problems 
opened  up  by  the  solution  of  tlie  initial  problem 
was  very  strong.  These  early  inquiries  were 
largely  concerned  with  the  nature  of  capillary 
action.  The  winters  of  1835  and  1836  he  spent 
in  Philadelphia,  attending  the  medical  lectures  in 
the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  and  gaining  the 
friendship  of  Dr.  Robert  Hare,  who  taught  phys- 
ics and  chemistry  in  that  institution,  as  well  as 
of  Dr.  J.  K.  Mitchell,  Professor  of  Chemistry  in 
the  Jefferson  Medical  College.  He  did  much 
work  of  scientific  observation  in  the  laboratories 
of  both,  graduating  as  Doctor  of  Medicine  in  March 
1836.  His  thesis  clearly  was  in  line  with  his  pre- 
vious work.  It  dealt  with  Glandular  Action,  and 
discussed  the  passage  of  gases  through  various 
barriers  not  having  visible  pores,  such  as  soap  bub- 
bles. Two  papers  co\ering  much  the  same 
ground  appeared  shortly  afterward :  The  first, 
Experiments  on  Endosmosis,  came  out  in  the 
Journal  of  the  Franklin  Listitute  for  March  and 
July,  1836  ;  the  second,  Experiments  on  Absorp- 
tion, was  printed  in  the  American  Journal  of  the 
Medical  Sciences  for  May,  1836.  Draper  was 
then  twenty-five-years  old.  The  attainments  and 
powers  thus  manifested  caused  his  appointment 
as  Professor  of  Chemistry  and  Natural  Philoso- 
phy in  Hampden-Sidney  College,  Prince  Edward 
County,  Virginia.  Here  he  remained  for  three 
years.  In  1839  he  was  called  to  New  Vork.  It 
was  indeed  the  proposed  organization  of  a  Medi- 
cal School  in  connection  with  the  University  of 
the  City  of  New  York  which  caused  the  authori- 
ties of  that  institution  to  invite  him  to  New  York. 
^^'ith  this  was  coupled  the  direct  and  definite  post 
of  teaching  Chemistry  in  the  Undergraduate 
College.  As  the  organization  of  the  Medical 
Faculty  was  delayed  it  was  only  in   1841   that  his 


association  with  the  chemical  instruction  in  that 
school  began.  In  both  College  and  Medical  Sciiool 
Draper  lectured  in  conjunction  with  his  own  ex- 
periments ;  the  students  themselves  were  not 
directly  placed  at  the  work  of  observing  for  them- 
selves. The  necessity  of  entertaining  not  less 
than  instructing,  particularly  in  the  case  of  the 
vast  classes  of  the  Medical  College,  really  induced 
Draper  at  an  early  stage  of  his  academic  career 
into  the  pursuit  of  literar)'  polish  and  excellence 
in  many  of  his  popularizations  of  scientific  doc- 
trines, and  laid  the  foundations  of  his  authorship 
in  lines  of  work  which  we   may  fairly  designate  as 


JOHN    W.    DRAPER 

digressions  from  his  scientific  pursuits.  \\'e  are 
told  that  there  was  personal  friendship  between 
the  elder  Bennett  and  Dr.  Draper,  and  that  entire 
pages  of  the  Herald  were  devoted  to  reports  of 
the  lectures  and  clinics ;  and  says  Mr.  Barker  in 
his  Memoir  on  Dr.  Draper,  "  a  strictly  medical 
journal  called  the  Lancet  kept  the  doings  of  the 
University  school  constantly  before  the  medical 
profession."  As  a  matter  of  fact  the  puzzling 
vacillation  of  the  New  York  Lancet  in  dealing 
with  the  "  Stuyvesant  Institute  School"  —  the 
name  of  New  York  University  never  being  men- 
tioned —  and  the  tone  of  sneering  malignity  in 
the  comparative  references  to  the  new  school    as 


36 


UNIVERSITIES   ANB    THEIR    SONS 


over  against  the  operations  of  the  older  school, 
"the  Crosby  St.  School,"  (Physicians  and  Sur- 
geons) as  well  as  the  incessant  hoiinding  of  Patti- 
son  and  Bedford  in  that  short-lived  medical  publi- 
cation—  all  this  leads  us  to  entertain  some  doubt 
as  to  the  auxiliary  importance  of  the  New  York 
Lancet.  Up  to  1850  Draper  was  Secretary'  of 
the  University  Medical  School.  In  that  year  he 
succeeded  Dr.  Valentine  Mott  as  President  of  the 
Medical  College.  In  the  fire  of  May  1866,  Dr. 
Draper  lost  his  extensive  library,  his  lecture  notes 
and  the  notebooks  which  contained  the  results  of 
his  experimental  investigations,  as  well  as  his 
entire  collection  of  chemical,  physical  and  physio- 
logical apparatus  ;  he  estimated  his  pecuniary  loss 
at  $15,000.  A  fire  at  Harper's  in  1853  destroyed 
almost  the  entire  edition  of  his  scientific  memoirs 
and  essays  up  to  1844.  In  1873  Dr.  Draper 
ceased  to  lecture  at  the  Medical  School,  but  con- 
tinued teaching  chemistry  in  the  College  at 
Washington  Square  until  1881,  a  year  preceding 
his  death.  It  cannot  be  seriously  undertaken  in 
this  brief  sketch  to  give  an  adequate  presentation 
of  the  vast  array  of  original  contributions  to 
science  by  Dr.  J.  \V.  Draper;  it  seems  to  be  the 
consensus  of  opinion  among  scientific  men  now 
living  that  Draper's  contributions  to  physics  in 
solidity  and  importance  far  outweighed  those 
which  he  made  in  the  domain  of  chemistry.  In 
the  domain  of  physiology  he  held  that  the 
theses  of  physics  and  chemistry  were  absolutely 
sufficient  to  explain  the  biological  processes  noted 
in  that  science.  This  work  was  noticed,  repro- 
duced, or  reported  in  the  scientific  publications 
of  Great  Britain  and  France,  and  in  a  few  journals 
of  Germany  as  well  as  of  Italy,  particularly  in 
the  decade  between  1840  and  1850.  On  May 
25,  1875,  Dr.  Draper  received  the  two  Rumford 
Medals  of  gold  and  silver,  bearing  the  following 
inscription  :  "  Awarded  by  the  American  Academy 
of  Arts  and  Sciences  to  John  William  Draper 
for  researches  on  radiant  energ)'."  On  present- 
ing these  medals  to  Dr.  Draper,  the  committee 
appointed  by  the  society  to  ascertain  who  was 
deserving  of  the  honor,  reported,  that  "  After  a 
careful  review  of  the  service  of  Professor  Draper  in 
this  great  field  of  inquiry,  the  committee  having  the 
subject  in  their  charge,  have,  for  reasons  given  by 
them,  recommended,  through  their  Chairman,  that 
the  medals  prescribed  in  the  deed  of  trust  should 
be    presented   to   him    as    having    fully   deserved 


them."  The  Hon.  Charles  Francis  Adams,  Pres- 
ident of  the  American  Academy  of  Sciences,  on 
presenting  these  medals  said :  "  In  an  elaborate 
investigation,  published  in  1847,  Dr.  Draper  estab- 
lished experimentally  the  following  facts :  (We 
shall  here  only  enumerate  the  five  most  important ; 
there  are  ten  mentioned  in  the  address).  "  i.  All 
solid  substances,  and  probably  liquids,  become  in- 
candescent at  the  same  temperature."  "2.  The 
thermometric  point  at  which  substances  become 
red  hot  is  about  977°  Fahrenheit."  "3.  The 
spectrum  of  an  incandescent  solid  is  continuous  ; 
it  contains  neither  bright  nor  dark  fixed  lines." 
"  4.  From  common  temperature,  nearly  up  to  977° 
Fahrenheit,  the  rays  emitted  by  a  solid  are  in- 
visible. At  that  temperature  they  are  red,  and 
the  heat  of  the  incandescing  body  being  made 
continuously  to  increase,  other  rays  are  added,  in- 
creasing in  refrangibility  as  the  temperature  rises." 
"  5.  Dr.  Draper  claims,  and  we  believe  with  jus- 
tice, to  have  been  the  first  to  apply  the  daguerreo- 
type process  to  taking  portraits."  Of  European 
scientists  who  recognized  and  appreciated  Dra- 
per's researches  we  may  mention  the  Italian 
Melloni,  the  Englishman  Herschel,  the  Swede 
Berzelius,  the  Germans  Bunsen,  KirchhofE,  and 
others.  Among  the  learned  societies  of  Europe 
who  honored  Dr.  Draper  with  membership,  were 
the  Academia  dei-Lincei  of  Rome  and  the  Physi- 
cal Society  of  London.  Dr.  Draper  married  when 
he  was  but  twenty  years  of  age,  in  1831,  Antonia, 
daughter  of  Dr.  Gardner  of  Rio  Janeiro,  Attend- 
ing Physician  of  the  Emperor  Dom  Pedro  I. ;  of 
his  three  sons  John  Christopher,  Henry  and 
Daniel  the  second  probably  excelled  in  scien- 
tific research,  particularly  in  the  domain  of  astro- 
nomical photography.  From  1848  to  his  death 
he  lived  at  his  own  country-seat  in  Hastings 
on  the  Hudson,  where  he  built  a  comfort- 
able home.  His  health,  which  throughout  his 
life  had  been  generally  good,  was  disturbed  dur- 
ing his  later  years  by  severe  attacks  of  gravel, 
which  incapacitated  him  from  journeying.  These 
attacks  wore  upon  him  and  finally  ended  his 
life.  He  died  in  Hastings  on  the  fourth  of  Jan- 
uar}-,  1882,  and  was  buried  at  Greenwood.  The 
most  widely  read  of  Dr.  Draper's  books,  the 
History  of  the  Intellectual  Development  of  Europe, 
Harper's  1863,  exhibits  the  very  deep  grooves 
which  long  occupation  with  physiology  had 
wrought  in  the   author's   mind.     He  brought  for- 


UNiyERSITlES  AND    'I'llElR    SONS 


37 


ward  wliat  we  may  seriously  call  a  ijhilosophy 
of  history  from  tiic  point  of  view  oi  a  ph)siol()- 
gist ;  i.  e.,  to  the  infancy,  childhood,  youth,  matur- 
ity and  old  age  of  ;he  physical  individual  body 
he  teaches  that  there  correspond  in  the  his- 
tory of  every  given  unit  of  culture-development, 
a  similar  number  of  stages  and  phases  and  that 
these  are  ever  recurrent ;  some  phases  of  which 
are:  credulity,  faith,  reason,  decrepitude.  The 
indi\idual  man  being  a  mere  atom  carried  along 
in  the  particular  phase  of  the  movement  in  which 
he  happens  to  be  hon-i  and  placed  —  the  physiol- 
ogy and  patholog)'  of  civilization  so  to  speak  — 
we  look  in  vain  for  a  place  however  narrow  and 
humble  for  spiritual  freedom,  conscience,  or  moral 
responsibility  in  the  mechanism.  In  fact  Univer- 
sities themselves  would,  if  Draper's  tenets  found 
practical  application,  be  reduced  to  physical  and 
chemical  laboratories,  the  rest  being  mere  pre- 
tense and  delusion.  An  acute  writer  in  the 
Atlantic  Monthly  who  wrote  a  review,  the  most 
painstaking  we  have  seen,  at  the  time  of  the  issue 
of  the  work  said  (May  1864):  "His  aim  is  to 
establish  a  formula  for  all  history,  past,  present, 
and  to  come ;  and,  in  this  view,  the  paucity  of 
instances  on  which  his  induction  rests  becomes 
worthy  of  comment.  And  this  disproportion  be- 
tween induction  and  conclusion  becomes  still  more 
glaring  when  it  is  observed  that  he  expects  his 
formula  for  all  history  to  carry  an  inference  much 
larger  than  itself.  Dr.  Draper  is  devoted  to  a 
materialistic  philosophy,  and  his  moying  purpose 
is  to  propagate  this.  He  holds  that  psychology' 
must  be  an  inference  from  physiology  —  that  the 
whole  science  of  man  is  included  in  a  science  of 
his  body.  His  two  perpetual  aims  are,  first,  to 
absorb  all  physical  science  in  theoretical  material- 
ism, second,  to  absorb  all  history'  in  physical 
science.  ..."  Dr.  Draper  also  wrote  a  history 
of  the  Civil  War ;  his  main  thesis  is  that  the  politi- 
cal convictions  of  the  two  great  sections  were, 
respectively,  mainly  due  to  the  difference  of  cli- 
mate; physiological  determination,  in  fact,  thus 
illustrating  his  peculiar  and  particular  philosophy 
of  history.  Draper  as  a  College  Professor  is  thus 
described  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  F.  N.  Zabriskie  (of 
1850):  "  He  was  remarkable  for  his  reserve.  His 
lectures  were  as  impersonal  as  were  the  blow-pipes 
and  retorts  which  he  handled.  He  was  genial  to 
those  who  approached  him  (he  himself  never 
approached  anybody)  but  we  all  felt  that  we  were 


kept  at  arm's  length.  Not  that  there  was  any- 
thing stately  in  his  manner.  He  was  not  built  for 
that  role.  He  was  conspicuously  short  and 
square  in  figure,  with  a  massive  head.  He  was 
very  "  plain "  in  looks,  and  simple  in  manners. 
He  showed  his  English  birth  in  his  face  which 
was  round  and  red  and  adorned  with  half-side 
whiskers.  His  voice  was  low  and  pleasant.  It 
was  delightful  to  listen  to  him  as  he  flowed  on 
during  his  hour,  scarcely  lifting  his  tone  or  his 
eyes,  at  rare  intervals  letting  slip  a  quiet  joke,  the 
whole  performance  beginning  and  ending  as  one 
would  draw  out  and  cut  off  a  certain  length  of 
telegraphic  tape.  It  was  in  striking  and  rather 
refreshing  contrast  to  the  rampancy  of  Dr.  Henry 
and  the  jerkiness  of  Dr.  Lewis.  He  had  the  art 
of  making  e\'ery  subject  interesting  by  extreme 
clearness  and  simplicity  of  statement.  He  had 
none  of  the  magnetism  or  mental  stimulus  and 
suggestion  of  the  other  two,  but  he  undoubtedly 
imparted  to  us  a  great  deal  more  of  special  infor- 
mation in  the  same  time.  In  lecturing  iipon  a 
specific  science  he  confined  himself  so  strictly  to 
his  theme  that  one  could  not  suspect  how  wide 
and  varied  his  range  of  study  was,  or  how  fasci- 
nating his  literary  style."  E.  g.  s. 


LEWIS,   Tayler,  1802-1877. 

Professor  Greek  and  Latin,  1838-50. 

Born  in  Northumberland,  N.  Y.,  1802;  graduated 
Union  College,  1820;  practiced  law  ;  taught  schools  in 
Ogdensburg  and  Waterford,  N.  Y.,  1833-38 ;  Prof. 
Greek  and  Latin  at  the  University,  1838-50;  Prof. 
Greek  and  Lee.  Biblical  and  Oriental  Lit.  Union  College, 
1850-77;  LL.D.  Union,  1844;  died  1877. 

TAYLER  LEWIS,  LL.D.,  was  born  in  North- 
umberland, New  York,  March  27.  1802, 
and  died  in  Schenectady,  New  York,  May  1 1,  1877. 
We  have  spoken  of  his  earlier  career  elsewhere. 
From  1838  to  1850  he  taught  Greek  at  Wash- 
ington Square ;  then  he  returned  to  his  Alma 
Mater,  Union  College,  where  he  spent  the  last 
twenty-seven  years  of  his  life.  He  not  only  was  a 
prolific  contributor  to  Harper's  Magazine,  but  after 
being  immersed  in  Greek  studies  he  merely  con- 
verted the  resources  thus  gained  for  the  pursuit  of 
biblical  studies,  devoting  as  much  to  Hebrew 
studies  as  he  had  done  to  classical  in  his  earlier  man- 
hood. These  later  pursuits  are  well  evidenced  by 
the  titles  of  his  later  works :  Six  Days  of  Creation, 


38 


UNIVERSITIES   JND    THEIR   SONS 


1855,  dedicated  to  his  successor  in  the  Greek 
Chair  at  Washington  Square,  Howard  Crosby,  then 
but  twenty-nine  years  old,  a  work  which  led  to 
much  sharp  controversy  with  geologists  of  New 
Haven,  we  believe,  and  elsewhere.  Other  works 
were:  The  Bible  and  Science,  1856;  The  Divine 
Human  in  the  Scriptures,  i860;  State  Rights, 
1862  ;  The  Light  by  which  We  See  Light,  1875, 
and  various  additions  to  Lange's  Commentary  in 
the  American  edition.  An  admirable  paper  by 
Tayler  Lewis  read  before  the  Regents'  Convoca- 
tion in  1863  and  published  by  them,  on  Liberal 
Education,  remains  as  the  quintessence  of  Lewis's 
wide  and  profound  culture  and  of  his  conception 
of  God,  of  man  and  the  world,  ^^'e  believe  that 
in  the  generation  immediately  preceding  that  led 
in  our  country  by  \\'hitney,  Hadley,  Gildersleeve 
and  Goodwin.  Tayler  Lewis  was  in  the  very  first 
rank,  in  fact,  one  of  a  group  in  which  Woolsey  of 
Yale  and  Felton  of  Harvard  were  tlie  others.  We 
owe  a  delightful  sketch  of  his  academic  outward 
personality  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  F.  N.  Zabriskie,  New 
York  University,  '50.  "  Professor  Lewis  was  a 
walking  cyclopaedia.  He  was  not  only  eminent  in 
his  own  special  department.  .  .  .  He  was  as  well 
informed  and  as  keenly  interested  in  the  current 
events  and  literature  of  tiie  day  as  in  the  records 
of  the  remote  past.  He  could  lay  down  his  Koran 
in  the  Arabic,  or  his  Rabbinical  folio,  or  his 
Plato,  and  turn  with  equal  zest  and  aptitude  to 
write  an  editorial  for  Harper's  Monthly  or  a 
popular  article  for  a  daily  paper.  .  .  .  He  was 
certainly  a  very  odd  little  man,  quite  as  grotesque 
in  his  way  as  Dr.  Henry.  The  latter's  contortions 
were  colossal,  the  former's  resembled  rather  the 
twitchings  of  St.  Vitus's  dance.  Dr.  Henry's  laugh 
was  usually  a  guffaw,  and  his  more  excited  utter- 
ances a  roar.  Dr.  Lewis's  laugh  was  more  like  a 
sudden  spasm  of  pain,  and  his  Delphic  utterances 
were  jerked  out  in  a  parenthetic  and  chuckling 
way,  apparently  in  soliloquy  and  for  his  own  enjoy- 
ment. His  voice  was  indistinct  and  regardless  of 
pitch.  He  seemed  to  be  as  deficient  in  teeth  as 
Dr.  Henry's  exposed  and  resplendent  ivories  were 
the  feature  of  his  face.  His  little  body  was  poorly 
supplied  with  blood,  and  he  would  sit  wrapped  in 
his  cloak  even  in  warm  weather.  Not  less  did  he 
seem  mentally  self-enveloped,  and  rather  rayed  out 
the  light  upon  us  from  behind  a  cloud  than  put  a 
separate  torch  into  each  of  our  hands.  He  had 
little  power  of  adapting  himself  to  the  individuality 


of  his  pupils  and  we  sometimes  doubted  whether 
he  knew  who  were  present,  except  as  they  answered 
to  his  summons  to  recite  when  their  names  were 
read  from  the  list  before  him.  It  always  seemed 
a  shame  that  such  a  man  should  be  condemned 
to  slave  several  hours  a  day  with  a  lot  of  untamed 
and  thoughtless  boys,  of  whom  he  was  only  half 
conscious  and  who  did  not  half  appreciate  him. 
Perhaps,  though,  it  was  a  needed  discipline  for  the 
abstracted  and  irritable  scholar,  for  which  he 
blesses  us  in  heaven.  And  I  am  sure  that  some 
of  us  absorbed  a  great  deal  more  of  his  Greek 
essence  and  his  high  thinking  and  literary  enthu- 
siasm than  we  knew  at  the  time,  or  than  he  had  a 
right  to  suspect.  As  may  be  supposed,  he  was  a 
wretched  disciplinarian.  He  lacked  the  vigilance, 
the  poise  and  the  dignity  for  this  part  of  his  duties. 
He  would  be  long  oblivious  of  the  most  flagrant 
disorder,  and  then  would  suddenly  explode  over 
some  small  peccadillo  with  an  indiscriminate  and 
disproportioned  vehemence,  which  chiefly  ser\ed 
to  afford  the  offender  a  gratifying  assurance  that 
his  attempt  at  annoying  tiie  great  little  man  had 
been  successful.  His  was  the  favorite  room  for 
incense  ofl"erings  of  assafoetida.  red  pepper  and 
tobacco,  but  the  students  would  get  the  worst  of 
such  experiments,  for  the  Doctor  seemed  to  be 
as  little  sensitive  to  olfactory  nuisances  as  a 
mummy,  and  would  take  an  almost  Quilpish  delight 
in  keeping  the  room  closed  tight  and  holding  the 
class  to  the  atmosphere  which  they  had  created. 
It  was  not  uncommon  for  hand-organ-men,  vendors 
of  plaster  images,  mendicants  and  agents  to  be 
mysteriously  ushered  into  his  room  during  recita- 
tion, and  to  be  ushered  out  by  him  in  a  manner 
which  must  have  been  overwhelming  to  their  mis- 
led souls.  There  were  traditions  of  a  horse  being 
found  in  his  room  on  his  entering  one  morning  ;  also 
of  a  whole  army  of  tradesmen  appearing  there  at 
a  fixed  hour  in  answer  to  a  bogus  business  sum- 
mons. It  was  not  uncommon  for  him  to  sit  with 
the  door  of  his  lecture  room  locked  against  such  in- 
truders. His  extreme  and  rather  comical  exhibition 
of  annoyance  and  his  frantic  endeavors  to  find  the 
culprits  furnished  to  the  perpetrators  the  expected 
and  wicked  reward  of  such  shabby  tricks.  .  .  . 
Some  of  his  best  work  was  done  after  three  score 
and  ten.  He  illustrated  beyond  most  men  wh.at 
Wordsworth  calls  '  plain  living  and  high  think- 
ing.' .  .  .  He  has  left  a  name  which  is  an  orna- 
ment   to    American    scholarship,    and    made    sub- 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


39 


stantial  contributions  both  to  tiie  defence  and  the 
interpretation  of  Divine  truth.  And  he  has  left 
his  direct  impress  upon  two  generations  of  edu- 
cated men,  who  owned  him  as  their  master  and 
who  bless  his  memory  as  that  of  a  sage  and  a 
saint."  K.  G.  s. 

HENRY,  Caleb  Sprague,  1804-1884. 

Prof.  History,  Belles-Lettres  and  Philosophy,  1838-52. 
Born  in  Rutland,  Mass.,  1804;  graduated  Dart- 
mouth, 1825;  Prof.  Phil.  Bristol  College,  Pa.,  1835-37; 
conducted  New  York  Review,  1837-40;  Prof.  Hist., 
Belles-Lettres  and  Phil.  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1838-52;  Rector 
St.  Clement's  Church,  New  York  City,  1847-50;  St. 
Michael's  Church,  Litchfield,  Conn.,  1870-73;  died 
1884. 

C.\LEB  SPRAGUE  HENRY,  D.D.,  LL.D., 
was  born  in  Rutland,  Massachusetts,  Aug- 
ust 2,  1804,  and  graduated  from  Dartmouth  Col- 
lege in  1825.  At  first  he  was  a  Congregational 
minister  but  soon  took  orders  in  the  Episcopal 
Church.  Having  been  for  two  years,  1835-1837, 
Professor  of  Philosophy  in  Bristol  College,  Penn- 
sylvania, he  migrated  to  New  York  City  w^here 
he  established  the  New  York  Review.  This  pub- 
lication he  conducted  until  1840.  His  successor 
in  this  post  was  Dr.  J.  G.  Cogswell  who  sub- 
stantially —  so  to  speak  —  at  a'  later  day  created 
the  Astor  Library.  Dr.  Henry  held  the  post  of 
Professor  of  History,  Belles-Lettres  and  Philos- 
ophy in  New  York  University  from  1838  to  1852, 
the  place  opening  for  him  in  1838  through  the 
secession  of  the  seven  professors  and  particularly 
of  Henry  P.  Tappan.  The  latter  curiously  enough 
in  1852  would  have  resumed  the  chair  had  he  not 
been  called  to  the  Presidency  of  the  University  of 
Michigan.  Dr.  Henry  was  from  1847  to  1850 
Rector  of  St.  Clement's  Church,  New  York  City. 
His  incessant  activity  with  his  pen  manifested  a 
disposition  to  gain  an  actual  survey  of  the  various 
domains  which  in  the  cumulative  practice  of  earlier 
American  culture  were  generally  entrusted  to  a 
single  College  Professor.  He  thus  wrote  a  trans- 
lation of  Cousin's  Psychology  (4th  ed.  1856) ;  a 
Compendium  of  Christian  Antiquities  and  many 
other  works  noted  in  Chapter  IV.  of  New  York 
University  History  when  we  spoke  of  Frelinghuy- 
sen's  administration.  Near  the  end  of  his  life  in 
188 1  Dr.  Henry  vigorously  opposed  the  project  of 
disestablishing  the  undergraduate  College.  His 
attention  to  the  general  movement  of  American 
culture    was    keen    and    his    judgments   were    apt 


and  pointed.  There  is  extant  a  description  of 
this  interesting  man's  personality,  made  by  the 
Rev.  Dr.  F.  N.  Zabriskie,  of  the  Class  of  1850: 
"  He  was  an  intellectual  force,  charged  to  the 
full  with  animal  vitality,  sparkling  vivacity,  mental 
activity  and  literary  enthusiasm.  We  felt  him, 
whether  he  said  anything  or  not.  His  uneasy 
attitudes,  his  uncouth  gestures,  his  facial  contor- 
tions, were  eloquent.  His  satirical  smile,  disclos- 
ing his  full  set  of  white  and  regular  upper  teeth, 
was  a  stroke  of  lightning  that  hurt  a  great  deal 
more  than  his  thunder,  which  was  apt  to  be  abu- 
sive and  overdone.  He  was  without  exception  the 
most  magnificently  grotesque  person  I  ever  met  — 
somewhat,  I  imagine,  after  the  order  of  Dr.  John- 
son. .  .  .  Dr.  Henrj^  was  an  omnivorous  reader, 
and  in  the  departments  of  history,  the  mental 
sciences  and  general  literature  was  one  of  the 
most  thoroughly  furnished  Americans  of  his  day. 
He  was  a  great  conversationist.  Not  fluent,  often 
halting  and  spluttering  in  his  speech ;  always 
rugged  in  his  movement  as  a  corduroy  road,  but  as 
breezy  and  stimulating  and  far-land,scaped  as  a 
corduroy  road  in  the  Colorado  mountains.  And 
into  his  talk  he  threw,  or  rather  tumbled,  his  entire 
pcrsonel — body,  mind,  heart  and  spirit.  Never 
did  he  mumble  and  croak  and  hum  and  haw, 
never  did  he  achieve  such  miracles  of  pitch  and 
inflection,  never  did  he  g)Tate  and  gesticulate  with 
fist  and  eyebrow  and  shoulder  and  upper  lip  and 
head  and  torso  (seldom  with  his  legs,  for  he  was  of 
indolent  habit,  loving  to  lounge  and  loll)  —  as  when 
he  was  in  the  full  tide  of  private  conversation.  It 
was  like  sitting  up  with  an  electric  battery.  .  .  . 
The  Doctor  was  of  the  vigorously  nervous  order 
of  men,  to  which  Ruskin  and  Carlyle  and  Dr. 
Johnson  belonged,  intensely  sensitive  to  the 
incompatibilities  and  infelicities  of  his  environ- 
ment, keenly  alive  to  bores,  with  immense  capa- 
city for  disgust,  and  worried  that  any  one  should 
hold  opinions  differing  from  his  own.  .  .  .  His 
clerical  character,  like  his  robes,  never  seemed 
to  sit  naturally  or  gracefully  upon  him.  This 
side  of  him  was  rather  a  joke,  if  not  a  skep- 
ticism, among  us.  and  we  doubtless  tended  to 
exaggerate  all  his  latitude  of  speech  and  opinion, 
and  the  general  lack  of  starch  in  his  manners  and 
habits.  Yet  he  would  avow,  along  with  the  loosest 
theology,  the  most  aggressive  and  imperious  eccle- 
siasticism.  Knowing  that  many  of  us  were  Pres- 
byterians and  expected  to  enter  Union  Seminary, 


40 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR    SONS 


he  delighted  to  speak  of  that  institution  as  'the 
Gospel  shop  on  the  next  block.'  .  .  .  He  pri- 
vately expressed  to  me  a  high  respect  for  the 
Reformed  Dutch  Church,  and  sought  to  win  me 
over  to  '  The  Church '  as  one  whose  position 
was  not  absolutely  hopeless.  .  .  .  Another  charac- 
teristic of  the  Doctor  was  his  admiration  of  the 
American  Commonwealth  —  though  curiously 
taking  exception  to  most  of  its  specific  institutions. 
It  was  to  him  almost  as  divine  as  his  Church. 
And  he  was  never  weary  of  drawing  magnificent 
pictures  of  the  day  when  we  should  have  absorbed 
and  assimilated  all  nations  and  there  should  be  a 
'United  States  of  the  world.'"  Dr.  Henry  died 
March   i6,    1884,   in   Stamford,   Connecticut. 

E.    G.    S. 


was  for  years  the  President  of  the  Board  of  Publi- 
cation, also  of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions ;  of 
the  American  and  Foreign  Christian  Union  ;  of  the 
New  York  City  Tract  Society  ;   and  Vice-President 


DeWITT,   Thomas,  1791-1874. 

Member  Council,  1839-1874. 
Born  in  Kingston,  N.  Y.,  1791 ;  graduated  Union, 
1808;  New  Brunswick  Theol.  Sem.,  1812;  preached  in 
Dutchess  Co.,  N.  Y.,  1812-27  >  minister  in  Collegiate 
Dutch  Church,  New  York  City,  1827-74;  member  of 
University  Council,  1839-74  ;  died  1874. 

THOMAS  DeWITT,  D.D.,  was  born  in 
Kingston  on  Hudson,  New  York,  Sep- 
tember 13,  1 79 1,  graduating  from  Union  in 
1808,  and  being  licensed  for  the  ministry  after 
completing  his  theological  studies  at  the  Theologi- 
cal Seminary  of  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church  in 
New  Brunswick,  New  Jersey,  in  181 2.  Having 
served  in  country  parishes  in  Dutchess  county, 
New  York,  he  was  installed  as  one  of  the  ministers 
of  the  Collegiate  Reformed  Dutch  Church,  New 
York  City,  September  16,  1827,  remaining  in  the 
consistory  up  to  his  death  in  1874,  at  which  time  he 
was  the  senior  Pastor  of  the  "  Collegiate  Church  " 
of  New  York  City.  From  1633  to  1764  the  ser- 
vices in  this  noted  church  organization  had  been 
in  the  Dutch  language.  In  1764  the  Rev.  Archi- 
bald Laidlie  was  installed  "  with  the  express  view 
of  meeting  the  wants  of  those  who  required  the 
service  to  be  in  English."  The  last  sermon  in 
Dutch  was  preached  in  1803.  The  first  Chancellor 
of  New  York  University  as  well  as  the  second 
were  closely  connected  with  the  Reformed  Dutch 
Church.  Dr.  DeWitt  was  one  of  the  five  students 
with  whom  Dr.  Livingston  opened  the  Theological 
Seminary  in  New  Brunswick  in  i8io.  Dr.  De- 
Witt  was  among  the  founders  of  the  Board  of 
Education    of  the  Reformed  Dutch    Church.     He 


THOMAS  DeWITT 

of  the  New  York  Historical  Society.  He  mastered 
the  Dutch  language  to  such  a  degree,  we  are  told, 
that  he  could  preach  in  that  historical  tongue  in 
New  Amsterdam.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Coun- 
cil of  New  York  University  from  1839  to  1874. 
He  died  in  New  York  City,  May  18,  1874.    E.  G.  S. 


KENT,  William,  1802-1861. 

Councilor  183^1851,  Professor  Law  1837-38. 
Born    in    New  York    City,    1802;  graduated    Union, 
1820;  practiced  law  ;  Judge  of  the  Circuit  Court;   Law 
Professor  at  Harvard,  1846-47;   Prof.  Law  N.  Y.  Univ., 
1837-38  ;  died  1861. 

WILLIAM  KENT,  LL.D.,  Justice,  was  born 
in  New  York  City  in  1802.  His  father, 
James  Kent,  an  eminent  Jurist  and  Professor  at 
Columbia,  was  a  graduate  of  Yale  1781,  and  was 
one  of  the  founders  of  the  Phi  Beta  Kappa  Society 
in  1780.  His  grandfather,  Moses  Kent,  was  grad- 
uated at  Yale  in  1752,  and  became  Surrogate  of 
Rensselaer  county.  New  York ;  and  his  great- 
grandfather   Elisha  Kent,  also  a  Yale    graduate, 


UNIFERSITIES   AND    THEIR   SONS 


41 


Class  of  1729,  became  a  clergyman.  William 
Kent  acquired  his  classical  education  at  Union, 
taking  his  Bachelor's  degree  in  1820  and  his  Mas- 
ter's degree  in  course.  His  legal  studies  were 
followed  by  an  eminently  successful  practice,  which 
he  continued  until  appointed  Judge  of  the  Circuit 
Court  of  New  York  by  Governor  Seward.  Retir- 
ing from  the  Bench  in  1846  he  accepted  a  call  to 
the  Royall  Professorship  in  the  Harvard  Law 
School  which  he  resigned  the  ensuing  year,  and 
returning  to  the  metropolis,  was  thenceforward 
occupied  in  the  adjustment  of  referee  cases.  He 
was  a  Professor  of  Law  in  New  York  University 
from  1837  to  1838.  He  died  in  Fishkill,  New 
York,  January  4,  1861.  Professor  Kent  received 
the  honorary  degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws  from 
Hobart  in  1843,  and  from  Harvard  in  1847.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  American  Philosophical 
Society.  * 


FRELINGHUYSEN,      Theodore,      1787- 
1862. 

Second  Chancellor,  1839-1850. 
Born  in  Millstone,  N.  J.,  1787  ;  graduated  College  of 
N.  J.,  1804  ;  A.M.  in  course,  and  LL.D.,  1833  ;  admitted 
to  Bar,  1808;  served  in  War  of  1812;  Atty.-Gen.  of 
N.  J.,  1817-28;  U.  S.  Senator,  1828-35;  Chancellor  N.  Y. 
Univ.,  1839-50;  Pres.  Rutgers  College,  N.  J.,  1850; 
died  1862, 

THEODORE  FRELmCHUYSEN,  LL.D., 
was  born  in  Millstone,  Somerset  county. 
New  Jersey,  March  28,  1787,  son  of  Major-General 
Frederick  Frelinghuysen.  We  have  spoken  with 
some  fulness  of  Mr.  Frelinghuysen  in  the  fourth 
chapter  of  the  History,  so  that  we  must  confine 
ourselves  here  to  supplementary  notes.  His  place 
in  the  historj-  of  the  United  States  Senate  in  his 
sturdy  advocacy  of  matters  of  distinctly  moral 
import,  for  the  sake  of  the  moral  questions  involved, 
alone  gives  him  a  unique  position  comparable  in  a 
measure  to  the  figure  of  Charles  Sumner  of  a  later 
generation.  His  morality  and  advocacy  of  kin- 
dred questions  was,  however,  not  so  much  based 
on  abstract  humanitarian  principle  as  it  was  inter- 
dependent with  specific  convictions  strongly  held 
by  the  senator  as  a  member  of  the  Reformed 
Dutch  Church  in  the  United  States.  He  was  per- 
haps in  1839  the  most  prominent  lay  member  of 
that  church  in  the  country  ;  his  name  was  Dutch, 
his  ancestors  were  Dutch.  It  is  eminently  fair 
in   this  historical  view   of    his*  character   to    urge 


those  elements  of  character  which  gave  him 
such  prominence  in  the  thirties  as  "  the  Chri.stian 
Statesman  "  whose  sincerity  disarmed  every  sneer; 
because  he  stands  as  the  typical  College  President 
of  that  earlier  generation.  Lofty  moral  exemplar 
with  superb  faculty  of  forensic  power ;  the  two 
together  constituted  the  chief  essentials  in  the 
composition  of  the  College  aim  sixty  years  ago. 
We  will  quote  from  Tayler  Lewis's  estimate  com- 
posed after  Mr.  P'relinghuysen's  death,  (Schenec- 
tady, September  24,  1862.)  "In  his  speeches  on 
these  occasions  Mr.  Prelinghuysen  showed  a  knowl- 
edge of  Constitutional  law  equal  to  that  of  \\'ebster ; 
but  that  was  the  least  part  of  their  merit.  The 
Democratic  party  had  enlisted  on  its  side  the  irre- 
ligious element  in  our  land,  and  it  was  in  rebuking 
this  that  the  Senator  from  New  Jersey  rose  above 
all  others  in  that  deeply  interesting  debate.  Here 
was  something  new  in  that  Senate.  Christianity  had 
often  been  mentioned  with  approbation,  but  here 
was  an  exhibition  of  its  very  spirit  and  power. 
There  was  something  in  the  tone  of  those  speeches, 
able  as  they  were  in  other  respects,  which  showed 
that  religion  was  there  in  their  midst  —  hearty, 
fervent,  evangelical  religion  —  religion  as  a  higher 
law,  first  and  before  all  things,  in.stead  of  that 
mere  political  patronizing  of  Christianity  which  is 
so  common  among  our  public  men.  It  is  very 
easy  to  put  forth  the  usual  commonplaces  about 
'  our  holy  religion  '  and  the  value  of  Christian 
institutions  and  '  the  importance  of  morality  and 
virtue  as  the  foundation  of  all  good  government.' 
Men  may  say  this,  men  have  said  it,  and  are  fond 
of  saying  it,  who  are  not  religious,  who  are  not 
even  moral.  It  is  always  safe  to  talk  in  this  way  ; 
it  is  sometimes  a  very  popular  course ;  it  gains 
favor  on  the  one  side,  while,  by  throwing  in  a  word 
now  and  then  about  bigotry  and  the  '  preserva- 
tion of  our  religious  liberties  '  now  so  much  im- 
perilled, it  is  careful  to  lose  no  ground  on  the 
other.  This  patronizing  style  assumes  too  at 
times  a  profound  and  philosophical  look;  it  efi'ects 
to  go  below  the  surface  of  things ;  there  seems 
presented  a  statesmanlike,  senatorial  view  of 
religion,  with  which  we  are  wonderfully  pleased 
as  coming  from  such  a  source  ;  and  yet,  after  all, 
there  is  no  heart  in  it,  and  even  the  knowledge  it 
displays,  though  magnified  from  its  position,  is 
often  less  than  many  a  teacher  imparts  and  many 
a  child  acquires  in  the  Sabbath-school  room.  No 
one    however    would    thus    judge   of  Mr.  Freling- 


42 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


huysen.  The  living  know  the  living.  'The 
spiritual  man  is  judged  of  no  one  (who  is  not 
spiritual)  while  he  himself  judgeth  all  things.' 
But  aside  from  this,  even  the  worldly  and  the  irreli- 
gious have  a  faculty  for  detecting  the  genuine  here. 
They  feel  how  much  it  differs  from  that  which  is 
either  wholly  false  or  but  a  passing  sentimental 
emotion.  Mr.  Frelinghuysen's  soul  was  in  these 
speeches.  He  was  pleading  for  Christ,  his  Saviour. 
The  religious  aspects  of  the  questions  were  for 
him  the  main  aspects  ;  the  social  and  political  had 
their  value  in  subordination.  Justice,  humanity, 
national  faith  —  ever  to  be  esteemed  the  stronger 


THKODOKK     FKEI.INGHUYSEN 

when  pledged  to  the  weak —  the  forms  of  treaties, 
the  substantial  truth  of  covenants  —  all  these  were 
treated,  not  merely  in  their  humanitarian  economies, 
but  as  strictly  religious  —  as  having  their  sanctions 
from  their  never-to-be-sundered  connection  with 
the  invisible  and  eternal."  Of  his  oratory  another 
witness  of  his  life,  the  Rev.  Dr.  T.  W.  Chambers 
(who  married  his  niece),  said  :  "  He  usually  began 
to  speak  in  a  slow,  simple  style,  gradually  warming 
as  he  proceeded.  He  never  was  at  a  loss,  but 
went  on  with  increasing  fluency  to  the  end.  He 
was  animated  and  impassioned  and  at  times  over- 
whelming. His  eloquence  was  of  that  kind  to 
which  no  report  ever  does  or  can  do  justice.     The 


kindling  eye,  the  heaving  form,  the  expressive 
tones,  the  impetuous  emotion,  cannot  be  transferred 
to  paper.  The  outward  man  responded  in  every 
muscle  and  fibre  to  the  inward  passion.  The  ear- 
nestness of  the  speaker,  and  his  intense  conviction 
of  the  truth  and  importance  of  what  he  was  saying, 
took  full  hold  of  his  audience,  and  made  an  im- 
pression which  long  outlasted  the  occasion.  Men 
often  admired  and  praised  the  speaker,  but  still 
oftener  they  forgot  him  and  thought  only  of  what 
they  were  to  do.  In  speaking  before  benevolent 
and  religious  institutions,  the  effect  produced 
depended  entirely  upon  the  frame  of  mind  in 
which  he  happened  to  be  at  the  time.  If  called 
upon  at  the  first  or  in  an  ordinary  state  of  mind, 
he  never  came  up  to  his  reputation.  But  if  sud- 
denly stirred  by  some  perilous  crisis,  or  roused  by 
the  energy  of  some  preceding  speaker  he  seemed 
to  break  loose  from  all  fetters  and  soar  at  once 
into  the  region  of  natural  and  vehement  eloquence. 
His  soul  took  fire.  His  logic  was  red-hot.  His 
appeals  were  irresistible.  Before  the  audience 
were  aware  they  found  themselves  borne  away 
at  a  master's  will,  and  every  thought  and  feel- 
ing absorbed  in  the  rushing  flow   of  the  orator's 

voice." 

—  '•  And  when  the  stream 
^Vhich  overflowed  the  soul  was  passed  away, 
A  consciousness  remained  that  it  had  left 
Deposited  upon  the  silent  shore 
Of  memory,  images  and  precious  thoughts 
That  shall  not  die  and  can  not  be  destroyed." 


BEDFORD,  Gunning  S.,  1806-1870. 

Founder  Medical  School—  Professor  Obstetrics  1841-63. 
Born  in  Baltimore,  Md.,  1806;  graduated  Mount  St. 
Mary's  College,  Md.,  1825;  M.D.  Rutgers,  1830; 
studied  in  Europe  two  years  ;  Prof,  in  Med.  College 
of  Charleston,  S.  C,  1833-34;  Albany  Med.  College, 
1834-36;  entered  practice  in  New  York  City,  1836; 
planned  founding  of  N.  Y.  Univ.  Med.  Dept. ;  Prof. 
Obstetrics  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1841-62;  founder  of  N.  Y.  Ob- 
stetrical Clinic;  author  of  medical  text-books;  died 
1870. 

GUNNING  S.  BEDFORD,  M.D.,  was  born 
in  Baltimore,  Maryland,  in  1806.  Promi- 
nent among  his  ancestors  was  a  great  uncle.  Gun- 
ning Bedford,  the  distinguished  Revolutionary 
patriot,  a  representative  from  Delaware  in  Con- 
gress, 1 783-1 786,  and  some  time  Attorney-General 
and  Governor  of  the  State  of  Delaware.  Dr. 
Bedford  graduated  with  high  honors,  Valedictorian 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


43 


of  his  Class  at  Mount  St.  Mary's  College,  in 
Kmmitsburg,  Maryhuul,  in  1825,  and  was  made  a 
Master  of  Arts  by  the  same  institution  after  three 
years.  He  was  first  led  to  an  interest  in  the  study 
of  Medicine  by  association  with  Dr.  John  Godman 
and  from  him  received  that  inspiration  and  coun- 
sel which  resulted  in  matriculation  at  Rutgers  Med- 
ical College  in  New  Brunswick,  New  Jersey,  where 
he  graduated  in  1830.  Two  years  of  study  in  tiie 
best  hospitals  of  Europe  followed,  and  in  1833  he 
commenced  active  duties  as  Professor  in  the 
Medical  College  of  Charleston,  South  Carolina. 
In    1834  he  accepted  a  more  promising  chair  at 


GUNNING    S.    BEDFORD 

the  Albany  Medical  College,  where  he  remained 
two  years,  removing  to  New  York  City  for  private 
practice  in  1836.  Dr.  Bedford  may  be  called  the 
founder  of  the  University  Medical  School ;  for  he 
projected  the  plans  upon  which  the  school  com- 
menced its  existence  and  in  concerted  effort  with 
Dr.  Valentine  Mott,  his  former  preceptor,  he 
carried  those  plans  into  execution  in  1841.  Of 
the  beginnings  of  the  Medical  School  a  more  com- 
plete account  may  be  found  in  the  History  of 
New  York  University.  From  the  founding  until 
1862  Dr.  Bedford  occupied  the  Chair  of  Obstetrics, 
which  he  resigned  to  meet  the  demands  of  an  ex- 
tensive  obstetrical    practice.     It   is  an    important 


fact  in  the  medical  history  of  this  country  that  he 
introduced  obstetrical  clinics  for  the  free  treatment 
of  poor  women  by  founding,  against  strong  opposi- 
tion, the  New  York  Obstetrical  Clinic.  Dr. 
Bedford's  writings  are  well  known  and  widely 
used  in  this  country  and  abroad.  His  Diseases 
of  Women  and  Children,  and  the  Principles  and 
Practice  of  Medicine,  of  which  the  former  has 
passed  through  ten  editions  and  the  latter  five, 
have  become  standard  text-books  both  in  this 
country  and  abroad,  translations  in  Prench  and 
German  having  been  made.  Dr.  Bedford  died  in 
New  York  City,  September  5,  1870,  survived  by  a 
widow  and  three  sons.  * 


PATTISON,  Granville  Sharp,  1791-1851. 

Professor  Anatomy  1840-51. 
Born  near  Glasgow,  Scotland,  1791  ;  studied  medi- 
cine in  Scotland  ;  asst.  to  Allan  Burns  ;  first  lectured 
at  the  Andersonian  Institute,  Glasgow;  came  to  U.  S., 
i8i8;  Prof.  Anat.  Univ.  of  Md.  until  1828,  in  London 
Univ.,  1828-31,  in  Jefferson  Med.  College,  Philadelphia, 
1831-40,  in  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1840-51  ;  died  1851. 

GRANVILLE  SHARP  PATTISON.  M.D., 
was  born  near  Glasgow,  Scotland,  in  1791, 
and  was  educated  in  that  city,  commencing  the 
study  of  medicine  at  the  age  of  seventeen.  At 
twenty-one  he  became  the  assistant  of  Allan  Burns, 
the  eminent  surgeon,  founder  of  surgical  anatomy 
in  Great  Britain.  It  was  under  the  inspiring  influ- 
ence of  this  distinguished  man  that  Granville 
Pattison  determined  to  devote  his  life  to  the  teach- 
ing of  anatomy,  and  to  the  complete  wisdom  of 
that  decision  his  subsequent  career  bore  ample 
testimony,  for  he  became  one  of  the  greatest 
authorities  on  the  science  of  anatomy.  His  thor- 
ough knowledge  of  visceral  and  surgical  anatomy 
was  probably  unequalled  in  this  countiy.  He 
first  lectured  at  the  Andersonian  Institute  in  Glas- 
gow, and  in  1818  came  to  the  L^nited  States,  soon 
entering  the  Chair  of  Anatomy  at  the  University 
of  Maryland  in  Baltimore,  which  his  signal  ability 
raised  to  a  condition  of  high  excellence.  In  1828 
the  University  of  London  commenced  its  existence 
and  Professor  Pattison  was  called  to  teach  his 
specialty,  but  in  1831,  some  friction  with  certain 
members  of  the  London  Faculty  having  arisen,  he 
returned  to  Philadelphia  and  there  became  Pro- 
fessor of  Anatomy  in  the  Jefferson  Medical  Col- 
lege.    There  he  remained  until  1840  when  he  was 


44 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


called  to  New  York  City  to  assist  in  the  movements 
leading  to  the  founding  of  the  Medical  Department 
of  New  York  University.  He  became  Professor  of 
Anatomy  at  the  opening  of  the  school  and  remained 


flRANVII.I.K    S.    PAITISON 

in  that  position  until  his  death  in  1851.  Pro- 
fessor Pattison's  literary  work  includes  various 
articles  in  the  Medical  Recorder,  and  a  translation 
of  J.  W.  Masse's  Anatomical  Atlas.  He  also 
edited  Allan  Burns's  Surgical  Anatomy  of  the 
Head  and  Neck,  and  Jean  Auveilhier's  Anatomy 
of  the  Human  Body.  * 


FORESTI,  Elentario  Felice,  1793-1858. 

Plot.  Italian  Language  and  Literature,  1842-56. 
Born  in  Conselice,  Italy,  1793  ;  graduated  Univ.  of 
Bologna  ;  studied  law,  and  practiced  in  Ferrara,  Italy  ; 
imprisoned  for  his  political  views,  and  later  exiled  to 
U.  S. ;  Prof.  Italian  Lang,  and  Lit.  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1842- 
56  ;  also  Prof,  at  Columbia  ;   LL.D. ;  author  ;  died  1858. 

ELENTARIO  FELICE  FORESTI,  LL.D., 
was  born  in  Conselice,  near  Ferrara,  Italy, 
in  1793,  and  after  graduating  at  the  University  of 
Bologna  he  studied  law  and  entered  practice  in 
Ferrara.  In  181 6  he  became  Praetor  of  Crespino, 
and  from  that  time  he  was  involved  in  political  diffi- 
culties which  finally  led  to  his  arrest  and  imprison- 


ment. Two  years  were  spent  in  a  wretched 
dungeon  awaiting  his  sentence,  during  which  time 
he  attempted  suicide.  He  was  found  guilty  of  the 
charge  of  treason  and  condemned  to  death  on  a 
public  scaffold  in  Venice,  but  when  he  was  led 
out  with  others  who  were  under  the  death  sentence 
a  royal  order  arrived,  commuting  the  penalty  to 
imprisonment  for  twenty  years  in  Spielberg.  There 
on  the  island  of  St.  Michael,  Foresti  and  his  com- 
panions remained  incarcerated,  until,  on  the  death 
of  the  Emperor  Avho  had  sentenced  them,  they  were 
liberated  and  permanently  exiled  to  the  United 
States.  From  a  death  scaffold  and  a  prison  of 
"  hard  confinement  "  to  a  Professor's  Chair  is  a 
singular  step,  but  such  was  the  destiny  of  Elentario 
Felice  Foresti.  Coming  to  New  York  City  he 
became,  soon  after  his  arrival,  Professor  of  Italian 
Lanjruage  and  Literature  at  Columbia,  and  from 
that  time  for  twenty  years  taught  his  native  tongue 
in  various  positions.  From  1842  to  1856  he 
occupied  the  Professorship  of  Italian  Language 
and  Literature  at  New  York  University.  The 
degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws  was  conferred  on  him. 
His  bibliography  includes  :  Twenty  Years  in  the 
Dungeons  of  Austria,  written  for  the  Watchman 
and  Crusader.  1856:  Crestomazia  Italiana.  1846; 
and  his  edition  of  Ollendorff's  Italian  Grammar, 
New  York,  1846.  It  is  probable  that  the  Italian 
government  granted  a  remission  of  the  sentence  of 
of  life  exile,  for  Professor  Foresti  was  appointed 
United  States  Consul  in  Genoa  and  died  in  that 
city  while  acting  in  that  office,  September  14,  1858- 


PAINE,  Martyn,  1794-1877. 

Prof.  Medicine,  Materia  Medica  and  Therapeutics,  1841-67. 
Born  in  Williamstown,  Vt.,  1794  ;  graduated  Har- 
vard, 1813  ;  A.M.  in  course  ;  M.D.,  1816  ;  in  practice  in 
Montreal,  Canada,  1816-22,  and  then  in  New  York 
City  ;  a  founder  of  the  Medical  School  of  N.  Y.  Univ., 
and  Prof.  Medicine,  Materia  Medica  and  Therapeutics, 
1841-67;   LL.D.  Univ.  of  Vt.,  1854;  author;  died  1877. 

MARTYN  PAINE,  M.D.,  LL.D.,  was  born 
in  Williamstown.  Vermont,  July  8,  1794, 
son  of  Elijah  Paine,  LL.D.,  United  States  judge 
for  the  District  of  Vermont.  He  graduated  from 
the  Academic  Department  of  Harvard  in  the  Class 
of  18 13,  receiving  the  degree  Master  of  Arts  in 
course,  and  entering  the  Medical  Department  of 
the  same  L^niversity  graduated  with  the  Doctor's 
degree  in   18 16.     For  six  years    he    followed  his 


UNIf^ERSITIES  JND    THEIR    SONS 


45 


profession  in  Montreal,  Canada,  at  the  end  of  that 
time  removing  to  New  York  where  he  continued 
to  practice  with  great  success  during  the  rest  of 
his  hfetime.  Dr.  Paine  will  long  be  remembered 
as  one  of  the  most  active  promoters  of  the  plan  to 
found  the  Medical  College  of  New  York  Univer- 
sity, and  from  his  intimate  association  with  the 
birth  of  that  institution  he  may  well  be  called  one 
of  its  founders.  With  five  others  he  occupied  a 
position  in  the  original  Faculty  when  it  commenced 
operations  in  1841,  and  in  that  relation  was  Pro- 
fessor of  the  Institutes  of  Medicine  and  Materia 
Medica  from  1841  to  1850,  and  Professor  of  Ther- 


MARTVN    PAINE 

apeutics  and  Materia  Medica  from  1850  to  1867. 
Of  the  beginning  of  the  Medical  College  a  detailed 
account  is  to  be  found  in  the  Historj'  of  New 
York  University,  with  some  mention  of  Dr.  Paine's 
part  in  the  proceedings  leading  to  the  establishing 
of  the  College.  Dr.  Paine  was  a  member  of  lead- 
ing medical  organizations  of  America  and  Europe, 
and  was  made  a  Doctor  of  Laws  by  the  University 
of  Vermont  in  1854.  A  notably  valuable  bibli- 
ography includes :  Medical  and  Physiological 
Commentaries,  3  vols.,  1840-1844;  Essays  on  the 
Philosophy  of  Vitalitv'  and  on  the  Modus  Oper- 
andi of  Remedial  Agents.  1842  :  A  Therapeutical 
Arrangement  of  Materia  Medica,   1842  ;  Physiol- 


ogy of  Digestion,  1844;  Defense  of  the  Medical 
Profession  of  tiie  United  States,  1847;  The  Insti- 
tutes of  Medicine,  1847,  9th  ed,  1870;  Organic 
Life  as  Distinguished  from  Chemical  and  IMiysical 
Doctrines,  1849;  Physiology  of  the  Soul  and 
Instinct  as  Distinguished  from  Materialism,  1848, 
1872  ;  and  a  Review  of  Theoretical  Geology,  1856. 
He  also  published  for  private  distribution  a 
memoir  of  his  son,  Robert  Troup  Paine,  and  wrote 
numerous  articles  in  the  medical  journals,  includ- 
ing a  series  appearing  editorially  in  the  New  York 
Medical  Press,  1859,  discussing  the  superiority 
of  medical  education  in  the  United  States  over 
that  of  Great  Britain.  Dr.  Paine  died  in  New 
York  City,  November  10,  1877.  * 


GREEN,  John  Cleve,  1800-1875. 

Councillor  1824-74  — Pres.  of  Council  1851-74  — Benefactor. 
Born  near    Lawrenceville,  N.  J.,  1800;    engaged  in 
foreign  shipping  business;  benefactor  of  the  Univer- 
sity,   and    member   of  the  Council,   1842-74;    Pres.    of 
Council,  1851-74;  died  1875. 

JOHN  CLEVE  GREEN  was  born  near  Law- 
renceville, New  Jersey,  April  4,  1800.  His 
paternal  ancestors  were  English,  on  his  mother's 
side  he  was  descended  from  Holland.  His  father's 
mother  was  a  grandaughter  of  the  Rev.  Jonathan 
Dickinson,  first  President  of  Princeton.  His  father 
was  Caleb  Smith  Green  and  his  motiier  Elizabeth 
(\'ancleve)  Green,  a  woman  of  excellent  endow- 
ment of  mind  and  will,  and  of  fer\ent  piety.  To 
her  influence  and  wise  counsel  Mr.  Green  attrib- 
uted much  of  his  subsequent  success  in  life.  At  fif- 
teen he  departed  from  his  father's  farm  and  went  to 
live  with  the  Rev.  Selah  S.  ^Voodhull  of  Brooklyn, 
his  uncle  by  marriage.  Subsequently  he  entered 
the  counting  room  of  N.  L.  &  G.  Griswold,  prom- 
inent at  that  time  among  the  shipping  merchants 
of  New  Y'ork  whose  vessels  before  the  era  of 
steam  traversed  ever)-  zone  and  traded  with  every 
part  of  the  world.  In  1823  he  was  sent  by  his 
firm  to  inspect  the  branches  or  representatives  of 
the  house  in  ports  of  Spain,  and  of  South 
America.  In  the  spring  of  1826  he  returned  but 
was  again  entrusted  with  an  important  commission 
and  in  a  few  weeks  sailed  in  the  ship  Panama  for 
South  America  and  China,  again  being  absent  t\vo 
years.  Until  1833  he  annually  made  a  voyage  to 
China,  superintending  in  Canton  the  loading  and 
dispatching    of    the    merchantmen    belonging  to 


46 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


Nathaniel  L.  &  George  Griswold.  In  1833  he 
engaged  himself  to  join  the  firm  of  Russell  & 
Company  at  Canton  for  three  j'ears  from  January 
I,  1834, but  when  early  in  1837  the  first  symptoms 
of  the  fearful  crisis  of  1837  became  discernible  in 
the  East,  he  determined  to  stay  on  to  guard  the 
commercial  interests  of  his  house  as  well  as  of 
their  correspondents  and  his  own.  Mr.  Green  in 
the  end  succeeded  Jn  removing  in  1839  his  own 
funds  to  London  and  New  York,  thus  closing  his 
career  in  the  East  with  a  reputation  for  ability  and 
integrity  rarely  equalled  and  never  surpassed.  In 
the  fall  of  1 84 1  he  married  one  of  the  younger 
daughters  of  George  Griswold.  In  the  next  year, 
1842,  he  took  a  seat  in  the  Council  of  New  York 
University  which  he  relinquished  only  a  short  time 
before  his  death.  His  benefactions  and  constant 
support  were  freely  given  to  the  New  York 
University,  while  in  his  will  he  made  a  princely 
bequest  to  Princeton,  from  which  the  John  C.  Green 
School  of  Science  in  that  institution  was  estab- 
lished. None  of  his  children  survived  him,  and 
his  widow  as  a  particular  memorial  established  in 
the  Society  Library  on  University  Place,  New 
York,  a  special  department  permanently  endowed, 
for  the  particular  acquisition  of  works  dealing  with 
the  fine  arts.  As  a  member  of  the  Chamber  of 
Commerce  which  he  joined  on  ]\Liy  5.  1859,  he 
generally  remained  in  the  background,  but  on  two 
occasions,  which  strongly  appealed  to  his  philan- 
thropic and  charitable  nature,  he  took  a  position 
of  active  leadership :  during  the  Civil  War  in  the 
movement  in  behalf  of  the  suffering  poor  of  Lan- 
cashire, and  in  October  187 1  when  Chicago  had 
been  laid  in  ashes.  Mr.  Green  died  at  his  home 
in  New  York  City,  April  29,  1875,  "^  ^'^^  beginning 
of  his  seventy-sixth  year.  e.  g.  s. 


SPRING,   Gardiner,  1785-1873. 

Member  of  Council  1843-73. 
Councilor  1843-74  —  President  pro  tem.  1846-49. 
Born  in  Newburyport,  Mass.,  1785  ;  graduated  at 
Yale,  1805;  studied  divinity  in  Andover,  Mass. ;  Pastor 
Presby.  Brick  Church,  New  York  City,  1810-1873; 
member  Council  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1843-73  ;  D.D.  Hamilton, 
1819;  LL.D.  Lafayette,  1853;  died  1873. 

GARDINER  SPRING,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  was  born 
in  Newburyport,  Massachusetts,  February 
24,  1785,  and  died  in  New  York  City.  August  18, 
1873.      He  was  descended  from  John  Spring,  who 


in  1634  embarked  from  Ipswich,  England,  and 
settled  in  Watertown,  Massachusetts,  near  Boston. 
One  of  his  descendants.  Colonel  John  Spring,  was 
a  leading  citizen  of  Uxbridge,  Massachusetts,  in 
1772,  and  owned  two  slaves,  emancipated  while 
held  by  Gardiner  Spring's  father,  Samuel  Spring ; 
the  husband  of  the  pair  remaining  Avith  Samuel 
Spring  when  slavery  was  abolished  by  law  in  Mass- 
achusetts. Samuel  Spring  graduated  from  Prince- 
ton in  177 1,  served  as  Chaplain  in  1775  in  the 
invasion  of  Canada,  and  was  Pastor  of  a  Congrega- 
tional Church  at  Newburyport,  Massachusetts, 
from    1777  to   18 1 9.     Gardiner  Spring  graduated 


GARDINKR    SPRINT, 

at  Yale  in  1805,  taught  in  Bermuda  two  years  and 
was  admitted  to  the  Bar  in  Massachusetts  in  1808. 
He  studied  divinity  in  Andover  instead  of  prac- 
tising law  and  became  Pastor  of  the  Presbyterian 
Brick  Church  in  New  York  City  in  18 10,  before 
the  second  war  with  England,  which  post  he  held 
as  active  Pastor  for  fifty  years,  relinquishing  it 
entirely  only  with  his  death.  The  Brick  Church 
was  at  first  on  the  site  of  the  present  Times  and 
Potter  Buildings,  Park  Row,  the  congregation  mov- 
ing to  their  new  edifice  on  Murray  Hill  in  1856. 
His  influence  as  Pastor  and  pastoral  writer  was 
fully  commensurate  to  the  extraordinary  length 
of  his  Pastorate.     During  this  pastoral  career  he 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


47 


declined  the  Presidency  of  Il.miilton  College  and 
of  Dartmouth  ("ollcge.  in  the  separation  of  New 
School  and  Old  School  in  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
Gardiner  Spring  remained  with  the  Old  School, 
although  he  did  not  approve  of  the  Kxscinding 
Acts  of  ICS37.  Mrs.  Spring  survived  their  golden 
wedding  (which  was  in  the  same  )ear  as  the 
removal  of  the  churcii  to  Thirty-seventh  Street 
and  Fifth  Avenue)  four  years.  In  the  same  year, 
i860,  on  October  16,  tlie  fiftietli  anniversary  of 
Dr.  Spring's  Pastorate  of  the  J5rick  Church  was 
celebrated.  On  one  occasion  in  his  life  Dr.  Spring 
as  an  old  man  of  seventy-six,  was  brought  into  a 
position  of  national  prominence.  It  was  at  the 
General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
May  1861,  held  at  Philadelphia  under  the  Moder- 
atorship  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Backus  of  Baltimore. 
Dr.  Spring  moved  a  resolution  setting  a  day  of 
prayer  in  view  of  the  national  situation  ;  the 
second  resolution  was  worded  thus:  "  Resolved,  etc.. 
That  the  General  Assembly  in  the  spirit  of  that 
Christian  patriotism  which  the  Scriptures  enjoin 
and  which  had  always  characterized  this  church,  do 
humbly  acknowledge  and  declare  our  obligations 
to  promote  and  perpetuate  so  far  as  in  us  lies,  the 
integrity  of  these  United  States,  and  to  strengthen, 
uphold  and  encourage  the  Federal  Government  in 
the  exercise  of  all  its  functions  under  our  Consti- 
tution;  and  to  this  Constitution,  in  all  its  provis- 
ions, requirements  and  principles,  we  profess  our 
unabated  loyalty."  To  this  was  appended  the  fol- 
lowing paragraph  on  the  motion  of  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Edwards  of  Philadelphia  :  "  And  to  avoid  all  mis- 
conceptions the  Assembly  do  declare,  that  by  the 
term  '  Federal  Government  '  as  here  used,  is  not 
meant  any  particular  Administration,  or  the  peculiar 
opinions  of  any  particular  party  ;  but  the  Central 
Administration,  which,  being  at  any  time  appointed 
and  inaugurated  according  to  the  form  prescribed 
in  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  is  the 
visible  representative  of  our  national  existence." 
There  was  a  spirited  parliamentary  contention 
concerning  this  resolution  :  "  there  was  a  strong 
combination  of  a  powerful  minority  to  shut  out  all 
discussion  and  all  action  upon  the  state  of  the 
country."  A  special  committee  on  these  resolutions 
reported,  eight  to  one,  to  abstain  from  any  further 
declaration  on  this  matter,  but  this  was  rejected  by 
the  Assembly,  and  Dr.  Spring's  resolutions  were 
adopted  by  a  vote  of  one  hundred  and  fifty-six  yeas 
to  sixty-six  nays.       Dr.    Spring   served    long  and 


faithfully  in  the  Council  of  New  York  University, 
but  he  was  never  Ciiancellor  a(f  interim.  He  died 
Augsut  18,  1873.  The  funeral  look  place  at  the 
Brick  Ciuirc  h  on  j-'riday  the  twenty-second ;  the 
remains  were  deposited  in  the  crypt  under 
the  church.  E.  g.  s. 


LOOMIS,  Elias,  1811    1889. 

Prof.  Natural  Philosophy  and  Mathematics,  1844-1860. 
Born  in  \A^illington,  Conn.,  181 1;  graduated  Yale, 
1830;  Tutor  at  Yale,  1833-36;  studied  in  Paris,  1836-37; 
Prof.  Math,  and  Nat.  Phil.  \A^estern  Reserve  College, 
Ohio,  1837-44;  Prof.  Nat.  Phil,  and  Math.  N.  Y.  Univ., 
1844-60;  Prof.  Nat.  Phil,  and  Astronomy  Yale,  1860- 
89;  LL.D.  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1854;  died  1889. 

ELIAS  LOOMIS,  LL.D.,  was  born  in  Willing- 
ton,  Connecticut,  August  7,  181 1,  and  died 
in  New  Haven,  Connecticut,  August  15,  1889.  A 
pupil  of  Silliman  and  Day  in  New  Haven,  he  was 
graduated  from  Yale  in  1830,  the  year  in  which  the 
corporation  of  New  York  University  was  definitely 
organized.  He  was  never  wedded  but  to  science, 
and  the  simple  needs  of  a  life  devoted  to  the 
teaching  and  promotion  of  science  alone,  together 
with  his  income  from  his  text-books,  permitted  liim 
in  the  course  of  a  long  life  of  seventy-eight  years 
to  amass  a  fortune  of  from  §250,000  to  §300,000, 
devised  for  the  promotion  of  astronomical  science. 
In  November  1834  for  two  weeks  from  four  to  six 
A.M.  with  Alexander  C.  Twining  of  West  Point  he 
made  observations  for  determining  the  altitude  of 
shooting  stars,  this  being  the  first  systematic  at- 
tempt in  this  line  of  research  made  in  the  United 
States.  In  1 834-1 835  he  made  exhaustive  and 
protracted  observations  on  the  declination  of  the 
magnetic  needle.  His  scientific  interests  were 
divided  between  pure  mathematics,  astronomy  and 
meteorolog)\  The  year  1836-1837  he  spent  at 
Paris,  having  previouslj'  discovered  Halley's  comet 
on  its  return  to  perihelion  in  1835,  and  having 
computed  the  elements  of  its  orbit  from  his  own 
observations.  \Miile  in  Paris  he  heard  the  lec- 
tures of  Arago,  Bios,  Dulong,  Poisson,  Pouillet  and 
others.  He  brought  from  F^urope  a  collection  of 
mathematical  and  physical  instruments  which  he 
applied  efficiently  during  a  seven-years  stay,  1837- 
1844,  as  Professor  in  the  Western  Reserve  Col- 
lege, Hudson,  Ohio,  a  region  in  everj'  way  a  colony 
of  Connecticut,  the  educational  interests  being  in 
close  relation  with  the  educational  centre  and  apex 
of  the  mother  countrv",  Yale.     F'rom  1844  to  i860 


48 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


he  was  Professor  of  Natural  Philosophy  and  Mathe- 
matics in  New  York  University.  Two  years  must, 
strictly  speaking,  be  subtracted  from  this  record  of 
time:  one,  when  he  retired  to  Princeton,  and 
another  one,  when  he  went  abroad  for  his  health. 
As  a  producer  of  didactic  books  Loomis  fovmd 
this  an  eminently  prolific  time  in  his  academic 
life ;  his  experience  with  the  students  at  Washing- 
ton Square  largely  determined  the  cast  and  draft  of 
many  manuals  which  were  issued  from  his  unwear)-- 
ing  pen  and  from  his  lucid  mind.  His  students 
testified  that  he  made  it  his  business  to  teach 
mathematics :    toward    doing    this    efficiently    and 


ELLAS    LOOMIS 

adequately  all  his  powers  were  devoted.  Rarely 
did  he  need  more  in  the  way  of  disciplinary  and 
monitory  measures  in  his  classroom  than  a  mod- 
erate raising  of  the  eyebrows.  He  lived  in 
bachelors'  quarters  not  far  from  Washington 
Square.  During  this  time  then  he  published : 
Plane  and  Spherical  Trigonometr}',  New  York, 
1848  ;  Progress  of  Astronomy,  1850  and  1856  ; 
Analytical  Geometry  and  Calculus  and  Elements 
of  Algebra,  1851;  Elements  of  Geometry  and 
Conic  Sections,  first  published  in  1851  ;  Tables  of 
Logarithms,  1855  ;  Natural  Philosophy,  1858. 
His  books,  used  in  most  of  the  Colleges  and  high 
schools  of  the  country,  reached  in  their  spread  and 


actual  use  the  great  number  of  half  a  million 
copies  ;  his  treatise  on  astronomy  has  been  used 
as  a  textbook  in  England ;  that  on  analytical 
geometry  and  calculus  has  been  translated  into 
Chinese  ;  his  treatise  on  meteorology  into  Arabic. 
He  aided  the  authorities  of  the  government  and 
current  geography  by  computations  of  the  longi- 
tude of  a  number  of  important  points  in  the  east- 
ern part  of  the  country.  The  first  observations  by 
which  the  velocit}'  of  the  electric  fluid  on  telegraph- 
wires  was  determined  were  made  on  January  23, 
1849,  between  Washington,  Philadelphia,  New 
York  and  Cambridge,  under  the  direction  of  Sears 
C.  Walker,  a  clock  in  Philadelphia  being-employed 
to  break  the  electric  circuit.  In  i860  Professor 
Loomis  became  the  successor  of  Olmstead  at  Yale, 
and  it  remains  a  significant  and  impressive  lesson 
of  the  narrow  limits  of  academic  promotion  forty 
and  fifty  years  ago  that  a  man  of  Loomis's  calibre 
had  to  wait  until  fifty  years  old  before  a  place  for 
him  opened  at  one  of  the  two  leading  American 
foundations.  At  Yale  Loomis  lived  for  twenty- 
nine  years  further,  his  intellectual  life,  if  we  may 
so  put  it,  being  perpetuated  by  his  splendid  be- 
quests to  his  old  College.  E.  G.  s. 


ABLER,  George  J.,  1821-1868. 

Professor  German,  1846-1854. 
Born  in  Leipzig,  Germany,  1821;  graduated  N.  Y. 
Univ.,  1844;  A.M.,  1847;  Prof.  German  at  the  Univer- 
sity, 1845-54,  and  in  Rutgers  Female  College,  1846- 
49;  compiled  Adler's  German  English  and  English 
German  Dictionary  ;  died  1868. 

GEORGE  J.  ADLER,  Author  and  Editor, 
was  born  in  Leipzig,  Germany,  in  1821, 
from  which  place  his  parents  emigrated  to  America 
in  1833,  and  settled  in  Buffalo,  New  York.  Pro- 
fessor Adler  entered  New  York  University  in  the 
Class  of  1844  and  graduated  as  Valedictorian. 
He  was  not  only  a  man  of  indefatigable  indus- 
try but  greatly  excelled  the  average  of  his  class- 
mates in  age  and  positive  maturit}'.  Dr.  Crosby 
frequently  referred  to  him  as  the  exemplar  of 
the  scholarly  and  brilliantly  industrious  student. 
With  the  narrow  limitations  of  academic  avocation 
in  the  United  States  in  his  day  he  could  not  do 
that  which  was  his  first  choice,  viz.,  devote  him- 
self to  classical  or  oriental  pursuits.  He  had  to 
content  himself  with  a  German  Professorship, 
which  at  that   time  was   purely  honorary  without 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


49 


any  salary  attached ;  giving  merely  the  opportu- 
nity of  teaching  those  who  took  German  as  an 
optional  and  gathering  what  fees  there  might  be. 
German  had  then  neither  for  scholars  nor  men 
of  affairs  the  importance  it  now  has.  The  most 
important  of  Adler's  works  was  a  compilation,  a 
voluminous  English-German  and  German-English 
Dictionary,  which  he  made  for  Appletons,  and 
which  he  completed  at  twenty-seven  years  of  age, 
four  years  after  he  left  College,  1848.  It  contained 
1374  pages  of  small  tricolumnar  print,  a  vast  labor 
for  so  young  a  man,  albeit  a  compilation,  a  work  of 
great  and  lasting  utility.  His  preface  closed  with 
the  semi-pathetic  words :  (it  includes  a  revealing 
of  the  consciousness  of  his  German  ancestry) 
"  Should  the  reception  of  this  work  prove  that  his 
aim  has  been  a  proper  and  useful  one  and  that  he 
has  succeeded  in  contributing  something  {propartt 
viri/i)  towards  bringing  the  Anglo  as  well  as  the 
Saxon  to  a  new  and  proud  consciousness  of  their 
primeval  identity  of  origin  and  mind,  the  editor 
would  feel  himself  in  a  measure  requited  for  the 
many  days  and  nights  of  toil  which  with  only  an 
occasional  murmur,  lie  has  willingly  sacrificed  to 
his  purpose  —  nay,  he  could  almost  entertain  that 
his  life  had  not  been  without  a  noble  object." 
The  most  critical  and  scholarly  production  how- 
ever that  came  from  Adler's  pen  was  his  Notes  on 
Certain  Passages  of  The  Agamemnon  of  Aeschylus, 
1 86 1.  This  series  of  critical  and  explanatory 
notes  on  this  play  (1-3 12)  exhibits  accurate  and 
independent  scholarship.  To  the  classical  scholar 
it  is  a  sombre  thought  to  realize  that  in  1861  in 
New  York  and  Brooklyn  in  a  joint  population  of 
some  one  million  there  were  but  two  academic 
teachers  who  could  devote  their  lives  to  Greek 
literature  in  its  loftier  and  wider  aspects,  and  that 
of  these  two  Adler  was  not  one.  Adler  died  in 
1868  at  forty-seven  years  of  age,  having  previously 
suffered  for  a  while  from  temporary  mental  aber- 
ration, a  suffering  not  inexplicable  when  we  con- 
sider the  excessive  labor  in  which  the  faculties  of 
young  manhood  were  consumed  in  the  vast  labor 
of  dictionary  making.  New  York  had  no  fit 
environment  for  this  gifted  and  industrious 
scholar.  e.  g.  s. 


Bar,  1843;  Pres.  Elizabeth  and  Somcrville  Railroad 
(now  Central  Railroad  of  N.  J.),  1848-77;  member 
Council  of  the  University,  1846-93;  Vice  Pres.,  1851- 
72;  Pres.,  1872-86;  LL.D.  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1889;  died 
1893. 

JOHN  TAYLOR  J(  )IINSTON,LL.l).,  was  born 
in  New  York  City,  April  8,  1820,  of  old  New 
York  merchant  stock.  His  fatiier  was  John  John- 
ston, one  of  the  first  shareholders  of  New  York  Uni- 
versity and  subsequently  a  member  of  the  Council, 
of  the  firm  of  Boorman,  Johnston  &  Company.  His 
mother  was  Margaret  (Taylor)  Johnston,  daughter 
of  John  Taylor.  Both  of  his  parents  were  of 
Scotch  birth.  He  received  a  part  of  his  early  edu- 
caticm  in  the  Edinburgh  High  School.  Graduating 
from  New  York  University  in  1839  he  studied  law  in 
the  Yale  Law  School.  He  practiced  law  but  a  few 
years  and  in  1848  at  twenty-eight  years  of  age  was 
induced  to  take  the  Presidency  of  the  insignificant 
Somerville  t*t  Eastern  Railroad  which  he  and  his 
associates  developed  into  what  is  now  known  as 
the  Central  Railroad  of  New  Jersey.  He  remained 
as  President  until  1877  when  he  resigned  and 
retired  from  active  business.  He  was  always 
interested  in  art,  and  his  picture  gallery  was  up  to 
the  time  of  its  sale  and  dispersion  in  1877  the 
most  important  in  the  United  States.  He  was  a 
natural  leader  in  organizing  the  Metropolitan 
Museum  of  Art  and  gave,  from  its  first  inception 
until  his  infirmities  incapacitated  him  from  all 
business,  his  watchful  and  earnest  care.  He  was 
the  first  President  and  continued  to  occupy  this 
ofiice  until  1889.  He  married  in  185 1  Frances, 
daughter  of  James  Colles,  and  died  at  No.  8  Fifth 
Avenue,  New  York,  March  24,  1893.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  Council  of  the  University  from 
1846  to  1893,  Vice-President  from  185 1  to  1872, 
President  of  the  Council  1872  to  1886;  a  Director 
of  the  Union  Theological  Seminar}',  President  of 
St.  Andrew's  Society,  and  President  of  the  Board 
of  Governors  of  the  Women's  Hospital  of  the 
State  of  New  York.  His  important  services  to 
New  York  I'niversity  are  more  fully  related  in 
the  histor)'  of  the  institution.  E.  g.  s. 

[See  portrait  page  122,  Part  L] 


JOHNSTON,  John  Taylor,  1820-1893. 

Councillor  1846-93,  President  of  Council  1872-86. 
Born  in  New  York  City,  1820;  graduated  N.  Y.  Univ., 
1839;  attended  Yale  Law  School,  1839-41;  admitted  to 


DICKSON.    Samuel  Henry,  1798-1872. 

Professor  Practice  of  Medicine  1847- 1850. 
Born    in    Charleston,    S.   C,   1798;    graduated    Yale, 
1814;  M.    A.    in    course;    M.    D.    Univ.    of   Pa.,    1819; 
practiced  in  Charleston ;  Prof.  Institutes  and  Practice 


5° 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR    SONS 


of  Medicine  Medical  College  of  S.  C,  1824-47  and  1850- 
58;  Prof.  Practice  of  Medicine  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1847-50; 
Prof,  in  Jefferson  Medical  College,  Philadelphia,  1858- 
72;  LL.D.  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1853;  author;  died  1872. 

SAMUEL  HENRY  DICKSON,  M.D.,  LL.D., 
was  born  in  Charleston,  South  CaroHna, 
September  20,  1798,  of  Scotch  ancestrj'.  His 
father,  who  came  to  this  country  from  Ireland, 
fought  ckiring  the  Revolution  under  General 
Lincoln,  the  American  officer  chosen  by  Washington 
to  receive  the  sword  of  Cornwallis  at  the  Yorktown 
surrender.  Dr.  Dickson  graduated  from  Yale  in 
1814,  receiving  the  Master's  degree  in  course,  and 
after  studying  medicine  for  a  time  in  Charleston 
he  entered  the  Medical  Department  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  Pennsylvania,  He  received  his  medical 
degree  in  1819,  and  returning  to  his  native  city 
soon  gained  an  extensive  practice  there.  Dr. 
Dickson's  first  medical  teaching  was  in  1823  when 
he  lectured  on  Physiology  and  Pathology  to  a 
small  body  of  medical  students.  The  success  of 
this  course  of  lectures  doubtless  stimulated  him  to 
activity  in  promotmg  the  foundation  of  a  Medical 
College  in  Charleston,  and  in  1824,  on  the  organi- 
zation of  the  Medical  College  of  South  Carolina, 
he  became  Professor  of  the  Institutes  and  Prac- 
tice of  Medicine.  From  1847  to  1850  he  was 
Professor  of  the  Practice  of  Medicine  at  New  York 
University,  and  then  returned  to  his  former  chair 
in  the  Medical  College  of  South  Carolina.  In 
1858  he  accepted  an  appointment  to  a  similar 
Professorship  in  the  Jefferson  Medical  College  in 
Philadelphia,  and  there  continued  until  his  death. 
He  was  made  a  Doctor  of  Laws  by  New  York 
University  in  1853.  Dr.  Dickson  was  a  constant 
contributor  to  medical  and  general  literature,  his 
writings  displaying  an  accurate  knowledge  ex- 
pressed in  a  finished  and  easy  style.  Among  the 
numerous  shorter  articles  of  his  bibliography  may 
be  mentioned :  The  Pursuit  of  Happiness,  an 
address  delivered  before  the  Yale  Society  of  Phi 
Beta  Kappa,  and  a  pamphlet  on  the  slavery 
question,  arguing  the  racial  inferiority  of  the 
negro.  His  published  volumes  are:  Dengue,  its 
History,  Patholog}\  and  Treatment,  Philadelphia, 
1826;  Manual  of  Pathology  ;  Practice  of  Medicine, 
2  vols..  New  York ;  Essays  on  Pathology  and 
Therapeutics,  2  vols.,  1845  ;  Essays  on  Life, 
Sleep,  Pain,  etc.,  1852  ;  Elements  of  Medicine. 
1855  ;  and  Studies  in  Patholog}' and  Therapeutics, 
1867.     He  died  in  Philadelphia,  March  31,  1872. 


DAVIES,  Charles,  1798-1876. 

Professor  Mathematics  and  Natural  Philosophy,  1848-49. 

Born  in  Washington,  Conn.,  1798;  graduated  U.  S. 
Mil.  Acad.,  West  Point,  1815  ;  Asst.  Prof.  Math.  'West 
Point,  1816-23,  and  Prof.  1823-37;  Prof.  Math.  Trinity 
College,  Hartford,  Conn.,  1839-41  ;  Paymaster,  U.S.A. 
and  Treas.  Mil.  Acad.,  West  Point,  1841-46:  Prof. 
Math,  and  Natural  Phil.  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1848-49:  Prof. 
Higher  Math.,  Columbia,  1857-65;  and  Emeritus  1865- 
76  ;  A.  M.  (Hon.)  Princeton,  1824,  Williams  1825  :  LL.D. 
Geneva,  1840,  Union,  1841 ;  died  1876. 

CHARLES  DAVIES,  LL.D.,  Mathematician, 
was  born  in  Washington,  Litchfield  county, 
Connecticut,  January  22,  1798.  His  early  years 
were  passed  on  a  farm  in  St.  Lawrence  county.  New 
York,  at  that  time  an  unsettled  section,  where  his 
father  removed  while  Charles  was  yet  a  boy.  At 
the  age  of  fifteen  he  received  appointment  as  cadet 
in  the  United  States  Military  Academy  at  West 
Point,  where  he  completed  the  course  of  instruction 
in  two  years,  graduating  in  18 15  and  being 
assigned  to  the  light  artillery.  He  was  transferred 
to  the  Engineer  Corps  the  following  year  and 
stationed  at  West  Point,  but  soon  resigned  from 
the  service  to  become  Principal  Assistant  Professor 
of  Mathematics  and  Natural  and  Experimental 
Philosophy  in  the  Military  Academy  there.  He 
served  seven  years  in  this  position  and  was  then, 
in  1823,  made  full  Professor  of  Mathematics,  hold- 
ing that  chair  until  failing  health,  consequent 
upon  overwork  in  the  preparation  of  his  mathemati- 
cal text-books,  forced  him  to  resign  and  seek 
restoration  in  foreign  travel.  After  two  years  of 
rest  he  was  able  to  resume  his  educational  work  as 
Professor  of  Mathematics  at  Trinity  (College, 
Hartford,  ('onnecticut,  but  in  1841  was  again  com- 
pelled to  relax  his  exacting  labors.  He  was  then 
appointed  Paymaster  in  the  United  States  Academy, 
with  the  rank  of  Major,  and  made  Treasurer  of 
the  West  Point  Academy,  a  position  which  he  held 
from  1 84 1  to  1846.  After  a  short  service  as 
Professor  of  Mathematics  and  Natural  Philosophy 
in  New  York  University  he  occupied  himself,  from 
1849  to  1857,  in  the  completion  of  his  series  of 
text-books,  and  in  the  latter  year  accepted  the 
Chair  of  the  Higher  Mathematics  in  Columbia, 
where  he  remained  for  the  rest  of  his  life.  He 
retired  from  the  active  duties  of  the  Professorship  in 
1865,  retaining  his  connection  as  Emeritus  Professor 
from  that  date.  Professor  Davies  was  one  of  the 
foremost  scholars  of  the  century  in  the  field  of 
pure   mathematics,   his  text-books  on  this  science 


UNI^'ERSITIES   yiNI)    T/II-JR    SONS 


5J 


forming  a  complete  series  from  a  primary  arilh- 
metic  to  the  calculus,  and  in  applied  mathematics 
his  works  on  surveying  and  navigation  and  on 
shades,  shadows  and  perspective  hold  an  eciually 
high  place  as  standards.  He  received  the  honor- 
ary degree  of  Master  of  Arts  from  Princeton  in 
1824,  and  from  Williams  in  1X25,  and  that  of 
Doctor  of  Laws  from  (Icnc\a  College  in  1S40  and 
from  Union  in  the  following  year,  lie  died  at 
Fishkill  Landing,  New  York,  September  17,  1876. 


GROSS,  Samuel  David,  1805-1884. 

Professor  Surgery,  1850. 
Born  in  Easton,  Pa.,  1805;  graduated  Jefferson 
Medical  College,  1828;  Dam.  of  Anat.  Medical  College 
of  Ohio,  1833-35,  and  Prof.  Pathological  Anat.,  1835-40; 
Prof.  Surgery  Univ.  of  Louisville,  Ky.,  1840-56,  in  N.  Y. 
Univ.  one  term  in  1850,  in  Jefferson  Medical  College, 
1856-82;  D.C.L.  Oxford,  England,  1872;  LL.D.  Cam- 
bridge, England,  1872  ;  a  noted  medical  investigator 
and  inventor,  and  author  of  many  valuable  writings; 
died  1884. 

SAMUEL  DAVID  GROSS,  M.I).,  D.C.L., 
LL.D.,  was  born  in  Easton,  Pennsylvania, 
July  8,  1805.  He  graduated  at  Jefferson  Medical 
College,  Philadelphia,  in  1828,  and  established  a 
successful  practice  in  the  town  of  his  birth.  In 
1833  his  career  as  a  teacher  of  medicine  com- 
menced with  an  appointment  as  Demonstrator  of 
Anatomy  in  the  Medical  College  of  Ohio  in  Cincin- 
nati, from  which  position  he  was  advanced  to  the 
Professorship  of  Pathological  Anatomy  after  two 
years,  and  in  that  relation  he  presented  the  first 
regular  course  of  lectures  on  morbid  anatomy  ever 
delivered  in  this  countr)\  In  1840  he  resigned 
at  Cincinnati  to  accept  a  place  of  higher  promise  at 
the  University  of  Louisville,  Kentucky.  Dr.  Val- 
entine Mott  retired  from  the  Chair  of  General 
Surgery  at  New  York  University  in  1850,  and  Dr. 
Gross  succeeded  him ;  destined,  however,  to 
continue  but  for  one  term,  as  the  urgent  request  of 
his  associates  in  the  University  of  Louisville 
induced  him  to  return  to  his  former  work  there. 
Dr.  Gross  was  a  founder  and  at  one  time  Presi- 
dent of  the  Kentucky  State  Medical  Society,  and 
while  in  that  state  he  published  a  Report  on 
Kentucky  Surgerj-,  in  which  he  argued  in  favor  of 
the  claim  of  Dr.  Ephraim  McDowell  to  originating 
the  practice  of  ovariotomy.  In  1856  Dr.  Gross 
entered  the  Professorship  of  Surgery  in  Jefferson 
Medical  College  and  there  continued  until  within 


two  years  of  his  death  —  a  period  of  twenty-six 
years.  On  account  of  his  deep  learning,  his  many 
discoveries  in  relation  to  medical  science,  his 
abundant  contributions  to  medical  literature  and 
his  remarkable  skill  and  inventive  resource  as  a 
surgeon  he  became  widely  known  on  both  sides  of 
the  Atlantic,  and  was  allied  with  numerous  medical 
organizations.  In  a.s.sociation  with  Dr.  Da  Costa 
he  founded  the  Philadelphia  Pathological  Society, 
and  was  its  first  President,  and  was  by  unanimous 
vote  elected  President  of  the  International  Medical 
Congress  which  met  in  Philadelphia  in  September 
1876.  He  was  also  a  member  of  the  Royal  Medi- 
cal Society  of  Vienna,  the  American  Medical  Asso- 
ciation, of  which  he  was  President  in  1867,  the 
Royal  Medico-Chirugical  Society  of  London,  and 
British  Medical  A.s.sociation.  In  1.872,  while  he 
was  on  his  second  European  visit,  he  was  made  a 
Doctor  of  Civil  Laws  on  the  occasion  of  the  one- 
thousandth  commemoration  of  Oxford,  and  received 
the  degree  Doctor  of  Laws  from  Cambridge.  In 
surgical  practice  he  was  the  first  to  suture  divided 
nerves  and  tendons,  to  wire  the  ends  of  bones  in 
dislocations  of  a  certain  order,  to  practice  laparot- 
omy in  treating  rupture  of  the  bladder  and  to 
employ  various  other  surgical,  methods  discovered 
by  himself.  Of  his  inventions  of  surgical  instru- 
ments two  of  the  most  notable  are  a  tourniquet  for 
use  in  e.xtracting  foreign  bodies  from  the  nose  or 
ear  and  an  apparatus  for  use  in  practicing  the 
tranfusion  of  blood.  Dr.  Gross's  authorship  was 
extensive  and  of  great  value  to  the  profession, 
beginning  in  early  life  and  being  continued  for 
years  with  singular  energy.  In  company  with  Dr. 
T.  G.  Richardson  he  published  the  Louisville 
Medical  Review  in  1856,  and  subsequently  they 
founded  the  North  American  Medico-Chirugical 
Review.  A  partial  bibliography  includes :  Dis- 
eases and  Injuries  of  the  Bones  and  Joints, 
Philadelphia,  1830  ;  Elements  of  Pathological 
Anatomy,  1839  ;  Wounds  of  the  Intestines,  1843  ; 
Results  of  Surgical  Operations  in  Malignant  Dis- 
eases, 1853  ;  Foreign  Bodies  in  the  Air-Passages, 
1854;  Report  on  the  Cau.ses  which  Retard  the 
Progress  of  American  Medical  Literature,  1856; 
System  of  Surger}',  1859  :  Manual  of  Militar}' 
Surger)'.  1861  ;  John  Hunter  and  his  Pupils, 
1 86 1  ;  History  of  American  Medical  Literature, 
1875  ;  ^"d  with  others,  Centur)-  of  American 
Medicine,  1876.  Dr.  Gross  died  in  Philadelphia, 
May  6,  1884.  * 


52 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


POST,  Alfred  Charles,   1806-1886. 

Professor  Surgery  1851-75,  Emeritus  1875-86. 

Born  in  New  York  City,  1806 ;  graduated  Columbia, 
1822;  M.  D.  College  Phys.  and  Surg.,  1827;  studied  in 
Paris,  Berlin  and  Edinburgh,  1827-29;  practicing  phy- 
sician and  surgeon  in  New  York  City,  1829-86; 
Dem.  Anat.,  College  Phys.  and  Surg.,  1831-35;  Prof. 
Ophthalm.  Surgery,  Castleton  Med.  College,  Vt.,  1842, 
of  Surgery,  1843;  Prof.  Surg.  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1851-75, 
Emeritus,  1875-86  ;  Pres.  Med.  Faculty,  1873-86  ;  LL.D. 
N.  Y.  Univ.,  1872;  inventor  and  author;  died  1886. 

ALFRED  CHARLES  POST,  M.D.,  LL.D., 
was  born  in  New  York  City,  January  13, 
1806,  son  of  Joel  and  Elizabeth  (Browne)  Post. 
The  original  American  member  of  the  family, 
Richard  Post,  came  from  England  in  early  colonial 
times  and  settling  on  Long  Lsland  became  one  of 
the  founders  of  the  town  of  Soutliampton.  Joel 
Post,  born  on  Long  Island,  was  a  prominent  mer- 
chant, a  member  of  the  firm  J.  &  J.  Post  of  New 
York  City.  He  owned  a  countrj'  seat,  which  in- 
cluded the  present  site  of  (Grant's  tomb  on  River- 
side Drive.  His  son,  Alfred  C.  Post,  was  at  first 
educated  in  Nelson's  Grammar  S«hool  in  his  native 
city,  and  at  the  age  of  sixteen  graduated  in  Arts  at 
Columbia,  a  member  of  the  Class  of  1822.  In 
1827  he  completed  the  course  of  medicine  at  the 
New  York  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons 
(now  united  with  Columbia)  and  received  the 
degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine.  After  two  years  of 
advanced  study  in  Paris,  Berlin  and  lOdinburgh, 
he  e.stablished  himself  in  professional  practice  in 
New  York  ("ity  where  his  work  continued  until 
death;  he  attained  especial  success  as  a  surgeon 
in  this  pri\ate  practice.  For  fifty  years  he  was 
connected  with  the  New  York  Hospital  as  attend- 
ing or  consulting  surgeon,  and  also  held  consulting 
relations  with  St.  Luke's,  the  Presbyterian  and  the 
Women's  Hospitals.  Dr.  Post  commenced  iiis 
teaching  career  as  1  )enionstrator  of  Anatomy  in 
the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  where  he 
remained  from  1831  to  1835.  In  1842  he  was 
called  to  the  Castleton  Medical  College  in  Yer- 
mont  as  Professor  of  Ophthalmic  Surgerv".  becom- 
ing Professor  of  the  Principles  and  Practice  of 
Surgery  in  1844.  From  185 1  to  1875  he  was 
Professor  of  Surgery  in  New  York  LTniversit)'  and 
upon  his  retirement  from  active  duty  in  the  latter 
year  he  was  made  Emeritus  Professor.  From  1873 
he  was  President  of  the  Medical  Faculty.  Po.s- 
sessing  great  skill  and  an  accurate  knowledge  of 
his  subject   he    performed    his   operations  in  the 


LTniversity  clinic  with  a  singular  dexterity  and 
rapidity  which  attracted  a  large  attendance  of 
students,  who  listened  eagerly  to  his  lucid,  enthu- 
siastic explanations  of  the  cases  as  they  came  under 
his  instruments.  As  the  first  surgeon  to  operate 
for  stammering  and  as  the  discoverer  of  a  new 
method  of  performing  bi-lateral  lithotomy,  he  oc- 
cupies a  unique  position  in  the  history  of  Ameri- 
can surgery.  Yarious  instruments  and  surgical 
appliances  also  resulted  from  his  inventive  faculty  ; 
notably  a  canula  constructed  to  slide  on  a  rod 
with  kni\es  on  each  side,  for  use  in  performing 
lithotomy  to  enter  through  the  prostate  gland. 
Dr.  Post  was  a  member  of  several  important  socie- 
ties both  in  this  country  and  in  Europe  ;  he  was 
President  of  the  New  York  Academy  of  Medicine 
in  1867-1868,  President  of  the  New  York  Medi- 
cal Missionarj'  A.ssociation,  and  a  Director  of  the 
Union  Theological  Seminary.  In  1872  the  degree 
Doctor  of  Laws  was  conferred  upon  him  by  New 
"S'ork  I'niversity.  Among  many  important  writ- 
ings are  :  Club  Foot ;  Stone  in  the  Bladder  ;  Cicat- 
rical Contractions  ;  Contractions  of  Palmar  Fascia  ; 
Reports  on  Stricture  of  the  I'rethra  ;  Strabismus, 
with  an  Appendix  on  Stammering.  1840.  Dr. 
Post  died  in  New  York  C'ity.  Februarj'  7,  1886, 
survived  by  seven  of  his  eleven  children.  His 
son.  George  E.  Post,  of  Beyrout,  Syria,  became  a 
noted  surgeon.  * 


MARTIN,    Benjamin   Nicholas,    1816-1883. 

Professor  Philosophy,  1853-83. 

Born  in  Mt.  Holly,  N.J.,  1816;  graduated  Yale, 
1837;  studied  at  Yale  Theol.  Sem.,  1837-40;  Pastor  in 
New  York  City,  Hadley,  Mass.,  and  Albany,  N.Y., 
1840-52 ;  Prof.  Psychology,  Ethics,  Logic,  Rhetoric, 
Hist,  and  Eng.  Lit.  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1852-83  ;  D.D.  Colum- 
bia, 1862;  L.H.D.  Regents  Univ.  State  of  N.  Y.,  1869; 
died  1883. 

BENJAMIN  NICHOLAS  MARTIN,  L.H.D., 
D.D.,  was  born  in  Mt.  Holly,  New  Jer.sey, 
October  20.  1816.  and  entered  "\ale  at  seventeen 
in  1833.  He  was  graduated,  says  C.  F.  Halstead, 
New  York  University,  1884,  "in  the  somewhat 
distinguished  Class  of  1837,  together  with  Chief- 
Justice  ^Va^te  of  the  Ignited  States  Supreme  Court. 
Hon.  William  ]\L  Evarts.  Professors  Lyman  and 
Silliman  the  younger  of  Yale  and  other  men 
who  acquired  prominence  afterwards."  Imme- 
diately after  graduation  he  entered  Yale  Theo- 
logical   Seminary.      Here    he    was     particularly 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR    SONS 


53 


influenced  by  Dr.  N.  W.  Ta}lor  to  whom  he  owed 
much,  particularly  in  I'hilosopiiy.  From  1.S40  to 
1852  he  was  engaged  in  pastoral  duties  in  New 
York  C-ity.  Hadley,  Mass.,  and  Albany,  N.Y.  In 
1852  he  became  the  succes.sor  of  Caleb  Sprague 
Henry  in  the  Chair  of  Psychology  and  Ethics  in 
New  York  University,  and  subsequently  took  in 
addition  the  Profe.s.sorship  of  Logic,  Rhetoric,  His- 
tory and  English  Literature,  work  to-day  assigned 
to  five  or  six  teachers.  At  the  time  of  his  death 
Dr.  Martin  was  an  active  and  energetic  member  of 
the  Society  for  Prevention  of  Crime,  the  Evan- 
gelical Alliance,  the  American  Foreign  Christian 
Union,  the  Academy  of  Sciences  and  the  Institute 
of  Christian  Philosophy.  To  that  ceaseless  activ- 
ity which  characterized  his  whole  life  was  due,  in 
great  measure,  his  sudden  and  unexpected  death. 
Having  contracted  a  severe  cold  while  attending 
to  his  duties  at  the  University  on  Monday,  Decem- 
ber 24,  1883,  he  was  seized  on  his  return  home 
with  acute  bronchitis,  which  resulted  in  death  on 
Wednesday,  December  26,  1883.  As  an  instructor 
Dr.  Martin  was  incomparable.  Bringing  to  the 
professional  chair  such  a  variety  of  accomplish- 
ments together  with  a  mildness  and  gentleness  of 
disposition,  he  won  not  only  the  admiration  and 
respect,  but  even  the  love  of  the  students.  Lucid 
in  explanation,  he  yet  avoided  that  excessive 
simplicity  which  so  often  offends  undergraduate 
dignity.  Comprehensive  in  discussion  and  accu- 
rate in  analysis,  he  never  indulged  in  that  prolixity 
which  often  makes  the  class-room  tedious.  In  the 
words  of  Chancellor  John  Hall:  "He  imparted  his 
instruction  not  with  pretentious  eloquence,  but  with 
a  manly  simplicity  born  of  a  genuine  Christian 
character."  He  received  the  degree  of  Doctor  of 
Divinity  from  Columbia  College  in  1862  and  that 
of  Doctor  of  Humanities  from  the  Regents  of  the 
State  in  1869.  "As  a  teacher,"  Dr.  Crosby  wrote 
of  him  after  Professor  Martin's  death.  "  he  was 
honored  and  beloved  by  his  pupils.  Thev  both 
recognized  his  large  learning  and  his  keen  insight 
into  the  relation  of  things,  and  appreciated  his 
personal  interest  in  their  intellectual  and  moral 
improvement.  ...  In  disposition  he  was  gentle 
and  loving,  bearing  patiently  with  the  dull  and 
the  unruly  alike,  and  amply  rewarding  the  diligent 
by  his  sympathy  and  assistance.  He  was  a  friend 
to  the  poor  and  distressed,  and  out  of  his  own 
circumscribed  means  was  ever  ready  to  communi- 
cate to  the  wants  of  others.      His  interest  in  public 


affairs  was  that  of  the  patriot  and  philanthropist. 
.  .  .  He  was  equally  familiar  with  physical  and 
metaphysical  studies.  Every  department  t^f  nat- 
ural science  attracted  him  into  its  paths  of  dis- 
covery, and  botanist,  zoologist,  geologist  and 
mineralogist  found  him  conversant  with  the  latest 
knowledge  of  their  several  special  fields.  His 
c|uick  and  acti\e  mind  was  always  ready  to  spec- 
ulate wisely  in  the  various  fields  of  observation, 
and  natural  science  is  indebted  to  him  for  many 
valuable  hints.  His  theory  of  the  Unity  of  Force, 
which  included  the  attractions  of  cohesion  and 
gravitation  in  one  formula,  belongs  to  the  highest 
order  of  philosophic   thought."       His   discussions 


BENJAMIN    N.     MARTIN 

and  reviews  were  published  in  the  Biblical  Reposi- 
tory, the  New  Englander,  the  Presbyterian  Quar- 
terly Review,  Christian  Thought,  Proceedings  of 
Regents'  Convocation,  State  of  New  York,  and 
elsewhere.  We  have  been  favored  by  Professor 
Borden  P.  Bowne  of  Boston  University,  the  dis- 
tinguished philosophical  author  and  a  former  pupil 
of  Professor  Martin,  with  the  following  sketch  : 
'■  I  have  always  held  Professor  Martin  in  the  high- 
est esteem  both  personally  and  for  his  work's  sake. 
He  was  not  indeed  familiar  with  some  of  the  pro- 
founder  speculations  which  have  sprung  out  of  the 
Kantian    philosophy,  but    he  was  far  better  fur- 


54 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR   SONS 


nished  for  his  work  than  most  of  the  teachers  of 
Philosophy  in  our  schools  at  that  time.  Moreover 
he  was  enthusiastic  in  his  work,  both  because  of 
his  own  speculative  interest,  and  because  of  his 
conviction  of  its  profound  practical  significance. 
My  own  College  life,  1867-187 1,  was  about  at  the 
deepest  depth  of  the  confusion  in  the  speculative 
and  religious  world,  arising  from  the  great  physi- 
cal and  biological  generalizations  of  the  last  half 
century ;  and  Professor  Martin  was  our  great 
helper  in  maintaining  or  recovering  our  equil- 
ibrium. His  work  as  mediator  enabled  us  to  pass 
from  the  old  to  the  new  by  evolution  rather  than 
by  revolution,  and  saved  many  of  us  from  dis- 
astrous revolt.  Other  members  of  the  Faculty 
were  as  good  as  he  but  their  work  did  not  lie  so 
near  the  firing  line.  The  great  value  of  Professor 
Martin's  work  lies,  I  conceive,  in  this  intellectual 
mediation.  In  addition  his  personal  influence 
was  great.  He  was  a  model  of  intellectual  can- 
dor and  fairness  in  his  dealings  Avith  us.  There 
was  no  attempt  at  intimidation,  and  he  had  bound- 
less patience  with  any  objections  that  our  ferment- 
ing intellects  could  conjure  up.  This  was  notably 
the  case  with  regard  to  religious  matters.  He 
took  our  difficulties  for  what  they  generally  were, 
marks  of  immaturity,  and  dealt  with  us  so  wisely 
and  graciously  that  we  suffered  no  harm.  He 
would  not  defend  the  truth  itself  except  in  w^ays 
which  commanded  his  own  reason,  and  generally 
they  commanded  ours.  And  whatever  changes  of 
opinion  later  study  may  have  brought  about  in  my 
own  case,  they  have  in  no  way  diminished  my  im- 
pression of  Professor  Martin's  mental  fulness,  of 
his  all-sided  intellectual  interest,  of  his  deep  prac- 
tical wisdom,  of  his  warm-hearted  humanity,  and 
of  a  certain  knightly  candor  and  courage,  which 
gave  an  especial  charm  to  his  character."  The 
following  extract  is  from  J.J.  Stevenson's  obituary 
memorial  of  Benjamin  N.  Martin,  published  in 
Transactions  New  York  Academy  of  Science, 
Volume  III,  p.  57,  1884:  "Professor  Martin's 
acquirements  were  remarkable.  He  began  his 
studies  in  science  when  most  of  the  branches  now 
so  important  were  in  their  infancy,  ^^'itl^  rare 
power  he  seized  the  salient  points  in  each  subject, 
and  with  careful,  systematic  study  he  kept  himself 
well  abreast  with  the  advances  of  the  succeeding 
thirty  years.  He  was  not  an  expert  in  Zoolog)-. 
or  Geology,  or  Mineralog)',  or  Molecular  Physics  ; 
but  he  was  so  well  grounded  in  the  general  prin- 


ciples of  each  that  no  geologist,  or  zoologist,  or 
mineralogist  ever  conversed  with  him  for  an  hour 
without  gaining  some  new  conception,  without 
feeling  broadened,  without  feeling  that  he  had 
talked  with  one  who  had  reached  the  higher  planes 
of  Philosophy.  This  breadth  of  information  ga\'e 
him  a  wonderful  power  as  an  Instructor  in  Meta- 
physics —  as  an  instructor  in  any  branch.  He 
was  encyclopedic  himself ;  he  made  his  students 
so  also.  Other  instructors  taught  their  specialties, 
but  Professor  Martin,  in  addition  to  his  own  work, 
taught  the  student  to  gather  all  together,  to  assort 
the  information  and  to  put  away  every  fact  in  its 
own  place  along  with  those  related  to  it.  So  the 
thoughtful  student,  when  done  with  Professor 
Martin's  immediate  instruction,  went  away  a  well 
furnished  man.  often  surprising  his  seniors  in  age 
and  acquirements  by  his  stock  of  general  informa- 
tion, so  well  assorted  and  so  easily  available.  That 
Professor  Martin  was  a  great  thinker,  his  published 
essays  prove  ;  that  he  was  a  great  teacher,  more 
than  a  thousand  pupils  affirm ;  but  more  than 
thinker,  more  than  teacher,  he  was  great  in  those 
higher  attributes  which  gain  for  a  man  not  merely 
the  respect  but  also  the  affection  of  those  with 
whom  he  is  brought  into  contact.  Though  knowing 
no  fear  of  man  in  his  defence  of  principle,  his  great 
heart  was  overflowing  with  kindness.  Throughout 
his  life  he  was  a  fitting  exemplification  of  the 
religion  which  commands  —  '  Do  ye  unto  others  as 
ye  would  that  they  should  do  to  you.'  Like  his 
great  Master,  he  literally  went  about  doing  good. 
When  he  conferred  a  favor,  he  imposed  no  obli- 
gation; he  demanded  no  gratitude,  and  therefore 
seldom  failed  to  recei\e  it.  \\'herever  good  could 
be  done,  he  was  there  to  do  it.  He  visited 
the  sick  in  hospitals ;  he  carried  sunshine  into 
many  a  dreary  tenement  ;  he  lifted  the  load  from 
many  a  drear}'  heart.  He  believed,  in  his  practice, 
tiiat  '  pure  religion,  and  undefiled,  is  to  visit  the 
widow  and  fatherless,  and  to  keep  one's  self 
unspotted  from  the  world.'  "  During  the  stormy 
season  of  1878-1881  Professor  Martin  prepared 
the  arguments  presented  by  the  Faculty  to  the 
Council.  E.  G.  s.  . 


BULL,  Richard  Harrison,  1817-1892. 

Prof.  Civil  Engineering  1853-85,  Emeritus  1885-92. 
Born  in  New  York  City,  1817  ;  graduated  N.  Y.  Univ., 
1839;   graduated  Union   Theol.   Sem.,  1843;   Prof.   Civil 
Engineering  at  the  University,  1853-85  ;  Emeritus  Prof., 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


ss 


1885-92;  Sec.  and  Pres.  N.  Y.  Savings  Bank,  1859-82; 
Ph.D.  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1885;  died  1892. 

RICHARD  HARRISON  BULL,  Ph.D.,  was 
born  in  New  York  City,  September  28, 
US17,  graduating  from  New  York  University  in 
1839  with  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts.  In 
that  year  he  entered  Union  Theological  Seminary 
and  graduated  in  1843.  He  preached  several 
times  but  was  prevented  from  definitely  entering 
upon  the  clerical  profession  by  a  chronic  difficulty 
irt  the  throat.  He  was  appointed  to  teach  civil 
engineering  in  1853,  which  post  he  left  in  1885  as 
Professor    Emeritus.      While    being  a    mathemati- 


RllHARI)     H.     HULL 

cian  he  was  at  the  same  time  intensely  practical. 
In  his  earlier  life  he  made  elaborate  calculations 
for  the  use  of  life  insurance  companies  and  spent 
much  time  in  preparing  the  tables  for  the  American 
Nautical  Almanac.  He  also  furnished  the  exact 
astronomical  time  to  the  railways  departing  from 
New  York  and  Jersey  City,  making  his  observa- 
tions both  from  his  own  residence  in  New  York 
City  and  from  his  country  seat  at  New  Hamburg. 
He  was  constantly  called  upon  to  solve  problems 
which  had  puzzled  mathematical  teachers  through- 
out the  country,  and  in  spite  of  the  great  demands 
upon  his  time  he  never  failed  to  return  the  solution 
desired,  a  form  of  diversion  for  Doctor  Bull.     One 


of  his  favorite  ideas  (in  which  he  reminds  one  of 
the  J'ythagoreans  and  of  Plato)  was  to  conceive 
mathematics  in  all  its  branches  as  divine  law  and 
a  revelation  of  God's  nature.  The  work  to  which 
he  principally  applied  his  time  and  energies  was 
the  building  up  of  the  New  York  Savings  Bank. 
Connected  with  this  institution  from  its  infancy,  he 
retired  from  its  Presidency  in  1882  when  it  pos- 
sessed a  larger  percentage  of  surplus  upon  its 
deposits  than  any  other  savings  bank  in  the  state, 
its  methods  of  book-keeping  and  transacting  busi- 
ness being  generally  considered  a  model.  During 
the  panic  of  1873  he  was  made  Chairman  of  the 
joint  meeting  of  savings  bank  managers,  and  he 
formulated  the  policy  followed  by  those  institutions 
during  that  critical  time.  Possessed  of  robust 
health,  untiring  energy  and  strong  individuality, 
everything  he  ever  accomplished  was  brought 
about  by  sheer  force  of  talent.  In  questions  of 
right  and  wrong  he  knew  no  yielding  to  expedi- 
ency and  consequently  was  particularly  well  qual- 
ified to  guard  the  great  financial  trusts  conunitted 
to  his  care.  He  was  actively  engaged  throughout 
his  life  in  the  Sunday-school  work,  and  for  sev- 
eral years  preceding  his  death  represented  the 
First  Presbyterian  Church  of  New  York  in  the 
Presbyter}^  Pie  died  at  his  residence.  No.  34 
Gramercy  Park,  New  York  City,  February  i,  1892. 
Funeral  services  were  held  at  the  First  Presbyte- 
rian Church.  Professor  Bull  at  his  death  was  the 
oldest  living  alumnus  of  New  York  University,  and 
the  special  minute  of  the  Faculty  of  Arts  and  Sci- 
ences closed  V  ith  the  following  paragraph  :  "  The 
memory  of  a  colleague  of  so  pure  a  character,  of 
such  unblemished  integrity  and  of  so  Christian  a 
life  will  ever  be  cherished  by  those  who  were  long 
and  closelv  connected  with  him  in  the  work  of 
this  institution  with  affectionate  regard."     E.  G.  s. 


SWETT,  John  Appleton,  1808-1854. 

Prof.  Theory  and  Practice  Medicine  1853-1854. 
Born  in  Boston,  Mass.,  1808;  graduated  Harvard, 
1828;  M.D.  Harvard,  1831  ;  studied  in  Europe;  Physi- 
cian to  N.  Y.  Hosp.,  1842-54  ;  Prof.  Theory  and  Prac- 
tice Medicine  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1853-54;  an  editor  of  N.  Y. 
Journal  of  Medicine  ;  died  1854. 

JOHN  APPLETON  SWETT,  M.D.,  was  born 
in  Boston,  Massachusetts,  December  3,  1808. 
He  took  the  full  academic  course  at  Har\'ard, 
graduating  with  the  Class  of  1828  and  receiving 


56 


UNIVERSITIES  AND   THEIR   SONS 


the  degree  Master  of  Arts  in  course.  He  then 
entered  the  Medical  School  uf  the  same  Univer- 
sity and  there  received  his  Doctor's  diploma  in 
1 83 1 .  Foreign  study  followed  a  short  term  of  dis- 
pensary service  in  New  York  City,  and  in  the 
hospitals  of  Paris  and  various  cities  of  the  continent 
and  England  he  perfected  his  professional  training. 
He  settled  in  practice  in  New  York  City,  and  there 
held  the  position  of  Physician  to  the  New  York 
Hospital  from  1842  until  his  death.  Dr.  Swett 
was  elected  to  the  Chair  of  Theory  and  Practice 
of  Medicine  in  Nev/  York  University  in  1853,  and 
was  so  engaged  at  the  time  of  his  death.  A  not- 
able feature  of  his  literary  work  was  the  editorship, 
in  association  with  Dr.  John  Watson,  of  the  New 
York  Journal  of  Medicine.  Some  of  his  lectures 
delivered  at  the  New  York  Hospital,  originally 
printed  in  the  New  York  Lancet,  were  published 
in  book  form,  entitled  Treatise  on  Diseases  of  the 
Chest.  In  the  midst  of  a  successful  career  he  died 
in  New  York  City,  September  18,  1854.  * 


ABBOTT,  Benjamin  Vaughan,  1830-1890. 

Professor  of  Law. 

Born  in  Boston,  Mass.,  1830  ;  graduated  N.  Y.  Univ., 
1850;  studied  at  Harvard  Law  School,  1851-52;  ad- 
mitted to  N.  Y.  Bar,  1852;  Prof.  Law  N.  Y.  Univ.; 
practicing  lawyer  in  New  York  City;  author  and  edi- 
tor of  important  law  works;  died  1890. 

BENJAMIN  VAUCiHAN  ABBOTT  was  born 
in  Boston,  Massachusetts,  June  4,  1830, 
son  of  Jacob  and  Harriet  (Vaughan)  Abbott.  His 
father  was  an  eminent  author,  educator  and  his- 
torian. After  early  education  in  the  scholarly 
home,  under  the  careful  instruction  of  his  father, 
he  was  admitted  to  the  Academic  Department  of 
New  York  University  w^here  he  graduated  in  1850, 
receiving  the  Master's  degree  in  course  after  three 
years.  He  began  law  study  at  Harvard  where  he 
remained  during  the  year  following  graduation  at 
New  York  (University)  and  completed  his  prepara- 
tion for  the  Bar  in  New  York  City.  He  was  ad- 
mitted as  Attorney  and  Counsellor-at-Law  in  1852, 
and  at  once  entered  active  practice.  He  was  soon 
joined  in  business  by  his  younger  brother,  Austin 
Abbott,  and  the  firm  made  rapid  progress  in  the  ac- 
quisition of  a  well  paying  practice,  a  third  brother, 
Lyman  Abbott,  being  taken  into  the  firm  in  1856. 
The  latter  part  of  his  active  career  Benjamin  V. 
Abbott  devoted  almost  exclusively  to  legal  author- 


ship for  which  he  had  always  had  conspicuous 
ability.  Perhaps  the  most  notable  of  his  important 
works  are  the  reports  and  digests  of  the  New  York 
State  and  the  national  law,  known  under  the  titles  : 
The  New  York  Digest  and  The  National  Digest. 
In  June  1870,  Mr.  Abbott  was  appointed  by  Presi- 
dent Grant  one  of  three  commissioners,  with 
Charles  P.  James  and  Victor  P.  Baninger,  who 
were  to  undertake  the  immense  task  of  revising 
the  L^nited  States  Statutes.  This  work  continued 
for  three  years,  and  the  result  was  one  large  octavo 
volume  containing  the  condensed  and  carefully 
arranged  material  which  had  formerly  occupied 
sixteen  volumes.  In  association  with  his  brother, 
Austin  Abbott,  Mr.  Abbott  compiled  a  Digest  of 
the  Laws  of  Corporations.  His  bibliography 
includes :  A  Treatise  on  the  Courts  of  the  United 
States  and  their  Practice,  1877  ;  A  Dictionary  of 
Terms  in  American  and  English  Jurisprudence, 
1879  ;  Reports  of  Decisions  of  the  Circuit  and 
District  Courts  of  the  United  States,  1870;  Judge 
and  Jury,  1880;  Travelling  Law  School  and  P"a- 
mous  Trials,  1880,  a  book  for  juvenile  readers. 
Soon  after  entering  acti\e  practice  Mr.  Abbott 
was  appointed  Secretary  of  the  New  York  Code 
Commissioners,  and  in  that  office  he  drafted  a 
report  of  a  penal  code,  which  being  submitted  to 
the  New  York  Legislature  in  1875,  became  adopted 
as  the  basis  of  the  New  York  Penal  Code.  For  a 
few  years  Mr.  Abbott  occupied  a  Professorship 
at  the  I'niversity  Law  School.  He  married  Eliza- 
beth, daughter  of  Joiin  Titcomb  of  Farmington, 
Maine.  His  death  occurred  in  Brooklyn,  New 
York.  February  17,  1890.  * 


BOTTA,  Vincenzo,  1818-1894. 

Prof.  Italian  Lang,  and  Lit.  1854-94,  Emeritus  1890-94. 

Born  in  Piedmont,  Italy,  1818;  Ph.D.,  Univ.  of 
Turin  ;  Prof.  Phil,  at  Lyceum  of  Cuneo  ;  Prof.  Italian 
Lang,  and  Lit.  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1858-94  ;  Emeritus  Prof., 
1890-94  ;  author  of  important  works  on  Phil.,  Hist.,  and 
Biog. ;  died  1894. 

VINCENZO  BOTTA,  Ph.  D.,  Author  and 
Student  of  Public  Affairs,  was  born  in 
1 8 18  in  Cavallermaggiore,  Piedmont,  Italy.  Hav- 
ing attained  the  Doctorate  in  Philo.sophy  in  the 
University  of  Turin,  he  served  as  Quiz-master 
{Ripetitore)  of  Philosophy  from  1845  to  1848, 
afterwards  being  Professor  of  Philosophy  in  the 
Lyceum  of  Cuneo.     In  1849  the  CoUegio  of  Carri'j 


UNiyERSlTIES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


S7 


sent  him  as  deputy  to  the  ParHainent  of  Savoy. 
Under  the  auspices  of  the  Sardinian  j;;overninenl 
Dr.  IJotta  in  1850  visited  (lerniany  in  company 
with  Dr.  Lewis  I'arola,  and  on  his  return  in  1S51 
Botta  with  I'arola  pubHshed  in  'I'urin  tiie  impor- 
tant work  entitled  On  Pubhc  Instruction  in  Ger- 
many, which  was  the  first  work  to  introduce  tiie 
Italians  to  German  educational  methods.  In  1853 
Botta  came  to  the  United  States.  In  1858  he  was 
appointed  Professor  of  the  Italian  Language  and 
Literature  in  New  York  ITniversity.  becoming 
Emeritus  Professor  in  1890.  In  New  York  too 
Dr.  Hotta  was  married  to  Miss  Anne  Lynch.  In 
i860  he  worked  earnestly  to  win  American 
sympathies  for  the  new  kingdom  of  Italy,  of  which 
he  could  be  regarded  as  the  most  acti\e  and 
authoritative  non-official  representative.  In  recog- 
nition of  his  special  services  rendered  to  Italy  and 
the  Savoyard  dynast)%  on  the  occasion  of  the 
recovery  of  Rome  and  of  the  American  demon- 
stration at  the  death  of  the  King  \'ictor  Emmanuel 
(1878)  King  Humbert  caused  a  gold  medal  to  be 
struck  in  his  honor.  The  medal  bears  this  beauti- 
ful inscription :  "A  Vincenzo  Botta  in  ogni 
fortuna  della  patria  sapiente  interprete  del  pensiero 
Italiano  presso  il  grande  ed  amico  popolo  degli 
Stati  Uniti.  Umberto,  1878."  ("To  Vincenzo 
Botta,  in  every  fortune  of  his  native  land  the  wise 
interpreter  of  Italian  thought  among  the  great  and 
friendly  people  of  the  United  States.  Humbert, 
1878.")  Besides  the  two  books  containing  the 
Proceedings  and  Discourses  in  America  Commemo- 
rative of  the  Unification  of  Italy  (1870,  The  Unity 
of  Italy)  and  matter  written  on  the  occasion  of  the 
death  of  the  "  gentleman  king "  (in  memoriam 
1878),  apart  also  from  the  letters  sent  from  the 
United  States  to  the  newspaper  L'Opinione,  the 
numerous  essays  and  articles  inserted  in  the  jour- 
nals, the  reviews  and  cyclopedias  of  America, 
Professor  Botta  on  the  occasion  of  the  sixth 
century  of  Dante's  birth  (1865)  published  a 
work  in  English  entitled  Dante,  Philosopher,  Poet 
and  Politician,  with  an  Analysis  of  the  Divina  Corn- 
media,  New  York,  1865.  After  the  death  of 
Cavour  he  wrote  a  work  entitled  Life,  Character 
and  Politics  of  Count  Cavour.  New  York,  1862. 
This  was  translated  into  Italian  by  Stanislaus 
Gatti  and  published  at  Naples.  In  this  work  the 
beautiful  letter  written  by  Azeglio  to  King  Victor 
Emanuel  (on  the  occasion  of  the  ministerial  crisis 
of  1855)  saw  the  light  for  the  first  time.     He  also 


wrote  an  essay  on  the  hi.story  of  Italian  philosophy, 
published  in  (ieorge  Morris's  translation  of 
Ueberweg's  Manual  of  the  History  of  Philosophy 
from  Thales  to  the  Present  Time,  the  contribu- 
tion of  Botta  being  entitled  Historical  Sketch  of 
Modern  Philo.sophy  in  Italy,  beginning  with  the 
renaissance  and  coming  down  to  the  present 
time.  Dr.  Botta  died  in  October  1894,  and 
bequeathed  his  library  and  a  fund  of  money  to 
New  York  University.  This  library  of  .some  2200 
volumes  is  particularly  strong  in  Belles-Lettres, 
Italian  philosophy,  political  science,  and  history. 
He  was  corresponding  national  member  of  the 
Accademia  dei  Lincei  of  Rome,  and  American 
Correspondent  of  the  journal  L'Opinione.  e.  g.  .s. 
[See  portrait  ))age   120,  Part  I.] 


BOTTA,  Anne  Charlotte  (Lynch ),  1815-1891 . 

Patroness. 

Born  in  Bennington,  Vt.,  1815  ;  graduated  Albany 
Female  Acad.,  1834;  taught  at  the  Academy;  conducted 
boarding  schools  in  Providence,  R.  I.,  and  New  York 
City ;  taught  in  Brooklyn  Acad,  for  young  ladies ; 
married  Prof.  Botta,  1855  ;  for  many  years  a  patroness 
of  the  fine  arts  ;  published  poems;  died  iSgi. 

ANNE  CHARLOTTE  (LYNCH)  BOTTA 
was  born  in  Bennington,  ^'ermont,  No- 
vember II,  1815.  Her  father  was  Patrick  Lynch, 
a  native  of  Lucan,  near  Dublin,  Ireland.  Hav- 
ing been  implicated  in  the  Irish  Rebellion  of 
1798  he  was  at  first  imprisoned  for  some  years, 
and  later,  refusing  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance 
to  the  British  crown,  was  banished  from  Ireland  at 
the  early  age  of  eighteen.  He  settled  ultimately 
in  Bennington,  Vermont,  and  in  181 2  was  married 
to  Miss  Charlotte  Gray,  who  was  the  daughter  of 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Ebenezer  Gray,  a  Revolutionary 
officer  of  the  Connecticut  line.  Subsequently  Mr. 
Lynch  went  to  Cuba  to  secure  some  of  the  lands 
offered  by  the  Spanish  government  to  Irish 
refugees,  but  died  while  sailing  from  Havana  to 
Puerto  Principe  in  18 19.  Anne  at  sixteen  was 
sent  to  the  Albany  Female  Academy,  where  she 
graduated  in  1834,  remaining  there  some  time  as  a 
teacher.  After  some  experience  as  a  governess 
she  joined  her  mother  at  Providence  and  con- 
ducted on  a  modest  scale  a  boarding  school  for 
young  women.  "  She  inspired  her  pupils  with  love 
for  intellectual  occupation,  .strengthened  their 
characters,  and    made  them  eager  to  improve  in 


58 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


every  way."  Having  served  in  Philadelphia  a 
year  in  superintending  the  studies  of  a  young  lady 
who  desired  to  complete  her  education,  and  having 
become  acquainted  with  Fannie  Kemble,  she  took 
a  house  in  Waverly  Place,  New  York  City,  taking 
young  women  into  her  family  as  pupils,  and 
teaching  in  the  Brooklyn  Academy  for  young 
ladies.  About  1849,  at  thirty-four,  she  published 
her  poems  in  book  form,  some  of  these  pieces 
being  commended  by  Edgar  A.  Poe.  When 
Frederika  Bremer  came  to  America  she  was  the 
guest  of  Miss  Lynch  at  her  house  in  Ninth  Street 
for  several  weeks,  ^^'ith  indomitable  energy-  for 
four  successive  years  she  urged  at  \\'ashington  her 
mother's  claims  of  Revolutionary  pensions  on 
account  of  the  services  of  Colonel  Gray  in  that 
war.  In  1853  at  last  this  claim  was  granted  and 
so  wisely  did  her  kind  friend,  Charles  Butler,  in- 
vest this  fund  that  she  was  enabled  later  on  to 
lead  a  life  of  comfort  and  indulge  her  best  tastes, 
particularly  in  the  strongest  of  her  aspirations, 
that  of  hospitality  to  distinguished  literary  char- 
acters. Her  innermost  impulses  drove  her  to 
seek  fellowship  with  men  and  women  of  literary 
power  ;  she  herself  wielded  a  facile  and  forceful 
pen.  When  Daniel  ^\'ebster  in  the  Senate  had. 
in  1850,  uttered  these  words:  "When  I  and  all 
those  that  hear  me  shall  have  gone  to  our  last 
home  and  when  the  mold  may  have  gathered  on 
our  memories,  as  it  will  on  our  tombs  .  .  .,"  her 
emotion  was  kindled  by  these  grave  words,  finding 
expression  in  the  poem  entitled  IVelisfcr,  of  which 
we  append  three  stanzas  : 

"  The  mold  upon  thy  memory  1     No, 
Not  while  one  note  is  rung 
Of  those  divine,  immortal  .songs 
Milton  and  Shakspere  sung ; 
Not  till  the  night  of  years  enshrouds 

The  Anglo-Saxon  tongue. 
No  1  let  the  flood  of  Time  roll  on. 

And  men  and  empires  die  ; 
Genius  enthroned  on  lofty  heights 

Can  its  dread  course  defy, 
And  here  on  earth  can  claim  a  share 

Of  immortality ; 
Can  save  from  the  Lethean  tide 

That  sweeps  so  dark  along, 
A  people's  name  —  a  people's  fame 

To  future  time  prolong, 
As  Troy  still  lives,  and  only  lives, 
In  Homer's  deathless  song." 

Her  gratitude  to  Mr.  Butler  and  his  family  only  died 
with  herself  and  survived  her  indeed  in  some  lines 


of  warm  and  true  feeling.  Having  visited  Europe 
in  1853  with  the  family  of  Charles  Butler,  she 
established  in  New  York,  after  her  return,  literary 
soirees,  attended  by  noted  writers.  In  these  assem- 
blies, "  it  was  her  policy  to  arouse  the  brillianc\'  of 
cultured  minds  and  keep  the  light  burning  by 
gentle  suggestions."  In  1855  she  was  married  to 
Dr.  Yincenzo  Botta,  late  of  the  Universit)'  of 
Turin,  who  in  1858  was  appointed  Honorary 
Professor  of  the  Italian  Language  and  Literature 
in  New  York  University.  For  more  than  thirty- 
five  years  she  shared  with  her  husband  the  refined 
home  which  they  established  in  West  37th  St. 
Among  the  noted  people  who  attended  her  literary 
receptions  we  may  name  Poe,  Willis,  Morris, 
Emerson.  \\'illiam  Cullen  Bryant,  Washington 
Irving,  Bancroft,  Fitz  Greene  Halleck,  Grace 
Greenwood,  Tuckerman,  Stoddard.  Dr.  Holland, 
Stedman.  Helen  Hunt,  Andrew  1).  White,  Rich- 
ard Proctor,  Froude,  Charles  Kingsley,  Mat- 
thew Arnold,  Lord  Houghton,  Lord  Amberley, 
Madame  Ristori.  and  George  P.  Marsh.  Withal, 
she  was  not  a  nature  passively  yielding  to  aestheti- 
cal  gratification  ;  but  she  lived  on  a  high  i)lan  of 
robust  action:  "Do  the  duty"  —  this  was  her 
nia.xim — "that  lies  nearest  thee,  and  thy  next 
will  be  made  plainer."  Early  in  March  1891  Mrs. 
Botta  began  to  make  preparations  for  a  festival, 
which  was  to  have  taken  place  on  the  thirty-first  of 
the  month,  in  commemoration  of  the  thirty-sixth 
anniversary  of  her  marriage.  On  the  evening  of 
March  17,  1891,  having  received  the  members  of 
a  literary  society  of  which  she  was  one  of  the 
directors,  she  took  a  severe  cold  which  rapidly 
developed  into  pneumonia  which  caused  her  death 
on  March  23,  1891.  Letters  of  condolence  and 
commemoration  were  received  by  Professor  Botta 
from  Henry  \\'.  Sage  of  Ithaca,  Parke  Godwin, 
Hon.  Andrew  D.  White,  James  Anthony  P'roude, 
Charles  Dudley  Warner,  Andrew  Carnegie,  Dr. 
Wallace  Wood,  Hon  John  Bigelow  and  other  noted 
literary  persons.  E.  G.  s. 

[See  portrait  page  121,  Part  I.] 


BAIRD,  Henry  Martyn,  1832- 

Prof .  Greek  Lang,  and  Lit. ,  Dean  of  College  Faculty  since  1892. 

Born  in  Philadelphia,  1832 ;  attended  Collegiate 
School  of  Forrest  and  Wyckoff ;  graduated  N.  Y.  Univ., 
1850;  studied  in  Greece  and  Italy,  1851-53 ;  studied  at 
Union     Theol.   Sem.    and  at    Princeton    Theol.    Sem., 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


59 


1853-56;  Prof.  Greek,  N.  Y.  Univ.  since  1859;  Dean  of 
College  Faculty  since  1892;  Ph.D.  Princeton,  1867; 
D.D.  Rutgers,  1877;  LL.D.  Princeton,  1882 ;  L.H.D. 
Princeton,  1896;    author  of  important  historical  works. 

HKNRV  M.VRrVN  BAIRD,  Ph.D.,  LL.D., 
D.D.,  L.H.D.,  was  born  in  Philadelphia, 
January  17,  1832.  His  father,  Rev.  Robert  Haird, 
D.U.,  was  a  Presbyterian  clergj'man  of  Scotch 
descent,  a  scholarly  man,  who  before  and  after  his 
ordination  to  the  ministry  devoted  himself  to  the 
work  of  classical  education  as  Tutor  in  the  College 
of  New  Jersey  (now  Princeton  University),  and 
head  of  a  school  preparatory  for  College,  but  sub- 
sequently initiated  large  religious  movements  in 
America  and  abroad.  These  brought  him  into 
close  relations  with  very  many  prominent  men  in 
both  hemispheres,  and  particularly  with  a  number 
of  sovereigns,  including  Bernadotte  and  Oscar  of 
Sweden,  Frederick  William  IV.  of  Prussia,  Nicho- 
las and  Alexander  of  Russia,  Louis  Philippe  of 
France,  and  others.  Professor  Baird's  mother, 
Fermine  (Du  Buisson)  Baird,  was  a  cultivated 
woman  of  French  Huguenot  descent,  and  his 
father's  mission  to  Europe  led  to  his  spending 
most  of  the  time  from  his  fourth  to  his  twelfth 
years  in  Paris  and  Geneva.  This  long  sojourn  in 
French-speaking  countries  and  among  the  descend- 
ants of  the  Huguenots  not  only  gave  him  a  full 
command  of  the  language,  but  a  taste  for  French 
Protestant  history  that  has  influenced  his  subse- 
quent studies  to  no  inconsiderable  extent.  His 
preparation  for  College  was  completed  in  New 
York  City  in  the  well-known  Collegiate  School  of 
Forrest  and  Wyckofif.  He  entered  New  York  Uni- 
versity in  1846  and  graduated  in  1850,  being 
assigned  the  Valedictory  Oration  at  Commence- 
ment. The  ne.xt  year  was  occupied,  in  accordance 
with  a  favorite  idea  of  his  father,  in  an  extended 
course  of  historical  study  pursued  at  home,  begin- 
ning with  the  best  universal  histories  and  ancient 
histories  and  carried  on  with  great  thoroughness 
down  to  the  present  time.  Among  other  works 
studied  with  minuteness  and  careful  examination 
of  the  most  detailed  maps  accessible  was  Gibbon's 
Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire.  Not  a 
note,  in  whatever  language  written,  escaped  obser- 
vation, or  (unless  it  was  possibly  an  Arabic  expres- 
sion) was  left  untranslated.  Toward  the  end  of 
the  year  a  part  of  his  time  was  given  to  the  most 
minute  study  of  the  topography  of  Greece,  espe- 
cially in  the  works  of  Colonel  Leake  (Athens  and 


the  Demi  of  Attica,  Travels  in  the  Morea,  etc.). 
This  was  in  pursuance  of  his  purpose  to  go  and 
study  in  Athens,  and  enabled  him  to  recognize  the 
ancient  monuments  he  there  saw,  to  the  no  small 
astonishment  of  many  whom  he  met.  He  spent  a 
full  year  in  Greece  (185 1-1852),  attending  two 
consecutive  semesters  in  the  University  of  Otho, 
at  present  the  University  of  Greece.  His  princi- 
pal instructors  were  Professors  Asopios,  Papare- 
gopoulos,  Rangaves  and  Manouses,  but  he  became 
more  or  less  acquainted  with  the  aged  Banibas, 
Philippos  loannou,  and  others.  He  met  and  en- 
joyed the  society  of  many  distinguished  men,  who 


HENRY   M.    BAIRD 

were  of  great  help  to  him,  especially  the  veteran 
American  missionar}-,  Dr.  Jonas  King,  and  such 
survivors  of  the  time  of  the  Greek  Revolution 
as  Sir  Richard  Church  and  George  Finlay,  the 
eminent  historian  of  Greece  under  the  Romans 
and  mediaeval  Greece.  For  a  few  weeks  he  acted 
as  private  secretar)-  of  George  P.  Marsh,  when 
the  latter  was  sent  by  the  United  States  Govern- 
ment to  investigate  the  acts  of  injustice  committed 
by  the  government  of  Greece  against  Dr.  King. 
Professor  Baird's  travels  in  Greece  were  extensive, 
throughout  the  Peloponnesus  and  northern  Greece 
as  far  as  the  Turkish  frontier.  It  was  said  that 
no  American   had  up  to  that  time  equalled   them 


6o 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


since  the  days  of  Edward  Everett.  Needless  to 
say  that  he  acquired  great  facility  in  conversing  in 
Greek.  After  a  second  year,  185 2-1 853,  spent  in 
Rome  in  the  study  of  Italian  and  of  Roman  an- 
tiquities, he  returned  to  the  United  States.  Here 
he  entered  upon  theological  studies  which  he  pur- 
sued two  years  (1853-1855)  in  Union  Theological 
Seminary,  New  York  Cit)',  and  completed  in  the 
Seminary  at  Princeton,  New  Jersey,  where  he  went 
in  1855  to  take  a  Tutorship  of  the  Greek  Lan- 
guage to  which  he  had  been  chosen.  Four  years 
later  (1859),  he  resigned  and  accepted  the  Profes- 
sorship of  the  Greek  Language  and  Literature  in 
his  Alma  Mater  New  York  University,  as  the  suc- 
cessor of  Howard  Crosby  who  had  gone  to  Rutgers 
College,  New  Jersey.  This  Professorship  he  has 
occupied  for  forty-one  years.  Professor  Baird's 
first  published  work  was  a  volume  entitled  Modern 
Greece,  the  result  of  his  observations  during  his 
residence  in  that  country,  but  not  issued  until  1856. 
Ten  years  later  he  brought  out  a  biography  of  his 
father,  Life  of  the  Rev.  Robert  Baird.  D.D.  In 
the  year  1862  he  set  himself  to  the  laborious  and 
long  protracted  task  which  he  had  for  some  time 
contemplated  as  his  life  work  —  the  preparation  of 
a  history  of  the  Huguenots  of  France,  more  thor- 
ough and  exhaustive  than  was  to  be  found  in  any 
language  of  modern  Europe.  His  hope  at  first 
was  to  complete  it  in  eight  or  ten  years,  and  his 
expectation  was  to  fill  but  two  or  three  volumes. 
In  point  of  fact  it  was  thirty-three  years  before  the 
work  was  finished  in  six  large  octavo  volumes. 
As  time  went  on  it  assumed  the  form  of  three 
distinct  works  together  constituting  a  trilog)-. 
The  first  two  volumes  appeared  in  1879  and  were 
entitled  History  of  the  Rise  of  the  Huguenots  of 
France.  In  recognition  of  this  work  Princeton 
College  in  1892  conferred  upon  its  author  the 
degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws.  In  1886  appeared  the 
next  two  volumes,  the  Huguenots  and  Henr)'  of 
Navarre.  In  1895  appeared  the  last  two  volumes, 
The  Huguenots  and  the  Revocation  of  the  Edict 
of  Nantes,  bringing  down  the  stor)-  to  its  natural 
conclusion  in  the  recognition  and  establishment  of 
Protestantism  in  France  by  the  Emperor  Napoleon 
in  1802.  In  token  of  approval  of  the  last  two 
works  Princeton  University  at  its  Sesquicenten- 
nial  celebration  in  October  1896,  conferred  upon 
him  the  deg-ree  of  Doctor  of  Letters  as  "  Historian 
of  the  Huguenots."  He  had  previously  received 
from  Princeton  (1867)  the  honorary  degree  of  Doc- 


tor of  Philosophy  and  from  Rutgers  College  (1877) 
the  honorary  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinit}-.  Pro- 
fessor Baird's  latest  book  is  a  biography  of  the 
reformer,  Theodore  Beza  (1899),  written  for  the 
series  of  Heroes  of  the  Reformation,  edited  by 
Professor  S.  M.  Jackson.  It  always  will  remain  a 
matter  of  particular  honor  to  American  scholarship 
that  the  long  struggles  in  France  for  religious  free- 
dom and  for  spiritual  autonomy  have  received  from 
the  pen  of  an  American  scholar  a  study  and  an 
adequate  recital,  surpassing,  we  believe,  all  kindred 
works  by  English  or  German  historians  in  the 
nineteenth  centur\-.  The  critical  reviews  of  Amer- 
ica, England,  France  and  Germany  have  done 
justice  on  the  whole  to  the  labors  of  Dr.  Baird's 
life.  The  London  Times,  for  example,  said  in 
reviewing  the  Rise  of  the  Huguenots  :  "  Professor 
Baird  is  entitled  to  a  place  among  the  distinguished 
Americans  who  take  high  rank  among  modern  his- 
torians. Some  of  them,  like  Prescott,  Motley  and 
Bancroft,  are  become  at  least  as  popular  abroad  as 
with  their  countrymen.  .  .  .  Much  must  depend, 
no  doubt,  on  the  choice  of  a  subject,  and  so  far  as 
the  selection  of  his  subject  goes  Mr.  Baird  has  had 
everything  in  his  favor."  Of  similar  importance 
were  the  notices  uttered  in  the  British  Quarterly 
Review  for  July  1880,  and  the  Westminster  Re- 
view, of  the  same  date.  The  Literary  World,  Lon- 
don, for  May  1880,  aptly  said  :  "  His  style  is  sober 
without  being  dull,  it  is  quietly  dignified  without  a 
suspicion  of  pretentiousness."  How  admirably 
the  man  is  portrayed  in  these  words  descriptive 
of  his  sfy/e  Professor  Baird's  friends  will  readily 
recognize.  Monsieur  Weiss  in  the  Bulletin  of  the 
French  Protestant  Historical  Society  for  June 
1880.  said:  "I  have  read  them  (the  first  volumes 
of  Dr.  Baird)  attentively  and  not  without  a  certain 
feeling  of  envy.  There  exists  in  truth  nothing  so 
complete  in  the  PVench  language  .  .  .  Though 
separated  from  us  by  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  he  has 
had  at  his  disposal  almost  everything  of  importance 
printed  in  the  sixteenth  century,  and  whoever 
knows  how  difficult  and  costly  it  is,  even  in  Paris, 
to  form  a  French  Protestant  librarj'  will  warmly 
congratulate  him  on  having  been  able  to  collect  all 
that  he  has  made  use  of."  e.  g.  s. 


DRAPER,  John  Christopher,  1835-1885. 

Professor  Chemistry,  1858-1885. 
Born    in    Mecklenburg    Co.,    Va.,    1835 ;    graduated 
M.D.,    N.  Y.  Univ.,    1857  ;    foreign    travel    and    study, 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR    SONS 


6i 


1857-58;  Prof.  Analytical  Chem.  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1858-71; 
Prof.  Chem.  in  Med.  Dept.,  1866-85;  •"  Cooper  Union, 
1860-70;  Prof.  Nat.  Sciences,  College  City  of  N.Y., 
1863-85;   LL.D.  Trinity,  1873;  author;  died  1885. 

JOHN  CHRiyTOPHER  DRAPER,  M.I)., 
LL.D.,  was  born  in  Mecklenburg  county, 
Virginia,  March  31,  1835,  son  of  Dr.  John  \V. 
Draper,  the  eminent  scientist.  His  mother,  a 
daughter  of  Dr.  Gardner,  physician  to  Dom  Pedro 
L,  Kmperor  of  Brazil,  was  on  the  maternal  side 
descended  from  the  noted  Portuguese  family  De 
Piva  Pereiras.  Educated  in  the  preliminary 
branches  by  his  learned  father,  John  C.  Draper 
entered  the    Academic   Department   of   New  York 


JOHN    C.    DRAPER 

University  at  the  age  of  seventeen.  Before  gradu- 
ating in  Arts,  however,  he  went  over  to  the  De- 
partment of  Medicine  where  he  graduated  in  1857, 
having  had  one  year  of  duty  as  House  Physician 
and  Surgeon  at  Bellevue  Hospital.  He  spent  the 
year  following  graduation  in  foreign  travel  and 
study,  returning  in  1858  to  take  up  the  duties  of 
the  Chair  of  Analytical  Chemistry-  in  the  Academic 
Department  of  New  York  University.  In  that 
position  he  continued  until  1871,  being  in  the 
meantime.  1866,  appointed  Professor  of  Chemistry 
in  the  Medical  Department,  which  chair  he  held 
until  his  death.  He  was  also  Professor  of  Chem- 
istrj-  at  Cooper  Union,  i860— 1870,  and  Professor 


of  Natural  Sciences  in  the  College  of  the  City  of 
New  York  from  1863  until  his  death.  Professor 
Draper  was  made  a  Doctor  of  Laws  by  Trinity  in 
1873  and  was  a  member  of  the  New  York  Acad- 
emy of  Medicine.  He  edited  the  Year  Book  of 
Natural  Science  in  1872-1873,  and  also  the  De- 
partment of  Natural  Science  in  Scribner's  for  three 
years,  1872-1875.  His  bibliography  consists  of 
twenty-four  original  papers,  including  The  Produc- 
tion of  Urea  and  Experiments  in  Respiration  ;  A 
Text-Book  on  Anatomy,  Physiology  and  Hygiene, 
1866  ;  A  Practical  Laboratory  Course  in  Medical 
Chemistry,  1882;  A  Text-Book  of  Medical  Phys- 
ics, 1885.  Professor  Draper  died  in  New  York 
City,  December  20,  1885.  * 


DODGE,  William  Earl,  1805-1883. 

Councillor  1859-1876  — Benefactor. 

Born  in  Hartford,  Conn.,  1805  ;  educated  in  public 
schools  ;  engaged  in  dry  goods  business  in  New  York 
City  at  age  of  thirteen ;  amassed  large  fortune ; 
Director  in  many  large  corporations ;  three  times 
Pres.  N.  Y.  Chamber  of  Commerce  ;  Rep.  in  Con- 
gress from  8th  Dist.  N.  Y.  City,  1866-67  J  member 
of  Indian  Commis.  under  Grant;  benefactor  of  New 
York  University  and  many  educational  and  charitable 
institutions ;  died  1883. 

WILLLVM  EARL  DODGE  was  born  in 
Hartford,  Connecticut,  September  4, 
1805,  son  of  David  Law  and  Sarah  (Cleveland) 
Dodge.  The  family  is  descended  from  William 
Dodge  who  emigrated  from  England,  and  settled 
in  Salem,  Massachusetts,  in  July  1629.  David 
Law  Dodge,  a  merchant  and  manufacturer,  was 
the  first  to  build  a  cotton  mill  in  the  State  of 
Connecticut.  His  son,  William  E.  Dodge,  was 
educated  in  the  public  schools,  and  at  the  age  of 
thirteen  went  to  New  York  City,  where  he  obtained 
a  position  in  a  dry  goods  house  in  Pearl  Street. 
After  one  year,  however,  he  returned  with  the 
family  to  Connecticut,  and  went  to  work  in  a 
country  store  in  Bozralville.  Such  was  the  hum- 
ble beginning  of  the  career  of  a  man  who  subse- 
quently became  the  possessor  of  a  fortune  so  large 
that  at  one  time  during  a  period  of  years  he  made 
gifts  and  benefactions  amounting  annually  to 
$100,000.  At  the  age  of  twenty-two  he  opened 
a  dr)'  goods  establishment  independently,  and 
from  that  time  progressed  rapidly  in  business 
prosperity.  June  24.  1828,  he  married  Melissa, 
daughter   of   Anson    G.    Phelps,    and   five    years 


62 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


later  formed  a  partnership  with  his  wife's  father 
under  the  firm  name  Phelps,  Dodge  &  Company. 
This  house  conducted  a  metal  business  with 
great  success  and  soon  established  a  branch  in 
Liverpool.  Of  this  concern,  which  is  now  under 
the  management  of  the  sons  of  the  original 
members,  Mr.  Dodge  was  the  head  partner  until 
1879  and  it  was  while  occupied  in  that  capacity 
that  his  fortune  was  amassed.  He  became 
prominent  in  the  different  parts  of  the  country 
where  he  had  large  interests,  notably  in  the 
State  of  Georgia  where  Dodge  county  was  so 
named  in  recognition  of  his  continued  interest  in 
the  progress  of  the  state.  Large  investments  were 
made  in  lumber  industries  and  copper  mines  near 
Lake  Superior  and  elsewhere,  and  he  was  for 
years  identified,  as  official  or  stockholder,  with  a 
large  number  of  leading  corporations,  such  as : 
The  Lackawanna  Iron  &  Coal  Company,  the  New 
York  Mutual  Life  Insurance  Company,  the  Atlantic 
Mutual  Life  Insurance  Company,  the  Bowery 
Insurance  Company,  the  United  States  Trust 
Company,  the  United  States  Telegraph  Company, 
and  the  Western  Union  Telegraph  Company. 
He  was  also  for  twelve  years  a  Director  in  the 
New  York  &  Erie  Railroad  (now  the  New  York, 
Lake  Erie  &  Western)  in  the  construction  of 
which  he  had  been  a  leading  promoter ;  he  was 
one  of  the  builders  of  the  Houston  &  Texas 
Railroad,  and  was  connected  with  the  Delaware, 
Lackawanna  &  Western,  the  Central  Railroad 
of  New  Jersey,  and  the  International  &  Great 
Northern.  Mr.  Dodge  was  for  three  successive 
times  elected  to  the  Presidency  of  the  New  York 
Chamber  of  Commerce.  In  politics  he  warmly 
advocated  tiie  principle  of  protection,  and  was  at 
times  a  prominent  figure  in  campaign  struggles. 
He  was  actively  engaged  in  the  movement  which 
elected  Grant,  and  in  1872  was  a  Presidential 
Elector  from  New  York.  Representing  the  Eighth 
District  of  New  York  City  he  occupied  a  seat  in 
the  Thirty-fourth  Congress,  during  his  term  serv- 
ing on  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Affairs.  He  was 
also  appointed  by  President  Grant  a  member  of 
the  Indian  Commission.  His  liberality  as  a  phi- 
lanthropist was  scarcely  more  striking  than  the 
eccentric  modesty  and  unconcern  with  which  he 
gave  from  his  abundance;  it  is  said  that  during 
the  years  when  he  was  making  benefactions 
amounting  to  $100,000  annually  he  kept  no  record 
of  his  gifts.     It  is  possible  to  mention  but  a  few  of 


the  charitable  and  educational  institutions  with 
which  he  was  identified  and  to  which  he  directed 
his  unselfish  liberality.  Always  an  urgent  advo- 
cate of  temperance,  he  founded  the  State  Asylum 
for  Inebriates  in  Binghampton,  and  the  Christian 
Home  for  Intemperate  Men,  and  was  President  of 
the  National  Temperance  Society  and  Publication 
House  from  its  organization  until  his  death.  To 
the  cause  of  Foreign  Missions  he  gave  liberal  sup- 
port, acting  as  Vice-President  of  the  American 
Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions  from 
1864  until  his  death,  and  being  a  member  of  the 
Presbyterian  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  in  the 
United  States.  He  was  a  steadfast  Presbyterian 
in  faith.  Mr.  Dodge  was  a  Trustee  of  the  Union 
Theological  Seminary,  the  Mercantile  Library  and 
Oahu  College  in  Honolulu,  Hawaii  ;  a  founder  of 
the  Union  League  Club  of  New  York  Cit}',  the 
New  York  Museum  of  Art,  and  the  Museum  of 
Natural  History.  Mr.  Dodge  was  a  member  of 
the  University  Council  from  1859  to  1876.  In 
1867  he  gave  $5,000  to  the  University,  establish- 
ing the  fund  which  bears  his  name,  to  be  applied 
to  the  uses  of  the  University  College.  Mr.  Dodge 
died  in  New  York  City,  February  9,  1883.         * 


BUTLER,  William  Allen,   1825- 

Member  of  Council  1862-1898,  President  1898. 

Born  in  Albany,  N.  Y.,  1825  ;  graduated  N.  Y.  Univ., 
1841  ;  admitted  to  N.  Y.  Bar,  1846;  Pres.  Council,  1898; 
practicing  lawyer  in  New  York  City  ;  LL.D.  N.  Y. 
Univ.,  1880. 

WILLIAM  ALLEN  BUTLER,  LL.D.,  was 
born  in  Albany,  New  York,  February 
20,  1825,  son  of  Benjamin  F.  and  Harriet  (Allen) 
Butler.  His  father,  an  eminent  lawyer  and 
scholar,  was  United  States  Attorney-General  and 
Secretary  of  Wax  under  the  administration  of 
Presidents  Jackson  and  Van  Buren.  Dr.  Butler 
graduated  in  Arts  at  New  York  Uni\ersity  in 
1843.  ^t  graduation  having  the  distinction  of 
being  one  of  the  Commencement  Orators.  He 
studied  law  in  his  father's  office  from  1843  to 
1846  and  in  the  latter  year  entered  the  Bar  of 
New  York  Cit)-.  where,  after  more  than  a  year 
spent  in  European  travel  of  which  he  wrote  arti- 
cles for  the  Literary  World,  he  established  him- 
self in  practice.  His  practice,  which  was  at  first 
in  association  with  his  father,  has  for  many  years 
been  conducted  while  at  the  head  of  the  firm  of 


UNII'ERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


63 


Butler,  Stillman  &  Hubbard  and  succeeding  firms. 
He  has  been  counsel  in  many  important  cases, 
and  has  been  concerned  in  the  organization  and 
management  of  some  of  the  leading  banking, 
trust  and  insurance  corporations.  He  has  been 
especially  successful  in  practice  involving  admi- 
ralty law.  In  the  following  notable  cases  in  the 
United  States  Supreme  Court  certain  important 
rules  were  settled  in  each  instance  as  a  result  of 
Mr.  Butler's  advocacy  of  certain  law  principles : 
The  Pennsylvania,  19  Wallace,  125;  The  Lotta- 
wanna,  129  Id.,  558;  the  Scotland,  105  U.  S.,  24; 
The  Montana.  129  Id.,  397.  He  has  been  con- 
nected with  New  York  University  as  Lecturer  on 
Maritime  Law,  Jurisdiction  and  Practice,  and  as 
member  of  the  Council,  in  which  office  he  served 
from  1862  to  1898.  Dr.  Butler  was  a  member  of 
the  Commission  on  Cities,  1875-1876;  President 
of  the  Bar  Association  of  New  York  City,  1886- 
1887,  and  of  the  American  Bar  Association,  1886. 
Not  the  least  important  work  of  his  career  has 
been  a  notable  authorship  extending  over  a  period 
of  more  than  forty  years  during  which  time  his 
poems,  humorous  and  satirical  articles  and  notes 
of  travel  have  appeared  in  leading  periodicals  such 
as  the  Literary  World,  when  he  wrote  under  the 
heading  the  Colonel's  Club,  the  Independent,  the 
Art  Union  Bulletin,  the  Democratic  Review  and 
Harper's  \\'eekly ;  he  has  also  published  several 
volumes.  As  a  writer  he  is  probably  most  widely 
known  as  the  author  of  the  poem  "Nothing  to 
Wear,"  a  bright  piece  of  satire  on  feminine  foi- 
bles, originally  published  anonymously  in  Harper's 
Weekly  in  1857  and  acknowledged  to  be  the  work 
of  Dr.  Butler  later  in  the  same  year.  These  verses 
immediately  attained  a  wide  celebrity  in  this 
country  and  later  were  extensively  read  in  Eng- 
land and  translated  into  French  and  German. 
Another  example  of  his  powerful  satire  is  '■  Gen- 
eral Average,"  i860,  which  is  a  severe  attack 
upon  the  methods  and  practices  of  unscrupulous 
business  men.  Other  notable  writings  are :  The 
Future,  an  academic  poem,  1846;  Barnum's  Par- 
nassus, 1850;  Two  Millions,  originally  written  for 
the  Phi  Beta  Kappa  Societ)'  of  which  he  is  a 
member;  The  Bible  by  Itself,  an  address;  Martin 
Van  Buren  ;  Lawyer  and  Client,  a  lecture  on  the 
ethical  relation  between  lawyer  and  client  deliv- 
ered at  the  University  Law  School;  a  volume  of 
collected  poems.  Boston ;  Mrs.  Limber's  Raffle ; 
Domesticus.  a  novel.   1886.     A  revised  edition  of 


his  poems  was  published  by  Harper  &  Bros,  in 
1899.  Dr.  Butler  is  a  member  of  the  New  York 
Historical  and  Geographical  Societies.  * 


DRAPER,  Henry,  1837-1882. 

Professor  Chemistry  and  Physiology,  1862-1883. 
Born  in  Prince  Edward  Co.,  Va.,  1837;  attended 
N.  Y.  Univ.,  1852-54;  M.D.,  1858;  Prof.  Analytical 
Chem.  at  the  University,  1862-70,  of  Analytical  Chem. 
and  Physiology,  1870-82;  of  Chem.  and  Physiol- 
ogy, 1882;  LL.D.  N.  Y.  Univ.  and  Univ.  Wisconsin, 
1882;  made  silvered  glass  telescope,  and  invented  ap- 
paratus for  celestial  photography ;  by  photography 
discovered  oxygen  in  the  sun  ;  died  1882. 

HENRY  DRAPER,  M.D.,  LL.D., the  second 
son  of  Dr.  J.  W.  Draper,  was  born  March 
7,  1837,  in  Prince  Edward  county,  Virginia,  two 
years  before  his  father  settled  in  New  York  as 
Professor  of  Chemistry  at  Washington  Square  as 
well  as  (two  years  later)  in  the  Medical  College 
of  the  University.  Henry  Draper  spent  the  two 
years  from  1852  to  1854  in  the  two  lower  classes 
of  the  College  and  then  from  his  seventeenth  to 
his  twentieth  year  studied  medicine  at  the  Univer- 
sity Medical  College.  As  he  could  not  under  the 
statute  receive  the  Medical  degree  before  complet- 
ing his  twenty-first  year  he  was  sent  abroad  in 
1857  and  on  this  tour,  having  attended  the  meet- 
ing of  the  British  Association  at  Dublin  in  August, 
he  accepted  an  invitation  of  the  Earl  of  Rosse  to 
join  a  party  of  scientific  men  in  visiting  the  Earl's 
seat,  Berr  Castle,  where  they  were  to  exam- 
ine the  six-foot  reflecting  telescope  there  estab- 
lished. Even  while  a  student  of  Medicine,  Henr)- 
Draper  had  secured  photomicrographs  (of  sections 
taken  from  the  spleen)  of  rare  perfection  for  those 
early  days  (George  F.  Barker),  having  in  the  course 
of  this  work  discovered  the  remarkable  power  pos- 
sessed by  palladious  chloride  in  intensifying  nega- 
tives, an  observation  which  subsequently  proved 
of  much  value  in  the  photographic  art.  This 
early  production  coupled  with  the  peculiar  rewards 
of  personal  and  direct  observation  and  the  pro- 
found impulse  gained  from  the  clo.ser  examination 
of  Lord  Rosse's  telescope  seems  to  have  deter- 
mined in  a  general  way  the  scientific  interests  of 
of  Henr)-  Draper's  life.  In  September  1858  upon 
his  return  from  Europe  he  began  the  construction 
of  a  speculum,  through  which,  on  November  29, 
1858,  Jupiter's  moons  were  seen  with  the  naked 
eye.     Early  in  the  spring  of   1859  the  large  mirror 


64 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


was  reground,  Henry  Draper  resolving  to  make 
various  experiments  of  his  own  devising  to  accom- 
plish particular  mechanical  ends.  In  the  summer 
of  1859,  after  much  grinding  and  polishing,  it 
was  found  that  the  mirror  had  a  focal  length 
of  II  feet  io\  inches,  and  that  it  gave  fair 
results  when  tested  upon  the  sun.  In  February 
i860  on  account  of  the  freezing  of  a  few  drops  of 
water  which  had  found  their  way  into  the  sup- 
porting case,  this  speculum  was  found  split  entirely 
across.  In  June  Professor  J.  \V.  Draper  visited 
Europe  and  by  the  advice  of  Sir  John  Herschel 
wrote  to  his  son  to  make  his  mirrors  of  silvered 
glass.  In  November  i860  such  a  one  was  put  into 
the  tube  and  during  the  month  ten  solar  daguerro- 
types  were  obtained  with  it.  Henry  Draper's 
construction  of  three  mirrors  of  the  same  focal 
length  and  aperture,  all  of  which  which  were 
tested  together  in  October  1861,  was  pronounced 
good,  and  consequently  all  were  ultimately  sil- 
vered. In  the  spring  of  1863  Professor  Joseph 
Henry  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  Washing- 
ton, visited  Dr.  Draper's  laboratory  and  observ- 
atory in  Hastings-on-the-Hudson  and  invited  Henry 
Draper  to  write  a  monograph  on  the  subject, 
which  was  published  in  July  1864  as  No.  180 
of  the  Smithsonian  Contributions  to  Knowledge, 
entitled  On  the  Construction  of  a  Silvered  (Jlass 
Telescope  15.^  Inches  in  Aperture,  and  its  Use 
in  Celestial  Photography.  In  1867  Dr.  Henry 
Draper  married  Mary  Anna,  the  accomplished 
daughter  of  Courllandt  Palmer  of  New  York. 
Upon  Mr.  Palmer's  death  in  1874  Dr.  Draper 
became  the  managing  Trustee  of  a  large  estate, 
the  ^administration  of  which  at  first  entailed  an 
overwhelming  mass  of  detail  and  exhaustive  labor, 
which  however  soon  was  reduced  to  clearness 
and  productive  order  by  the  new  administrator. 
Eleven  years  before  this  time,  in  August  1863, 
he  secured  the  best  photograph  of  the  moon 
obtained  by  any  one  up  to  that  time,  some  fifteen 
hundred  negatives  of  the  moon  being  taken  with 
the  new  telescope.  During  the  summer  of  1869 
another  dome  was  added  to  the  Hastings  labora- 
tory, and  in  1873  a  new  telescope  was  used  to 
photograph  the  full  moon  with  an  exposure  of 
one-quarter  second,  and  the  image  of  Mars  ap- 
peared quite  round  and  distinct.  Among  the 
operations  performed  with  this  telescope  was  a 
study  of  Saturn  and  his  system  in  conjunction 
first  with  Professor  Newcomb  and  afterwards  with 


Professor  Holden.  In  1875  Dr.  Draper  ordered 
from  Alvan  Clark  of  Cambridge,  Massachusetts,  a 
reflector  which  in  1880  was  exchanged  for  an 
eleven  inch  achromatic,  made  by  the  Clarks  for  the 
Lisbon  observatory.  The  first  photograph  of  the 
nebula  of  Orion  was  taken  with  it  in  the  same 
year.  "The  scientific  reputation  of  Henry  Draper 
in  all  probability,  will  rest  chiefly  upon  his  photo- 
graphic investigations  :  —  First,  upon  the  diffrac- 
tion spectrum  of  the  sun ;  second,  upon  stellar 
spectra ;  third,  upon  the  existence  of  oxygen  in 
the  sun ;  and  fourth,  upon  the  spectra  of  the 
elements."  (G.  F.  Barker.)  A  comparison  made 
by  Professor  Pickering  of  Harvard  in  1886  of 
Henry  Draper's  spectrum-work  with  that  done 
by  Professor  Rowland  of  Johns  Hopkins  thir- 
teen years  later  with  greatly  improved  appa- 
ratus and  on  a  much  larger  scale,  demonstrated 
the  scrupulous  accuracy  of  Henry  Draper  as 
an  investigator.  Secchi  in  Rome  reproduced 
Henry  Draper's  spectrum  on  steel  and  intro- 
duced it  into  his  monograph  upon  the  sun. 
An  excellent  account  of  Dr.  Henry  Draper's  "  Re- 
searches on  Astronomical  Spectrum  Photography," 
by  Professors  C.  A.  Young  and  E.  C.  Pickering, 
was  presented  to  the  American  Academy  of  Arts 
and  Sciences  in  April  1883,  and  is  published  in  its 
Proceedings.  Mrs.  Henry  Draper  since  the  death 
of  her  husband  has  made  liberal  provision  for  the 
continuation  of  his  work,  and  for  the  endowment 
of  astronomical  research  through,  and  in  connec- 
tion with,  the  work  of  Harvard  University.  In 
his  city  residence  a  fine  physical  laboratory'  was 
established,  being  completed  in  January'  1880. 
In  1878  Henry  Draper  organized  an  expedition 
to  observe  the  total  solar  eclipse  of  July  29.  1878, 
the  party  consisting  of  himself  as  director,  Mrs. 
Draper,  T.  A.  Edison,  President  Henry  Morton 
and  G.  F.  Barker.  Rawlins,  Wyoming,  on  the 
Union  Pacific  Railway,  was  chosen  as  the  point 
of  observation.  The  general  conclusions  reached 
by  Dr.  Draper  were  that  the  corona  of  the  sun 
shines  by  light  reflected  from  the  solar  mass  by 
a  cloud  of  meteors  surrounding  that  luminary. 
He  had  not  been  able  personally  to  join  the 
expedition  of  the  United  States  Commission  to 
observe  the  transit  of  Venus,  1874.  He  was  ap- 
pointed Director  of  the  Photographic  Department 
and  he  spent  April,  May  and  June  in  Washington, 
devising  improved  methods,  testing  instruments 
and  materials  and  instructing  the  persons   desig- 


UNIFERSITIES   AND    IIIKIK   SONS 


65 


nated  to  use  them.  He  declined  to  accept  com- 
pensation for  his  services  and  Congress  ordered  a 
gold  medal  struck  in  his  honor,  forty-six  milli- 
meters in  diameter,  having  on  the  obverse  the 
representation  of  a  siderostat  with  the  motto 
"  Famam  extendere  factis  hoc  virtutis  opus."  Upon 
the  reverse  there  are  inscribed  the  words :  "  Vene- 
ris in  sole  spectandae  curatores  R.  P.  F.  S.  Henrico 
Draper,  M.I).  Dec.  VIII.  MDCCCLXXIV,"  to- 
gether with  the  motto  "  Decori  decus  addit  avito." 
He  died  on  Monday,  November  20,  1882,  having 
spent  many  weeks  in  the  saddle  in  September  and 
the  early  part  of  October,  traveling  from  Rock 
Creek  on  the  Union  Pacific  to  Fort  Custer  on  the 
Northern  Pacific  Railway,  riding,  with  his  party, 
some  fifteen  hundred  miles  in  all,  but  encountering 
early  in  October  a  blinding  snow  storm  with 
intense  cold,  above  the  timber  line,  and  being 
obliged  to  camp  without  shelter.  Professor  Young 
of  Princeton  said  of  him  :  "  Except  his  early 
death,  Dr.  Draper  was  a  man  fortunate  in  all 
things  :  in  his  vigorous  physique,  his  delicate 
senses,  and  skillful  hand  ;  in  his  birth  and  educa- 
tion ;  in  his  friendships,  and  especially  in  his  mar- 
riage, which  brought  to  him  not  only  wealth  and 
all  the  happiness  which  naturally  comes  with  a 
lovely,  true-hearted  and  faithful  wife,  but  also  a 
most  unusual  companionship  and  intellectual  sym- 
pathy in  all  his  favorite  pursuits.  He  was  for- 
tunate in  the  great  resources  which  lay  at  his  dis- 
posal and  in  the  wisdom  to  manage  and  use  them 
well ;  in  the  subjects  he  chose  for  his  researches 
and  in  the  complete  success  he  invariably  at- 
tained." E,  G.  s. 


CROSBY,   Howard,   1826-1891. 

Professor    Greek    1852-60,     Councilor  1864-91,    Chancellor  1870-81. 

Born  in  New  York  City,  1826;  graduated  N.  Y. 
Univ.,  1844;  Prof.  Greek  in  the  University,  1852-60; 
Prof.  Greek,  Rutgers  College,  1859-63;  Pastor  Presby- 
terian Church,  New  Brunswick,  N.  J.,  1861-63;  of 
Fourth  Ave.  Church,  New  York  City,  1863-91  ;  D.D. 
Harvard,  1859  ;  member  University  Council,  1864-91  ; 
Chancellor,  1870-81  ;  LL.D.  Columbia,  1872 ;  Mode- 
rator Gen.  Assembly,  Baltimore,  1879;  delegate  to 
First  Presbyterian  Gen.  Council  in  Edinburgh,  1878 ; 
died  1891. 

HOWARD  CROSBY,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  was  born 
in  New  York  City,  February  27,  1826. 
His  paternal  grandfather.  Dr.  Ebenezer  Crosby, 
a  graduate  of  Harvard  College,  and  of  the  Medical 


Department  of  University  of  Pennsylvania,  was 
Surgeon  on  Washington's  Staff  during  the  Revo- 
lutionary War,  and  a  Professor  of  Medicine  and 
'I'ru.stee  of  Columbia  College.  Ebenezer  Crosby 
died  comparatively  early  of  a  pulmonary  disease. 
His  son,  William  Hedlow  Crosby,  married  to  a 
niece  of  Colonel  Henry  Rutgers,  became  the  father 
of  ten  children,  of  whom  Howard  was  the  last, 
we  believe.  He  was  married  to  Margaret  Givan 
in  1847.  Howard  Crosby  himself,  in  the  year 
1883,  the  semi-centennial  year  of  the  fir.st  Com- 
mencement, when  he  had  resigned  the  Chancellor- 
ship and  reached  the  completion  of  his  fifty- 
seventh  year,  wrote  the  following  reminiscences 
(published  at  the  time,  November  1883,  in  the 
University  Quarterly  of  New  York  University) : 
—  "In  1835,  before  the  University  edifice  was 
finished,  Mr.  Clough,  an  Irishman,  opened  a  school 
in  the  basement,  in  which  I  had  the  honor  of 
learning  mathematics  from  Mr.  O'Shaugnessey  and 
French  from  Monsieur  Parmentier.  In  the  school 
at  that  time  were  (of  those  now  living)  Clinton  Gra- 
ham and  George  R.  Lockwood,  with  whom  I  read 
Sallust  and  Cicero.  This  was  before  the  Univer- 
sity Grammar  School  was  founded.  —  The  Univer- 
sity, a  new  and  popular  institution,  excited  the 
admiration  of  the  city  at  that  time  for  the  high 
aim  of  its  founders  (who  were  men  of  the  first 
reputation)  and  for  the  symmetry  of  its  edifice, 
then  by  far  the  finest  building  in  New  York 
excepting  the  City  Hall.  In  1840  I  was  admitted 
to  the  Freshman  Class  and  spent  thereafter  four 
happy  years  on  the  L^niversity  benches.  During 
those  years  I  looked  up  to  many  in  the  classes  above 
me  who  have  distinguished  themselves  in  various 
departments  of  life.  These  were  Eugene  Law- 
rence, Robert  Ogden  Doremus,  George  H. 
Houghton,  George  H.  Moore,  Alexander  R. 
Thompson,  Samuel  O.  Vanderpoel.  ^^'illiam  P. 
Breed,  William  Allen  Butler,  George  L.  Duyckinck, 
Aaron  J.  Vanderpoel.  William  A.  Wheelock  and 
others,  who  have  adorned  society  and  benefited 
the  community  by  their  talents  and  industr)-, 
achieving  deserved  distinction  in  their  several 
spheres  of  activitj',  during  these  forty  years.  In 
my  own  class  was  the  genial  Adler  of  omnivorous 
learning,  who  was  facile  prhiceps  among  us  in 
every  department  of  study.  In  the  classes  below, 
while  I  was  still  on  the  benches,  were  ^^'illiam 
Aikman.  George  I.  Seney.  E.  Delafield  Smith, 
Wilson  Phraner,  John   Sedgwick  and  others,  who 


66 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


have  taken  high  position  among  their  fellow- 
citizens.  Of  the  Faculty  of  Arts  of  that  day  only 
two  survive,  the  Rev.  Dr.  C.  S.  Henry  the  beloved 
and  admired  Professor  of  Philosophy,  now  residing 
at  Stamford,  Connecticut,  and  Dr.  E.  A.  Johnson 
who  is  still  seated  in  the  Latin  Chair  which  he 
has  so  ably  filled  for  forty-five  years. 

Quae  cura  alumnorum 
Plenis  honorum  muneribus  tuas 
Johnsone,  virtutes  in  aevum 
Aeternel  I 


HOWARD    CROSBY 

Tayler  Lewis,  whose  erudition  in  linguistic  and 
philosophic  lines  put  him  in  the  first  rank  of 
scholars ;  Joslin,  wiser  in  mathematics  than  in 
governing  a  class;  Draper,  honored  in  all  lands; 
Cyrus  Mason,  prominent  in  the  inception  of  the 
University,  and  Frelinghuysen  the  good  Chancellor 
and  upright  statesman,  these  have  all  performed 
their  allotted  task  and  gone  to  their  rest.  In  that 
olden  time  how  different  was  the  "aspect  of  the 
city !  There  was  no  city  above  Union  Square. 
Indeed  Union  Square  was  laid  out  only  on  the 
surveyor's  map.  There  was  scarcely  a  railroad  in 
the  whole  country  and  our  city  cars  were  unknown. 
Whale  oil  supplied  the  city  with  light  at  night. 
Brooklyn    gathered    around    Main     and     Fulton 


streets.  The  E.  D.  was  the  little  hamlet  of 
W'illiamsburgh.  Jersey  City  had  not  much  out- 
grown Powles  Hook.  Hoboken  was  an  open 
country  for  afternoon  promenades.  The  Battery 
was  surrounded  by  the  best  private  residences  in 
the  city.  Chambers  Street,  Warren  Street,  Murray 
Street  and  Park  Place  were  fashionable  downtown 
streets,  and  Bleecker  and  Bond  streets  contained 
the  choice  residences  uptown.  Washington  Square 
was  Washington  Parade  Ground,  and  there  the 
soldiery  of  the  city  was  regularly  drilled.  Where 
now  (1883)  within  a  circle  having  the  City  Hall 
for  its  centre  and  with  a  radius  of  five  miles  there 
are  two  millions  of  people,  there  were  then  four 
hundred  thousand  at  the  highest  count.  There 
were  no  tramps,  no  street  beggars,  except  the 
children  who  went  from  house  to  house  to  collect 
'  cold  victuals.'  Pigs  roamed  the  streets  ad  libitum. 
You  could  meet  a  dozen  on  a  single  square. 
There  were  no  policemen.  A  few  constables  and 
a  few  night  watchmen  seemed  to  be  all  the  city 
needed  in  the  way  of  vo\x.o^v\aKf.%.  The  provincial 
city  of  1835  is  the  \7iii  cosmopolis  oi  1883.  Society 
has  changed  from  centre  to  circumference. 
Habits,  methods,  form  and  spirit,  are  all  new — 
let  us  hope,  for  the  better.  May  our  University 
meet  the  new  demand  of  a  new  age,  under  the 
fostering  care  and  grateful  ministry  of  its  Alumni." 
The  earlier  recollections  of  Howard  Crosby  dealt 
much  with  Colonel  Rutgers,  the  uncle  of  his 
mother,  from  whom  William  Bedlow  Crosby  had 
inherited  the  substance  of  his  fortune  which  in 
his  commercial  operations  greatly  increased,  so 
that  in  1842  William  Bedlow  Crosby  was  reputed 
one  of  the  dozen  millionaires  in  the  city.  Uncle 
Rutgers  told  little  Howard  of  his  own  childhood 
recollections  of  the  year  1755,  the  year  of  the 
earthquake  of  Lisbon,  when  certain  iron  stanchions 
in  the  Rutgers  mansion  were  palpably  bent. 
Another  time  the  distinguished  merchant,  William 
B.  Crosby,  was  accompanied  by  his  youngest  son, 
waiting  in  Nassau  Street :  "  Do  you  see  that  man 
over  there,  Howard?  That  is  Aaron  Burr."  At 
which  the  child  shuddered.  With  pleasure 
Howard  Crosby  recalled  frequent  visits  of  Wash- 
ington Irving  to  his  father's  house.  And  still 
although  reared  in  a  house  of  great  wealth  and 
ease,  after  Crosby  had  reached  his  thirty-third 
year,  when  at  Rutgers  College,  being  Professor 
there,  he  entered  the  ministry,  he  began  a  life  of 
vigorous  service  of  his  fellow   men,   and    in    this 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    TIIEIR    SONS 


by 


work,  largely  done  during  his  pastorate  of  the 
Fourth  Avenue  l'resb)terian  CMiurch,  he  was 
essentially  a  representative  of  the  church  militant. 
He  was  combative  by  nature.  It  was  not  in  him 
to  yield  or  temporize.  Nor  was  he  given  to 
abstruse  or  anahtical  labors  when  there  was 
the  opportunity  of  dealing  a  blow  against  evil  or 
making  a  practical  step  of  progress  for  that  which 
was  good  and  wholesome.  In  the  twenty-eight 
years  from  1863  to  1891  he  steadily  rose  in  the 
esteem  of  those  elements  of  those  citizens  whose 
esteem  is  indeed  an  honor,  so  that  at  his  death, 
March  29,  1891,  he  was  without  controversy  the 
first  citizen  of  New  York.  There  was  one  of  the 
noblest  traits  of  this  extraordinary  man  which  was 
much  abused.  He  was  trustful  be}ond  the  limits 
of  worldly  prudence,  trustful  beyond  his  better 
knowledge  of  average  human  nature.  Through 
the  life  and  innermost  strain  of  Howard  Crosby 
there  was  traceable  like  a  thread  of  fine  gold  that 
which  was  greater  in  him  than  his  manifold  and 
great  gifts  —  the  "more  excellent  way"  of  St. 
Paul  — •  Charity.  And  as  the  great  Apostle  says, 
I  Corinthians  xiii.  4,  "  Charity  suflfereth  long,  and 
is  kind  ;  "  —  and  Charity  "  Rejoiceth  not  in 
iniquit)-,  but  rejoiceth  in  the  truth ;  beareth  all 
things,  believeth  all  things,  hopeth  all  things, 
endureth  all  things  ;  "'  thus  this  was  a  positive  and 
a  great  force  in  his  soul.  And  coupled  with  it 
was  a  resoluteness  of  action  and  personal  initiative 
which  was  characteristic  of  the  man.  To  see  a 
brutal  man  maltreating  a  child  meant  for  him  to 
rush  upon  the  oflfender,  clutch  him  firmly  and  take 
him  along  until  he  met  a  policeman,  while  being 
himself  kicked  or  bitten  in  the  process.  There 
was  in  him  this  element  of  moral  chivalry  and  the 
spirit  of  the  reformer  which  placed  him  at  the 
head  e.g.  of  the  Society  for  the  Prevention  of 
Crime  and  made  him  go  to  Albany  with  so  many 
bills  meant  for  the  social  and  moral  amelioration 
of  the  cit)-  which  he  loved  and  which  he  served. 
And  so,  on  a  noted  occasion.  Dr.  Crosby  was 
introduced  by  William  E.  Dodge  "  as  the  first 
citizen  in  New-  York  in  pluck  and  courage,  one 
who  is  constantly  going  for  everj-thing  that  is 
wrong  and  the  one  above  all  others  whom  wrong- 
doers fear."  Or  again,  to  quote  from  a  minute  of 
the  Societj'  for  the  Prevention  of  Crime.  (1891): 
"  Our  President,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Howard  Crosby, 
counted  himself  a  debtor  to  ever}'  citizen  of  New 
York.     This    he  did  because  he   respected  ever)' 


man  as  his  brother,  committed  to  his  care  by  the 
connnon  Father.  He  met  his  debt  in  part  as 
preacher,  educator,  author,  honest  taxpayer  and 
voter.  Still  he  counted  himself  debtor  to  aid 
specially  the  magistrates  in  two  ways — first, 
encouraging,  assisting  and  constraining  them  to 
execute  existing  laws ;  second,  in  securing  better 
laws.  ...  He  did  much  to  create  a  standard  of 
faithfulness  in  office.  The  ideal  magistrate  has 
been  kept  before  New  Yorkers  by  his  efforts.  He 
personally  pursued  the  \iolators  of  the  law  in 
numberless  cases.  He  was  a  terror  to  evil- 
doers. He  was  ubiquitous  in  his  survey  of  e\'ents 
around  him.  .  .  .  He  stimulated  us  by  his  toils, 
patrolling  sometimes  by  night  to  detect  unfaithful 
officers  or  flagrant  criminals.  Fie  led  us  in  giving 
his  means.  He  was  always  prompt,  never  weary. 
He  harmonized  differing  elements.  He  forgot 
himself  and  made  others  forget  themselves  for  the 
cause."  Dr.  Crosby  was  Moderator  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  1873. 
Every  minute  of  his  waking  hours  was  filled  with 
labor  appointed  or  unappointed.  His  summer- 
vacations  for  many  years  were  kept  short  by  him- 
self :  he  insisted  that  heat  or  fashion  should  not 
close  his  church.  His  favorite  abode  in  the  latter 
years  of  his  life  was  his  summer  home  at  Pine  Flill, 
New  York,  in  the  Catskills,  where  his  \igorous  tours 
on  foot  sometimes  actually  carried  him  away  from 
highways  and  by-ways  even,  so  that  he  had  to  seek 
shelter  with  strangers.  One  of  the  secrets  of  the 
composition  of  the  character  of  this  extraordinary' 
man  was  this,  that  he  could  —  and  did  —  throw 
himself  and  all  that  he  was,  into  what  at  the  time 
was  to  be  done.  His  sympathy  was  of  the  prac- 
tical and  forceful  order ;  tens  of  thousands  still 
living  will  utter  at  this  day.  and  as  long  as  they 
live,  his  name  to  couple  it  with  a  blessing  coming 
from  a  grateful  heart.  Dr.  Crosby  had  a  striking 
presence.  There  was  a  finely  chiseled  face,  a  high 
forehead  and  ever)'  manifestation  of  a  soul  in 
which  the  highest  and  most  spiritual  emotions  and 
motives  held  domination.  His  eyes  often  had 
lurking  within  their  corners,  when  he  was  among 
friends,  the  ambuscading  artiller)-  of  sudden  sallies 
of  wit  or  humor.  He  possessed  a  voice  which  like 
a  fine  violin  or  violoncello  under  the  hand  of  a 
great  master  could  resound  in  every  key  and  its 
reverberations  touch  ever)'  emotion  that  ever  is 
roused  into  life  in  the  human  heart.  The  simplest 
matter   when    told    with    the    humor    of     Howard 


68 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR   SONS 


Crosby  and  in  the  modulations  of  his  exquisite 
barytone  voice,  charmed  the  hearers  whether  to 
solemn  and  serious  emotions  or  may  be  to  fits  of 
uncontrollable  laughter.  In  this  faculty  of  imme- 
diate domination  through  his  rare  faculties  of 
utterance  and  presentation  he  reminds  one  of 
Dickens.  How  vast  was  the  sphere  and  how 
extensive  the  periphery'  of  vital  points  at  which  he 
worked  with  and  for  his  generation  can  best  be 
seen  by  glancing  at  the  bodies  who  enacted  trib- 
utes of  grateful  recognition  of  his  worth  and  his 
work  when  he  passed  away,  on  the  anniversar)-  of 
the  Resurrection,  March  29.  1891.  Among  those 
who  condoled  with  his  immediate  family  were  his 
church,  the  Council  of  New  York  University  and 
the  various  Faculties  of  the  same,  the  Press  of 
New  York  City  and  of  the  country  at  large,  the 
Presbyterian  Union  of  New  York,  the  Quarterly 
Meeting  of  the  Ministerial  Union  of  Philadelphia, 
the  Presbyterian  Ministers  As.sociation  of  New 
York,  the  Grace  Chapel  Helping  Hand,  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  (May  i8gi),  the  Bible  Society  and 
other  bodies.  Of  Dr.  Crosby's  services  on  the  Bible 
Revision  Committee  President  Timothy  Dwight  of 
Yale  University  said  :  "  ^^'e  were  both  members  of 
the  New  Testament  section  of  the  Committee  on 
Revision,  and  we  sat  side  by  side  ...  at  all  the 
monthly  meetings  which  continued  for  nearly  nine 
years.  Dr.  Crosby  was  a  man  of  as  strong  con- 
victions as  any  of  the  whole  number.  He  held 
his  beliefs  as  precisely,  as  firmly,  as  unquestionably 
as  a  man  could  hold  them.  He  saw  not  only  clearly 
but  with  the  utmost  distinctness,  what  he  saw. 
He  pronounced  his  conclusions  as  positively  and 
emphatically  as  if  no  doubt  respecting  their  abso- 
lute truthfulness  had  ever  entered  his  own  mind, 
or  could  enter  any  other  well-balanced  mind. 
.  .  .  He  instinctively  turned  away  from  the 
thought  of  a  half-way  speaking,  because  ^/icre  was 
only  half-way  believing.  And  yet  there  was  no 
arrogance,  and  no  bitterness,  and  no  violence  of 
opposition  in  his  feeling,  and  no  angry  passion  in 
his  differences  from  others.  He  was  a  courteous 
gentleman  after  every  description,  and  was  as 
ready  peacefully  to  be  left  in  a  minority,  even  in  a 
minority  of  one,  as  any  man  whom  I  have  known. 
He  was  good-tempered  —  immovably  so  —  in  all 
the  discussions  of  those  nine  years,  and  I  think 
he  murt  have  been  as  truly  so  outside  of  those 
familiar  and  friendly  meetings  as  he  was  when 
attending  them.     I  have  heard  that  he  said,  not 


long  before  his  death,  to  a  gentleman  with  whom 
he  had  had  what  seemed  to  the  public  a  sharp 
controversy  :  '  You  will  find  that  there  is  no  bit- 
terness of  feeling  in  me.'  As  a  scholar  he  was 
quick  of  apprehension.  He  possessed  great  power 
of  working  and  of  rapid  working.  He  abounded 
in  enthusiasm.  He  had  read,  again  and  again,  the 
writings  of  the  classical  Greek  authors.  He  had 
noticed  carefully  all  matters  of  words  and  con- 
struction usage,  and  was  ready  with  all  that  he 
knew  at  a  moment's  call.  To  some  of  us  he 
seemed  fanciful  at  times,  in  his  interpretations,  but 
he  always  defended  them  with  vigorous  argument 
and  with  strong  confidence.  He  never  resented 
the  intimation  that  his  opinion  was  wrong.  He 
smiled  his  most  genial  and  kindly  smile  when  all 
the  rest  of  the  company  voted  against  him.  He 
had  a  wonderful  appreciation  of  words,  their  mean- 
ing and  likenesses  and  a  wonderful  power  of  play- 
fully using  them.  His  humor,  as  connected  with 
this  gift,  was  unbounded.  His  mind  delighted 
in  its  own  joyous  exercise,  and  as  he  delighted 
himself  by  his  happy  workings,  he  also  gave  pleas- 
ure to  all  who  were  associated  with  him."  And 
this  admirable  sketch  by  President  Dwight  with  but 
sligiit  modifications  could  be  fitted  to  a  descrip- 
tion of  what  Howard  Crosby  was  at  the  meetings 
of  the  Greek  Club  of  New  York.  On  December 
30,  1857.  Howard  Crosby,  Professor  of  Greek  in 
New  York  University,  and  Henry  Drisler,  Pro- 
fessor of  Greek  at  Columbia  College,  met  in  a 
barbershop  and  settled  the  beginnings  of  that 
noted  organization  of  friends  of  Greek  literature 
which  lasted  for  fortj'  years,  lapsing  soon  after  the 
death  of  I'rofessor  Drisler,  November  30,  1897. 
The  club  in  its  palmy  days  rarely  had  more  than 
twelve  members ;  the  meetings  were  held  on 
Friday  evenings  at  the  houses  of  members  in  turn. 
Reading  began  about  8.15  and  lasted  for  two 
hours  more  or  less.  One  member  was  reader  for 
the  evening,  being  appointed  one  week  in  advance. 
There  was  a  difference,  roughly  speaking,  of  some 
fifty  per  cent  between  the  amounts  covered  by  the 
slowest  and  by  the  fastest  readers,  respectively ; 
on  the  whole,  in  prose  writers  about  ten  pages 
of  the  Teubner  text  were  covered  by  the  readers, 
and  about  four  hundred  verses  in  poetrj-.  The 
Club  thus  read,  or  reread,  Homer,  Hesiod,  the 
Homeric  Hymns,  Pindar  ;  the  dramatists,  Aeschy- 
lus, Sophocles,  Euripides,  Aristophanes  ;  Herodo- 
tus,   Thucydides,    Plato,    Demosthenes :    in   each 


I 


UNiyERsrriKS   AND    rilEIK   SONS 


69 


case  traversing  all  the  works  extant ;  most  of  the 
oilier  nine  orators  ;  Aristotle's  Tolitics  and  Klhics  ; 
of  the  post-classic  writers:  Polyhiiis,  JMutarch, 
Josephus,  Lucian  and  others.  Associated  with 
the  two  founders  were,  in  the  course  of  time : 
Talbot  W.  Chambers,  Charlton  T.  Lewis,  W.  P. 
Prentice,  Eugene  Lawrence,  Kugene  Schuyler, 
Austin  Stickney,  Isaac  Hall,  Herbert  Morse, 
Robert  Minturn,  H.  Overhiser,  Julius  Sachs,  Seth 
Low,  E.  G.  Sihler,  Mr.  Ferris  of  IJay  Ridge,  Prook- 
lyn,  Messrs.  I-'r.  Cope  Whitehouse,  the  Egyptian 
explorer.  Barrows,  Leggett,  Mytton  Maury,  and, 
towards  the  very  end,  Professors  Perry  and  James 
Wheeler  of  Columbia.  After  the  reading  there 
was  a  supper  furnished  by  the  host,  and  general 
conversation,  furnished  by  all  or  any  one.  Never 
we  believe  (in  the  history  of  American  culture) 
has  the  intrinsic  force  of  the  great  writers  of 
Greece  so  revealed  itself  not  only  as  the  inex- 
haustible source  of  the  highest  form  of  literary 
gratification,  but  as  a  noble  and  tenacious  bond  of 
social  union.  The  death  of  Dr.  Crosby,  the  one 
founder,  in  1891  dealt  the  Greek  Club  a  blow 
from  which  it  never  recovered ;  the  death  of  the 
other.  Professor  Drisler,  caused  its  end.  Howard 
Crosby  is  laid  at  rest  in  \^'oodlawn  Cemetery. 
The  monument  erected  to  his  memory  in  that 
peaceful  abode  is  a  modest  shaft.  But,  as  Mr. 
A.  D.  F.  Randolph  beautifully  expressed  it : 

"  He  in  his  life  built  his  own  Monument : 

We  who  remain  the  Epitaph  indite : 

A  citizen,  chivalric  as  a  Knight ; 
His  mail  —  a  courage  wrought  of  pure  intent 

That  Civic  wrong  give  place  to  Civic  right. 
A  Scholar:  he  \\-ith  Plato  often  trod 

The  Academic  groves  in  quest  of  light, 
Yet  with  a  full  clear  vision  of  the  God 

Great  Plato  dimly  saw. 

A  Teacher,  wise. 
He  held  God's  word  as  God's ;  in  its  defense 

Stood  as  a  rock.     He  made  no  compromise 
'Twixt  Truth  and  Error;  and  where  zeal  intense 
Failed  to  persuade,  he  oft  with  love  beguiled, 
Since  in  his  Faith  he  was  a  little  child." 

E.   G.    S. 


POMEROY,  John  Norton,   1828-1885. 

Professor  Law,    1864- 1870. 

Born  in  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  1828;  prepared  for  College 
at  Rochester  High  School;  studied  in  Hamilton  Col- 
lege, 1843-46 ;  taught  school,  1846-51 ;  admitted  to 
Bar,    1851 ;    practiced     in    Rochester,    1851-60;    Prin. 


Kingston  (N.  Y.)  Acad.,  1861  ;  Prof.  Law  N.  Y.  Univ., 
1864-70;  in  practice  and  engaged  in  writing  in  Roches- 
ter, 1870-78  ;  Prof.  Municipal  Law  Univ.  of  Calif., 
1878-85;  author  of  valuable  law  works;  died  1885. 

JOHN  NORTON  POMEROY  was  born  April 
12,  1828,  in  Rochester,  New  York.  His 
father.  En os,  born  in  1791,  was  one  of  the  early 
settlers  of  Rochester,  having  removed  thither  in 
18 1 6.  He  was  also  one  of  the  pioneer  lawyers 
of  western  New  York.  For  many  years  he  was 
Siurogate  of  Monroe  county.  J'rcjfessor  Pome- 
roy's  ancestors,  on  both  his  father's  and  his 
mother's  side,  lived  for  several  generations  in  ("on- 


JOHN    N.    POMEROY 

necticut  and  western  Massachusetts.  On  his 
mother's  side  he  was  descended  from  President 
Clapp  of  Yale,  and  Governor  Pitkin  of  Connecti- 
cut. Professor  Pomeroy  was  prepared  for  College 
at  the  Rochester  High  School,  then  under  the  able 
management  of  Dr.  Chester  Dewey.  He  entered 
Hamilton  College  in  1843  at  the  age  of  fifteen. 
One  of  his  classmates  and  a  life-long  friend  was 
Senator  Hawley  of  Connecticut.  He  left  College 
a  short  time  before  the  graduation  of  his  class  and 
taught  for  some  months  in  the  Rochester  High 
School.  Leaving  Rochester,  he  took  charge,  for 
the  space  of  three  years,  of  the  Academy  in  Leba- 
non, Ohio,  near  Cincinnati.     While  thus  employed 


JO 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


he  studied  law  with  Senator  Thomas  Corwin,  a 
resident  of  Lebanon.  On  his  return  to  Rochester 
he  entered  the  office  of  Judge  Henry  Selden.  He 
was  admitted  to  the  Bar  in  185 1  and  practiced  in 
Rochester  until  i860.  In  i860  he  removed  to 
New  York  City  and  in  186 1,  shortly  after  the  out- 
break of  the  war,  took  charge  of  the  Academy  at 
Kingston,  New  York,  the  oldest  in  the  state.  From 
this  time  on,  his  time  was  largely,  and  from  1873 
till  his  death,  chiefly  devoted  to  writing  on  legal 
and  political  subjects.  His  first  treatise,  Munici- 
pal Law,  was  published  in  1864.  In  that  year  he 
assumed  the  post  of  Professor  of  Law  in  the  New 
York  University  Law  School,  in  the  reorganization 
due  to  the  retirement  of  Professor  Wedgewood.  In 
1870  he  returned  to  Rochester  and  resumed  the 
practice  of  law.  After  the  first  two  years  of  his 
residence  there,  however,  his  time  was  devoted 
almost  exclusively  to  writing.  In  1878  he  was 
called  to  the  Professorship  of  Municipal  Law  in 
the  Hastings  Law  College  of  the  University  of 
California  which  had  been  established  in  that  year. 
This  position  he  held  until  his  death.  During  the 
last  two  or  three  years  of  his  life  he  was  engaged 
on  a  few  large  and  important  cases,  notably  the 
famous  Debris  case  and  the  Railroad  Tax  cases, 
both  before  the  United  States  Circuit  Court  of 
California.  At  the  same  time  he  was  Editor  of 
the  West  Coast  Reporter.  His  death  occurred 
from  pneumonia,  after  a  week's  illness,  on  the 
twenty-fifth  of  February,  1885.  Pomeroy  was  one 
of  the  most  prolific  writers  in  American  jurispru- 
dence ;  he  wrote  on  Municipal  Law  ;  on  Constitu- 
tional Law ;  on  Remedies  and  Remedial  Rights 
by  the  Civil  Action  ;  on  Criminal  Procedure,  Plead- 
ing and  Evidence  ;  on  the  Specific  Performance  of 
Contracts  as  it  is  enforced  by  Courts  of  Equitable 
Jurisdiction  in  the  United  States;  on  Equity  Juris- 
prudence ;  his  last  work  being  Lectures  on  Inter- 
national Law  in  the  Time  of  Peace,  edited  by 
Theodore  S.  Woolsey,  1886,  after  Professor  Pom- 
eroy's  death.  In  addition  to  these  treatises  Pro- 
fessor Pomeroy's  writings  included  numerous 
contributions  to  the  North  American  Review,  the 
American  Law  Review  and  the  Nation  ;  also  the 
majority  of  the  legal  articles  in  Johnson's  Encyclo- 
paedia. Justice  Stephen  J.  Field  of  the  United 
States  Supreme  Court  said  of  his  writings  :  "  In 
the  consideration  and  elucidation  of  every  subject 
he  brought  to  bear  established  principles  without 
the   slightest    prejudice    from    past   traditions,    or 


undue  reverence  for  old  forms  and  opinions."  .  .  . 
"  His  greatest  work,  and  the  one  on  which  his  repu- 
tation in  the  future  will  chiefly  rest,  is  his  treatise 
on  Equity  Jurisprudence.  It  exhibits  immense 
labor  in  the  examination  of  the  adjudged  cases ; 
and  it  presents  what  the  author  intended,  in  the 
clearest  light,  those  principles  which  lie  at  the 
foundation  of  equity,  and  which  are  the  sources  of 
its  doctrines  and  rules."'  e.  g.  s. 


JESUP,   Morris   Ketchum,   1830- 

Member  Council  1865-66,  1870-81,  Treasurer  1B75-81. 

Born  in  Westport,  Conn.,  1830;  merchant  and  banker 
in  New  York  City ;  prominent  in  philanthropic,  chari- 
table and  educational  work;  twice  a  member  of  the 
University  Council,  1865-66,  and  1870-81  ;  Treasurer, 
1873-81. 

MORRIS  KETCHUM  JESUP  was  born  in 
Westport,  Connecticut,  June  21,  1830, 
son  of  Charles  and  Abigail  (Sherwood)  Jesup.  He 
is  a  descendant  of  Edward  Jesup  who  came  to 
this  country  from  Sheffield,  England,  and  settled 
in  Stamford,  Connecticut,  about  the  middle  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  and  afterward  moved  to 
Westchester  county.  New  York.  His  father  was 
born  in  Saugatuck,  Connecticut,  in  179C,  and 
siiortly  after  graduating  from  Yale  (18 14),  made 
an  extensive  tour  in  Europe.  Upon  his  return  he 
engaged  in  business  in  Connecticut,  and  was  also 
closely  identified  with  religious  work.  Abigail 
(Sherwood)  Jesup,  whom  he  married  in  182  i,  was 
a  daughter  of  Samuel  B.  Sherwood  of  Fairfield 
county,  Connecticut,  a  well-known  lawyer  of  his 
day.  After  the  death  of  his  father  in  1842, 
Morris  K.  Jesup  accompanied  his  mother  to 
New  York  City.  He  made  good  use  of  his  educa- 
tional opportunities,  and  received  his  first  business 
training  in  the  office  of  Rogers,  Ketchum  & 
Crosvenor  of  the  Paterson  Locomotive  Works. 
At  the  early  age  of  twenty -two  he  established  the 
firm  of  Clark  &:  Jesup  in  New  York  City,  and 
about  1856  founded  the  banking  house  of  M.  K. 
Jesup  &  Company,  which  has  continued  to  the 
present  day  under  successive  changes  in  the  firm 
name,  now  being  known  as  Cuyler,  Morgan  & 
Company,  with  Mr.  Jesup  as  special  partner.  As 
a  financier  Mr.  Jesup  has  been  extensively  inter- 
ested in  railways,  and  as  Director  has  been  closely 
identified  with  the  development  of  several  im- 
portant   lines.     Of   late    he    has    withdrawn  from 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


7^ 


active  participation  in  the  various  enterprises  with 
which  he  has  been  connected.  In  i<S63  he  be- 
came a  member  of  liie  Chamber  of  Commerce, 
witii  which  he  has  been  actively  identified  to  the 
present  time,  and  is  now  its  President.  Mr. 
Jesup's  interest  in  philanliiropic  and  educational 
work,  which  began  with  the  advent  of  his  business 
prosperity,  still  continues.  His  benefactions  have 
been  "distributed  over  a  wide  field  of  usefulness, 
including  the  Forty-fourth  Street  Lodging  House 
for  Homeless  Boys,  erected  by  him  in  1888;  a 
liberal  donation  to  the  American  Museum  of  Natural 


MORRIS    K.    JESUP 

Histor}',  of  which  institution  he  is  President ;  the 
presentation  of  Jesup  Hall  to  the  Union  'theolo- 
gical Seminary;  and  a  gift  of  Si 00,000  to  the 
Women's  Hospital  in  memor}'  of  his  mother,  the 
income  of  which  sum  is  to  be  used  to  defray 
the  expenses  of  women  unable  to  pay  for  treatment. 
His  beneficence  to  Yale  has  contributed  much 
toward  extending  the  usefulness  of  that  University. 
In  New  York  University  he  has  at  two  different 
times  ser\-ed  in  the  Council,  1865- 1866,  and  1870- 
1881  ;  he  was  also  Treasurer  of  the  University 
from  1873  to  1 88 1.  Mr.  Jesup  was  one  of  the 
founders  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Associa- 
tion, its  President  in  1872,  and  since  that  time  he 
has  been  one  of  its  Trustees.     He  is  President  of 


the  New  York  Mission  and  Trust  Society,  the 
American  Sunday  School  Union  and  the  Five 
Point  House  of  Industry;  Vice-President  of  the 
Society  for  Prevention  of  Cruelty  to  Animals 
and  the  Institute  for  the  In.struction  of  the  Deaf 
and  Dumb;  Treasurer  of  the  Slater  Fund  for  the 
Fducation  of  the  Freedman,  and  Tru.stee  of  the 
Half-Orphan  Asylum.  During  the  Ci\il  War  he 
was  Treasurer  of  the  Christian  Commission.  He 
is  a  member  of  the  American  Geographical  Society, 
the  New  York  Genealogical  and  Biographical 
Association,  the  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art,  the 
American  Fine  Art  Society,  the  National  Academy 
of  Design,  the  Down  Town  Association,  the  New 
England  Society,  the  Sons  of  the  American  Revo- 
lution, the  Williams  College  Alumni  Association  and 
the  Century,  University,  Metropolitan,  City,  New 
York  Yacht,  Mendelssohn  and  Riding  clubs.  A 
constant  student  in  matters  of  scientific  research, 
he  has  furnished  the  American  Museum  of  Natural 
History  with  many  valuable  specimens,  notably  of 
rare  fossils.  He  has  presented  a  handsome  hall 
to  Williams  College,  from  which  institution  he 
holds  the  honorary  degree  Master  of  Arts.  He  is 
also  a  Master  of  Arts  of  Yale.  In  1841  Mr. 
Jesup  married  Maria  Van  Antwerp,  daughter  of 
Rev.  Thomas  De  Witt,  for  forty  years  Pastor  of  the 
Collegiate  Dutch  Church  of  New  York  City.  The 
De  Witt  Memorial  Church  in  Rivington  Street  was 
erected  by  Mr.  Jesup.  * 


ANDREWS,   Loring,   1799-1875. 

Councilor  1866-1875,  —  Benefactor. 

Born  in  Windham.  N.Y.,  1799 ;  leather  merchant 
New  York  City  from  1829;  Director  Mechanics'  Bank; 
founder  and  first  Pres.  Shoe  and  Leather  Bank;  one 
of  the  first  to  start  endowment  of  the  University  ;  mem- 
ber University  Council,  1866-75;  died  1875. 

LORIXG  ANDREWS,  Merchant,  was  born 
January  31,  1799,  at  Windham  in  White 
(now  Greene)  County,  in  the  Catskills,  New  York. 
His  first  American  ancestor,  William  Andrews, 
was  one  of  the  companions  of  John  Davenport  in 
the  settlement  of  the  Colony  of  New  Haven  in 
1639.  Later  Wallingford,  Connecticut,  was  the 
home  of  the  Andrewses.  From  \\'allingford  about 
1750  Laban  Andrews  migrated  to  the  Catskill 
countr}-  in  New  York.  His  son.  Constant  Andrews, 
had  two  sons  and  two  daughters,  Loring  being  the 
second  son.     Constant  in  18 17  sought  his  fortune 


72 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR    SONS 


in  the  West  leaving  his  family  behind ;  his  son 
Loring  apprenticed  himself  to  a  tanner  and  thus 
thoroughly  acquired  knowledge  of  that  craft  from 
1813  to  1820.  During  this  time  his  mother,  Sara 
Andrews,  had  died  in  New  York  Cit}-,  and  it 
was  to  his  maternal  parent  that  Loring  Andrews's 
mind  was  wont  to  return  with  grateful  piet)'^  and 
affection  when  he  had  risen  to  importance  and 
affluence.  Young  Loring  spent  the  first  tvvo  years 
of  his  freedom  in  search  of  his  father,  learning  at 
last  that  both  his  father  and  his  older  brother  had 
died  at  Prairie  du  Chien,  Wisconsin.  Having  amid 
many  privations  —  by  way  of  New  Orleans  — 
effected  his  return  to  New  York  he  revisited  Wind- 
ham and  undertook  for  his  old  master,  Foster 
Morse,  the  management  of  one  of  the  latter's 
tanneries.  Thence  in  1829  he  migrated  to  New 
York  City  and  settled  there  as  a  leather  merchant, 
with  a  small  capital  at  first,  but  with  the  trust  and 
goodwill  of  the  tanners  of  Greene  county.  His 
arrival  in  New  York  thus  was  almost  coincident 
with  the  beginnings  of  New  York  University  to 
which  institution  he  gave  later  the  largest  single 
gift  for  endowment  recorded  in  the  first  sixty  years 
of  its  history.  The  panic  of  1837  utterly  swept 
away  the  fortune  of  Mr.  Andrews,  but  his  special 
partners,  Gideon  Lee  and  Sheperd  Knapp  decided 
to  leave  their  money  in  his  keeping  with  no  other 
security  than  his  word,  to  be  repaid  at  his  own 
convenience.  The  money  was  repaid  in  due  time 
and  henceforward  the  commercial  prosperity  of  the 
distinguished  merchant  received  no  further  check, 
his  business  generally  being  carried  on  without  a 
partner  except  in  1840  when  Abiel  Low  of  Boston 
was  his  partner.  Mr.  Andrews  was  described  by 
his  business  associates  as  the  soul  of  honor  in  all 
his  transactions,  and  he  possessed  in  a  remarkable 
degree  foresight  and  independent  judgment,  invest- 
ing largely  in  the  property  of  the  commercial  sec- 
tion given  up  to  the  wholesale  leather  trade  and 
known  to  the  world  of  trade  as  the  "  Swamp." 
He  was  one  of  the  early  Directors  of  the  Mechanics' 
Bank  and  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Shoe  and 
Leather  Bank  and  its  first  President.  He  sub- 
scribed largely  to  the  stock  of  the  Atlantic  Cable 
Company  at  a  time  when  the  general  public  con- 
sidered it  a  most  hazardous  venture.  It  is  a 
coincidence  of  singular  fitness  that  the  fine  stone 
mansion  in  which  at  one  time  he  resided  is  now 
the  property  of  the  sixth  Chancellor  of  New  York 
Universitv,  and  that  his  name  is  perpetuated    at 


L^niversity  Heights  by  two  streets,  Andrews  Ave- 
nue and  Loring  Place,  thoroughfares  directly  con- 
tiguous to  the  splendid  campus  of  the  northern 
Collegiate  site.  His  son,  William  Loring  Andrews, 
succeeded  to  his  father's  seat  in  the  Council.  As 
the  fovmder  of  the  beginning  of  permanent  endow- 
ment of  New  York  L'^niversit}',  Loring  Andrews's 
name  will  always  be  cherished  warmly  by  the 
students  and  alumni  of  the  University.  Mr. 
Andrews  was  a  member  of  the  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce from  July  6,  1865,  to  the  end  of  his  life. 
His  portrait  now  adorns  the  gallery  of  that  im- 
portant corporation.  In  his  social  and  more 
private  relations  Loring  Andrews  was  self-contained 
and  somewhat  reticent,  but  kindly ;  his  benefac- 
tions were  alike  liberal  and  unostentatious.  He 
died  in  New  York  Cit}-,  Januar}'  22,  1875. 

E.  r..  s. 

RICHARDS,   Thomas  Addison,  1820- 

Professor  of  Art  1867,  —  Emeritus  1892. 
Born  in  London,  England,  1820;  came  to  U.  S.  at 
age  of  eleven  ;  studied  at  Nat.  Acad,  of  Design ;  Asso- 
ciate of  the  Acad.,  1848;  Academician,  1851;  Corres. 
Sec,  1852-92;  Director  Cooper  Union  School  of  Design 
for  Women,  1858-60;  Prof,  of  Art  N.  Y.  Univ.  since 
1867;  Emeritus  since  1892;  painter  and  author;  A.M. 
N.  Y.  Univ.,  1878. 

THCnL\S  ADDISON  RICHARDS  was 
born  in  London,  England,  December  3. 
1820,  and  came  to  the  United  States  with  his 
father  in  1831,  Ten  years  of  his  early  life  were 
spent  in  Georgia,  and  in  1845  he  removed  to 
New  York  City,  entering  the  National  Academy 
of  Design  where  he  spent  two  years  in  study.  In 
1848  he  was  elected  an  Associate  of  the  Academy, 
in  1851  an  Academician,  and  in  1852  Correspond- 
ing Secretary,  which  office  he  retained  until  1892. 
In  1858  he  was  appointed  the  first  Director  of 
the  Cooper  Union  School  of  Design  for  Women 
and  remained  in  that  position  for  two  years. 
Since  1867  he  has  been  Professor  of  Art  in  the 
University,  having  received  two  high  marks  of 
honor  during  his  term  of  service :  the  bestowal 
of  the  honorary  degree  Master  of  Arts  in  1878 
and  the  title  Professor  Emeritus  in  1892.  Pro- 
fessor Richards'  work  in  the  field  of  art  may  be 
said  to  have  begun  at  the  age  of  twelve  when  he 
wrote  an  account  of  his  voyage  to  America  and 
illustrated  it  with  water-color  drawings.  His  next 
important  work  was  published  in  Baltimore  six 
years  later — an  illustrated  volume  on  flower  paint- 


UNIVERSITIES   JND    THEIR    SONS 


73 


ing.  entitled  The  American  Artist,  and  from  that 
time  his  work  as  author  and  artist  was  continued 
with  unflagging  energy  and  notable  artistic  enthu- 
siasm. His  Romance  of  American  Landscape,  a 
beautiful  quarto  volume  of  stories,  fully  illustrated 
in  scenes  of  American  scenery  from  paintings  by 
himself  and  other  Americans,  was  brought  out  in 
his  early  life.  It  was  followed  by  the  Appleton's 
Guide  Book  and  by  many  illustrated  writings  in 
Harper's  Magazine,  the  Southern  Literary  Gazette 
and  the  Orion.  \  recent  work  is  Pictures  and 
Painters,  a  large  volume  of  steel  engravings  by 
various  artists,  accompanied  by  a  text  of  descrip- 
tive and  biographical  matter.  Professor  Richards' 
early  painting  was  almost  exclusively  in  portraiture, 
and  many  of  his  pictures  of  this  class,  made  at  a 
time  when  there  was  a  taste  and  demand  for 
painted  portraits,  may  be  found  to-day  on  the  walls 
of  southern  homesteads.  His  modern  and  more 
masterly  work  is,  howe\er,  devoted  to  landscape 
painting,  and  he  has  found  many  delightful  sub- 
jects in  natural  scenes  in  every  part  of  America, 
in  England,  Germany,  Switzerland,  France  and 
Italy.  LI  is  paintings  of  highest  merit  are  :  The 
Edisto  River  in  South  Carolina ;  The  Spirit  of 
Solitude,  or  Alastor;  On  the  River  Rhine;  Lake 
Thun  and  Lake  Brienz  in  Switzerland  ;  Souvenir 
of  the  Adirondack  Lakes  ;  The  Indian  Paradise, 
or  the  Dream  of  the  Happy  Hunting  Grounds  ; 
The  Deserted  Village;  The  Happy  Valley;  War- 
wick Castle ;  Lake  Lucerne  ;  The  Chateau  of 
Chillon  ;  The  Delaware  Water  Gap ;  and  The 
Live  Oaks  of  the  South;  many  of  these  have 
appeared  in  the  exhibitions  of  the  National  Acad- 
emy of  Design.  Professor  Richards  married  in 
1857,  Mary,  daughter  of  L.  I).  Anthony  of  Provi- 
dence, Rhode  Island ;  she  died  November  30, 
1894,  leaving  no  children.  * 


GILLETT,   Ezra  Hall,   1823-1875. 

Professor  Political  Science,  1870-75. 
Born  in  Colchester,  Conn.,  1823 ;  graduated  Yale, 
1841  ;  A.M.  in  course;  studied  at  Union  Theol.  Sem., 
1841-44;  ordained,  1845;  Pastor  First  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Harlem,  1845-70;  D.D.  Hamilton  College, 
1864;  Prof.  Political  Science,  N.  Y.  Univ.  1805-81, 
1870-75 ;  died  1875. 

EZRA  HALL  GILLETT.  D.D.,  was  born  in 
Colchester.  Connecticut.  July  15.  1823.  On 
his  father's  side  he  was  of  Huguenot  descent,  his 
first  ancestor  in  this  countr}^  having  landed  on  the 


Massachusetts  coast  in  1630.  On  his  mother's 
side  he  was  probably  of  Welsh  stock  which  was 
transferred  to  New  England  soil  in  1638.  The 
evidence  of  both  strains  was  manifest  in  his  char- 
acter and  in  his  moral  and  intellectual  fibre.  As 
a  boy  he  attended  I5acon  Academy  in  his  native 
place,  a  .school  with  a  wide  and  favorable  reputa- 
tion under  the  guidance  of  (diaries  P.  Otis,  Myron 
N.  Morris  and  Edward  Strong,  all  ahunni  of  Yale 
and  able  instructors.  The  avidity  with  which  he 
learned  is  evident  when  it  is  stated  that  he  not 
onl\-  did  his  share  of  farm  work  with  his  brothers 
in  aid  of  his  father,  but  was  prepared  t(j  enter  Yale 
when  he  was  less  than  fourteen  years  of  age.  As 
he  had  not  yet  attained  the  statutory  limit  for  ad- 
mission, he  returned  to  the  instruction  of  the  Rev. 
Joel  R.  Arnold,  Pastor  of  the  Congregational 
Church,  under  whom  he  passed,  to  all  intents  and 
purposes,  the  work  of  the  Freshman  and  Sopho- 
more years,  for  at  the  end  of  two  years  he  applied 
once  again  and  was  admitted  to  the  Junior  Class 
at  Yale  in  1839,  when  only  a  little  more  than  six- 
teen years  old.  These  two  years  spent  with  Mr. 
Arnold  were  important  in  his  life  and  destiny. 
His  reverence  for  his  instructor  was  always  deep 
and  sincere,  and  his  admiration  for  him  remained 
undimmed.  But  not  only  was  he  influenced  intel- 
lectually by  the  minister,  but  also  spiritually,  for 
when  fifteen  he  united  with  the  church.  From 
that  time  his  life-work  was  perfectly  plain  to  him, 
and  he  knew  no  ambition  except  to  prepare  him- 
self worthily  to  preach  the  Gospel.  Though  he 
spent  only  two  years  at  Yale,  he  was  one  of  the 
Commencement  orators  August  18.  1841.  He 
spoke  On  the  Limited  Extent  of  Man's  Acquisi- 
tions as  Compared  w  ith  the  Objects  of  Knowledge. 
This  theme  was  e\'er  descriptive  of  his  mental  atti- 
tude and  restless  desire  for  further  attainment. 
Throughout  his  life  he  strove  to  obtain  the  most 
exhaustive  knowledge  of  whatever  he  touched. 
He  did  not  essay  everything,  but  what  he  did  he  did 
well.  He  spent  four  years  in  the  Union  Theologi- 
cal Seminar)',  1 841-1845  ;  the  final  year  as  a 
graduate  student.  During  his  course  he  found 
time  not  only  to  support  himself,  but  to  read 
Latin  and  Greek  in  the  realm  of  the  higher 
classics,  to  acquire  French  and  German,  and  to 
discharge  for  a  part  of  the  time  the  duties  of 
assistant  librarian  under  Dr.  Edward  Robinson, 
the  orientalist  and  biblical  scholar.  He  had  access 
to  the  wonderful  Van   Ess  Librar)-,  recently    im- 


74 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


ported  from  Germany,  where  it  had  previously 
been  the  secret  hbrary  of  the  Marienmiinster  in  the 
diocese  of  Paderborn.  Here  he  acquired  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  German  of  the  sixteenth  century  as  it 
was  written  and  printed  in  the  clays  of  Luther ; 
and  this  knowledge  he  put  to  use  in  translating 
Luther's  commentary  on  Peter  and  Jude  from  a 
black-letter  original.  The  love  of  this  library  then 
acquired  he  ever  retained,  and  to  his  energy  and 
devotion  the  Seminary  Library  owes  directly  or  in- 
directly some  of  its  most  precious  treasures.  These 
were  years  of  preparation  and  they  passed  all  too 
quickly  for  this  ardent  student.  On  April  i6,  1845, 
he  was  ordained  by  the  Third  (New  School)  Pres- 


EZRA    H.    OTI.I.ETT 


bytery  of  New  York,  and  installed  over  the  First 
Presbyterian  Church  of  Harlem  which  had  been 
organized  on  June  29,  1844.  He  occupied  the 
pulpit  of  this  church  almost  precisely  twenty-five 
years;  it  was  declared  vacant  on  April  4,  1870. 
The  Pastor  of  a  small  struggling  church  in  those 
days  had  many  trials  to  endure.  But  the  habits  of 
thrift  which  he  had  learned  in  his  youth  and  stu- 
dent days  carried  him  through  and  gave  him  suc- 
cess. On  one  occasion  he  refused  an  offered 
increase  of  salary  because,  as  he  drj^ly  said,  he 
had  trouble  enough  already  in  making  collections. 
The  animosities  of  the  Civil  War  were  felt,  in  his 


church  as  well  as  outside,  and  they  resulted  in  the 
organization  of  a  Congregational  Church.  Later 
in  his  ministry  an  attempt  was  made  to  form  a 
second  Presbyterian  Church,  but  after  a  feeble 
struggle  the  attempt  failed.  Under  his  successors 
it  was  repeated  and  eventuated  in  the  present 
Church  of  the  Puritans.  At  the  close  of  his  long 
service  he  retired  with  the  love  of  a  large  and 
united  flock.  He  continued  to  reside  in  their 
midst,  and  was  an  acceptable  preacher  in  a  large 
circle  of  churches  in  the  city  and  vicinity,  over 
which  he  seemed,  as  he  playfully  suggested,  to 
have  assumed  the  office  of  Presbyterial  Bishop. 
During  his  pastorate  in  1864,  and  in  recognition 
of  scholarly  work  in  his  volumes  on  The  Life  and 
Times  of  John  Huss,  he  was  the  recipient  of  the 
degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity  from  Hamilton  Col- 
lege. He  received  several  flattering  calls  to  other 
fields  of  influence  and  activity,  but  his  heart  was 
with  the  church  of  his  first  love.  At  the  close  of 
a  quarter  of  a  century  the  necessity  of  a  new  edi- 
fice to  accommodate  his  growing  audience  and  his 
unwillingness  to  assume  the  consequent  cares  and 
burdens  made  the  unexpected  offer  of  a  Professor- 
ship in  the  University  doubly  welcome.  He  en- 
tered upon  his  labors  with  the  enthusiasm  which 
always  characterized  him,  and  soon  gained  a  warm 
share  in  the  affections  of  his  students  as  well  as  a 
high  place  in  their  esteem.  They  recognized  and 
admired  his  spirit  and  aims,  and  they  respected 
him  for  his  scholarly  acquirements  and  his  intel- 
lectual strength.  His  only  professional  short-com- 
ings were  due  to  his  absorption  in  his  subject,  and 
his  natural  forgetfulness  of  the  fact  that  students 
were  students  and  that  fun  was  the  breath  of  their 
nostrils.  His  field  was  a  varied  one,  and  while  he 
was  known  as  the  Professor  of  Political  Economy, 
he  also  gave  instruction  in  international  and  con- 
stitutional law,  in  the  relations  between  sacred  and 
profane  history,  and  in  the  evidences  of  revealed 
religion.  In  these  fields  he  was  an  enthusiast  as 
was  shown  by  the  numerous  manuscripts  which  he 
left.  The  five  years  which  he  spent  in  the  L^ni- 
versity  were  all  too  short  for  the  good  which  he 
might  hav^e  accomplished  had  he  been  spared. 
He  was  cut  off  at  the  early  age  of  fifty-two,  when 
at  the  height  of  his  powers  and  possibilities.  He 
was  a  deep  and  exact  student,  with  a  special  bent 
toward  historical  themes.  His  writings  were 
many,  and  even  the  incomplete  list  of  them  given 
in   the   Biographical   Catalogue,   prepared  by   the 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


75 


Alumni  Association,  contains  seventy-eight  entries 
covering  volumes  and  review  articles.  Besides 
the  books  already  mentioned  he  printed  a  volume 
of  sermons,  and  another  of  lectures  on  the  fulfil- 
ment of  the  Old  Testament  prophecies  as  seen  in 
Ancient  Cities  and  I'.mpires.  He  was  the  official 
Historian  of  the  I'resbyterian  C'hurch  under  ap- 
pointment of  the  (New  School)  (leneral  Assembly, 
and  the  second,  revised  and  partly  rewritten  edi- 
tion of  the  history  of  the  denomination  in  two 
volumes  was  issued  in  the  same  week  in  which  he 
died.  His  latest  work  was  in  his  volumes  on 
natural  religion ;  one,  The  Moral  System,  intro- 
ductory to  Butler's  Analog)-,  and  the  other,  God  in 
Human  Thought,  in  which  he  traced  the  records 
of  human  recognition  of  the  Deity  in  the  literary 
remains  of  all  ages.  He  gave  much  attention  to 
the  Deistic  Controversy  in  England  and  the  various 
controversies  in  New  England  in  the  eighteenth  and 
early  nineteenth  centuries.  The  books  which  he 
gathered  in  these  fields  now  form  part  of  the  collec- 
tions in  the  McAlpin  and  the  Gillett  Collections  in 
the  Library  of  the  Union  Theological  Seminary 
under  the  charge  of  his  elder  son.  On  one  occasion 
he  was  requested  to  lecture  on  the  Deistic  Con- 
troversy in  the  University  Chapel.  In  spite  of  the 
subject  the  audience  filled  the  room,  and  heard  a  lec- 
ture delivered  without  notes,  but  filled  with  names, 
titles  and  dates,  and  punctuated  with  conclusions 
which  often  depended  for  their  force  upon  a  differ- 
ence of  date  of  only  a  month,  perhaps.  It  was  a 
marvel  as  a  feat  of  memor}-,  but  with  its  graphic 
delineations  and  characterizations  it  was  the  effort 
of  a  master  mind  thoroughly  at  home  in  its  sub- 
ject. As  another  instance  of  the  availability  of 
his  knowledge  and  of  his  master}-  of  dates  and 
facts,  mention  may  be  made  of  his  composition, 
inside  of  twenty-four  hours,  of  an  article  for  the 
New  York  Tribune  in  1870,  at  the  time  of  the  re- 
union of  the  two  branches  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  descriptive  of  the  history  of  the  denomi- 
nation, its  division  and  factions,  of  the  efforts 
toward  re-union,  and  of  the  action  leading  to  the 
union  then  soon  to  occur.  This  article  filled  an 
entire  solid  page  of  the  large  broadside  of  the 
Tribune  of  that  date.  As  a  feat  with  a  pen,  not  to 
say  anything  about  composition,  it  was  ver\-  re- 
markable. Dr.  Gillett  was  impatient  of  shams ; 
generous  to  honest  efforts :  without  jealousy  of 
others  ;  only  intent  upon  the  advancement  of  the 
truth.     In  theolog}-  he  belonged  to  the  New  School 


or  liberal  branch  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and 
his  sympathy  and  pen  were  always  engaged  on  tjie 
side  of  theological  progress.  He  was  twice  mar- 
ried :  to  Maria  H.  Ripley,  on  October  15,  185 1  ; 
and  to  Mary  J.  Kendall,  on  June  19,  1854.  He 
had  one  daughter  who  lived  only  five  months,  and 
two  sons  who  with  his  widow  survived  him  : 
Charles  Ripley  (New  York  University.  Class  of 
1874)  and  William  Kendall  (}illett  (Class  of  1880). 
Dr.  Gillett  died  September  2,  1875.  <^-  •*•  '^• 


DAVIES,  Henry  Eugene,   1805-1881. 

Law  Professor  and  President  Law  Faculty,  1870-1881. 

Born  in  Ogdensburg.  N.  Y.,  1805;  admitted  to  Bar 
in  Utica,  N.  Y.,  1826;  Corp.  Counsel  of  New  York  City, 
1850;  Justice  N.  Y.  Supreme  Court,  1855;  Assoc.  Judge 
Court  of  Appeals,  1860-66;  Presiding  Judge,  1866-68; 
Pres.  Law  Faculty  at  the  University,  1870-81  ;  died 
1881. 

HENRY  EUGENE  DAVIES,  Justice,  was 
born  in  (Ogdensburg,  St.  Lawrence  county, 
New  York,  January  12,  1805.  He  studied  law 
with  Judge  Alfred  Conkling,  and  was  admitted  to 
the  Bar  in  Utica  in  1826,  in  that  year  entering 
practice  in  Buffalo.  Upon  his  resignation  from 
the  Presidency  of  the  Law  Facult)-  of  New  York 
University'  in  1881  the  following  memoir  was 
entered  in  the  records  of  the  University'  Council : 
"  The  Council  reluctantly  accepts  the  resignation 
of  the  Hon.  Henrj'  E.  Davies  as  President  of  the 
Law  Facult}'  and  it  is  ordered  that  this  minute 
be  entered  on  the  records  of  the  Council  in  e\i- 
dence  of  its  sense  of  value  of  his  services  in  the 
Law  School."  Judge  Davies  consented  to  accept 
the  Presidency  of  the  Law  Faculty  when  the  Law 
Department  was  reorganized  in  1870.  He  had 
then  recently  resumed  active  practice  on  retiring 
from  the  Bench  of  the  Court  of  Appeals  to  which 
he  was  elected  in  1859  and  where  he  had  sat  as 
Associate  Judge  from  i860  to  1866  and  as  Presid- 
ing Judge  until  1868  when  he  declined  re-election. 
He  had  previously  been  a  Justice  of  the  Supreme 
Court  and  counsel  to  the  Corporation  of  the  City 
of  New  York,  during  a  very  active  period  in  the 
affairs  of  the  cir\'.  During  the  last  ten  years,  in 
which  Judge  Davies  has  gi\en  to  the  Law  School 
the  benefit  of  his  learning  and  ripe  experience,  he 
has  been  actively  engaged  in  the  duties  of  a  prac- 
tice involving  matters  of  large  pecuniar}-  amounts, 
great  professional  interest  and  grave  responsibility. 


76 


UNIFERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


His  professional  life  now  covers  a  period  of  more 
than  twice  "  twenty  years  of  legal  lucubrations." 
To  his  energy,  to  his  ability,  shown  at  the  Bar  and 
on  the  Bench  during  this  long  and  successful 
career,  the  common  consent  of  the  profession  and 
the  pages  of  the  New  York  Reports  (eight  volumes 
of  Smith  and  the  twelve  volumes  of  Tiffan\ )  con- 
taining his  opinions,  in  which  cases  and  principles 
are  reviewed  and  discussed  with  exhaustive  learn- 
ing, bear  ample  testimony.  On  leaving  the  high- 
est tribunal  of  the  state,  Judge  Da\ies  seems  to 
have  thought  it  no  loss  of  dignity  to  preside  over 
the  moot-courts  of  law  students  where  in  their 
mimic  contests  he  gave  to  them  the  benefit  of  the 
experience  gained  in  the  real  struggle  of  the  forum 
with  the  same  genial  and  sympathetic  manner  and 
richness  of  illustration  with  which  Judge  Story 
after  adjourning  the  Circuit  Court  of  the  United 
States  would  preside  over  a  moot  court  at  Cam- 
bridge. Year  after  year  Judge  Davies  has  taken 
time  from  his  profession  to  attend  in  the  Law 
School,  and  by  his  encouraging  words,  the  happy 
anecdote,  the  apt  illustration,  and  his  wealth  of 
learning  to  make  tlie  moot-court  exercises  attrac- 
tive as  well  as  useful."  Judge  Davies  died  in  New 
York  City,  December  7,   188 1.  e.  g.  s. 

[See  portrait  page  149,  I'art  I.] 


JACQUES,   David  Ralph,   1823- 

Professor  Law  1870-91,  Dean  of  Law  School  1887-91. 
Born  near  \Voodbridge,  N.  J.,  1823  ;  graduated  Har- 
vard 1842;  LL.B.  Harvard  1842  ;  admitted  to  the  Bar, 
1846;  practicing  lawyer  in  New  York  City;  member 
Board  of  Councilmen,  1864-65;  Prof.  Law  N.  Y.  Univ., 
1870-91  ;  Dean  of  Law  Faculty,  1887-91  ;  LL.D.  N.  Y. 
Univ.,  1877;  retired  1891. 

DAVID  RALPH  JACQUES,  LL.D.,  was 
born  near  W'oodbridge,  New  Jersey,  April 
20,  1823,  son  of  David  Ralph  and  Catherine 
Shotwell  Jacques.  The  first  American  ancestor 
of  Professor  Jacques  was  Henry  Jacques  who 
came  from  England  to  Newbur^^  Massachusetts, 
in  1640,  a  town  named  from  old  Newbury  in 
Berkshire,  England.  Some  of  his  descendants 
moved  into  New  Jersey,  and  Moses  Jacques,  grand- 
father of  Professor  Jacques,  a  farmer  in  Rahway, 
near  Woodbridge,  was  first  Lieutenant-Colonel  and 
subsequently  Colonel  of  the  Second  Regiment  of 
Essex  New  Jersey  militia  during  the  entire  period 
of  the  Revolutionar)'  War.  David  R.  Jacques, 
the  Professor's  father,  devoted  himself  to  business. 


Professionally  the  latter's  son,  Professor  David  R. 
Jacques,  followed  a  line  differing  from  his  father's 
avocation;  graduating  at  Harvard  in  1842  he 
entered  the  Dane  Law  School  of  the  same  Univer- 
sity, listening  to  the  Moot  Court  decisions  of 
Story  and  Greenleaf.  the  one  particularly  present- 
ing the  law  of  real  property  and  evidence,  and  the 
other  teaching  mainly  equity  and  mercantile  law 
After  graduating  at  the  Law  School  in  1844  David 
Jacques  entered  the  law  office  of  John  Anthon  of 
New  York  City,  then  one  of  the  leaders  of  the 
Bar,  who  was  instrumental  in  procuring  the  pas- 
sage of  the  Act  creating  the  Superior  Court  of  the 
City  of  New  York,  and  who  furthermore  was  the 
author  of  a  work  on  Nisi  Prius.  After  being 
admitted  to  the  Bar  in  1849  he  served  for  nine 
years  as  clerk  or  assistant  to  Surrogate  Bradford. 
That  jurist  during  his  occupancy  of  the  Surro- 
gate's office  with  his  own  hand  wrote  voluminous 
reports  of  testimony  of  the  more  important  cases 
tried  before  him,  and  when  a  sufficient  number 
of  opinions  had  accumulated  to  form  a  volume 
Judge  Bradford  arranged  with  Messrs. .  Baker  and 
Godwin  for  its  publication.  Professor  Jacques 
superintended  the  publication  of  the  entire  series, 
carefully  examining  the  authorities,  verifying  the 
citations  and  correcting  the  proof.  After  leaving 
the  Surrogate's  office  he  entered  upon  the  active 
practice  of  his  profession,  at  first  alone  and  after- 
wards conjointly  with  Cornelius  Minor.  He  was, 
of  course,  strongly  interested  in  Surrogate's  prac- 
tice, although  at  first  some  fifteen  actions,  includ- 
ing an  omnibus  suit,  growing  out  of  an  insolvent 
assignment,  occupied  much  of  his  time.  The 
case  of  Bascom  7's.  Albertson,  in  which  the  decis- 
ion of  the  Court  of  Appeals  settled  or  was 
supposed  to  have  finally  settled  the  law  in  New 
York  as  to  trusts  for  charity  as  affected  by  the 
rule  against  perpetuity,  was  argued  by  him  in  all 
its  stages.  Notable  cases  in  which  he  was  engaged 
were  those  of  the  will  of  Caroline  Merrill,  by 
which  a  large  property  was  given  to  the  Arch- 
bishop of  New  York,  and  in  the  Supreme  Court 
the  litigations  growing  out  of  the  trusts  of  property 
valued  at  several  millions  of  dollars,  created  by 
the  will  of  the  late  D.  A.  Cushman.  Professor 
Jacques  was  for  about  twenty  years  a  Trustee  of 
the  Children's  Aid  Society,  and  thus  brought  into 
frequent  association  with  the  late  Charles  Loring 
Brace,  author  of  Gesta  Christi  and  soul  of  that 
charitable  enterprise.     Professor  Jacques  had  pre- 


UNIFERSITIES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


77 


viously  taught  a  class  of  newsboys  in  the  lodj^inj,^- 
house  of  the  society  wlien  it  occupied  the  sixth 
floor  of  the  Sun  building  at  tiie  corner  of  Fulton 
and  Nassau  streets.  As  Trustee  he  rendered 
many  gratuitous  legal  services  in  cases  connected 
with  this  noble  charity.  He  was  sent  to  the 
Assembly  at  Albany  by  the  Republican  party 
where,  however,  he  pursued  a  somewhat  indepen- 
dent course,  e.  g.,  in  voting  against  the  so  called 
Gridiron  bills  of  street  car  line  franchises,  and  a 
bill  for  reorganizing  the  Alms  House  Department. 
In  i860  and  once  more,  later,  he  was  nominated 
for  Surrogate  by  the  Republicans.  During  the 
Civil  War  Professor  Jacques  was  appointed  by 
Ciovernor  Edwin  Morgan  a  member  of  the  recruit- 
ing commission  for  the  County  of  New  York.  In 
1864  he  sat  for  a  year  in  the  Board  of  Council- 
men  with  William  S.  Opdyke  as  his  sole  Repub- 
lican colleague.  In  September  1870  he  was 
appointed  Professor  of  Law  in  the  University, 
with  the  Hon.  Henry  E.  Davies  as  President  of 
the  Law  Faculty.  At  that  time  a  vigorous  move- 
men,  was  made  looking  towards  the  re-invigoration 
of  the  Law  School,  an  inaugural  meeting  being 
held  in  the  Law  Library  at  which  addresses  were 
made  by  Chancellor  Zabriskie  of  New  Jersey, 
Chauncey  B.  Ripley  and  William  Allen  Butler. 
At  his  first  lecture  Professor  Jacques  was  met  by 
a  class  of  four  students.  Everything  had  to  be 
done  offhand  and  at  once,  scheme  of  studies  elab- 
orated, text-books  selected  and  method  of  legal 
education  determined.  The  theory  of  legal  edu- 
cation pursued  in  the  school  was  the  study  —  as 
Professor  Jacques  himself  once  expressed  it — of 
system  —  of  rules  co-ordinated  and  classified,  com- 
bined with  the  study  of  cases.  As  a  method  of 
teaching  students  law,  the  exclusive  study  of  cases 
is  simply  impracticable ;  and  some  systematic 
knowledge  of  principles  is  indispensable  even  to 
a  profitable  study  of  the  reports.  As  a  gymnastic, 
as  an  exercise  in  getting  at  cardinal  facts,  in 
deducing  rules,  in  balancing  and  reconciling  decis- 
ions, case  study  is  invaluable.  The  reported 
case  is  like  the  moral  tale  or  fable  (but  with  the 
haec  fabula  docet  in  the  head  note  and  not  at  the 
end),  the  concrete  statement  making  a  more  vivid 
impression  than  any  abstract  precept.  After  Judge 
Davies  resumed  practice  and  became  counsel  for 
the  Mutual  Life  Insurance  Company  the  pressure 
of  business  rendered  further  attendance  at  the 
Moots  Courts  impracticable,  and  all  the  incidental 


lal)or  devolved  upon  I'rofessor  Jacques  and  was 
performed  by  liim  alone  until  1881  when  he 
secured  the  services  of  Isaac  Franklin  Russell, 
Doctor  of  Civil  Law  ;  (whose  biography  the  reader 
will  find  elsewhere).  On  the  death  of  Judge 
Davies,  A.  J.  Vanderpoel,  Esq.,  was  appointed 
President  of  the  Law  Faculty.  Mr.  Vanderpoel 
died  in  I'aris  in  1887  and  Professor  Jacques  was 
then  appointed  Dean  of  the  Law  F'aculty.  Pro- 
fessor Jacques  retired  in  1891,  being  succeeded  as 
Dean  by  Austin  Abbott,  and  having  received  the 
degree  of  LL.D.  from  the  University  in  1877. 
Professor  Jacques  was  a  member  of  the  New 
York  Law  Institute  and  is  a  member  of  the  Bar 
Association  both  of  the  City  and  of  the  State  of 
New  York,  the  American  Social  Science  Associa- 
tion, the  Museum  of  Natural  History  and  the 
Metropolitan  Museum  of  Arts  ;  for  many  years 
also  he  was  actively  interested  in  the  Association 
for  Improving  the  Condition  of  the  Poor  and 
The  Children's  Aid  Society.  Professor  Jacques 
married  in  1894,  Elizabeth  Hartshorne  of  Locust 
Grove  near  Rahway,  New  Jersey.  k.  g.  s. 


CARROLL,   Charles,   1832-1889. 

Professor  French  and  German,  1871-1889. 

Born  in  Baltimore,  Md.,  1832;  graduated  Harvard, 
1853;  tutor  in  Boston  High  School,  1858;  engaged  in 
journalism  and  other  writing ;  Prof.  French  and  Ger- 
man N.  Y.  Univ.,  1871  89;  Ph.D.  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1872; 
died  1889. 

CHARLES  CARROLL,  Ph.D.,  was  born  in 
Baltimore,  Maryland,  in  1832,  of  an  old 
New  England  family.  After  a  private  school 
training  he  entered  his  father's  office  to  fit  himself 
for  mercantile  life.  Soon  after  this  time,  however, 
his  father  removed  to  Cambridge.  Massachusetts. 
Here  Charles  Carroll  changed  the  aims  of  his  life 
and  entering  Harvard  in  1849  he  graduated  as 
Valedictorian  of  his  Class  in  1853.  Having  taught 
from  1853  to  1854,  he  went  to  Europe  where  he 
spent  two  years  in  travel  and  in  study  at  German 
Universities.  Returning  in  1856  he  studied  law 
in  New  York  City  and  pursued  journalism  at  the 
same  time.  In  1858  he  v.ent  to  Boston  and  for  a 
short  time  was  a  tutor  in  the  Boston  High  School. 
In  1859  he  married  Marj-  Powell  Caswell  of  Bos- 
ton, a  brilliant  and  well  educated  woman  who  ably 
helped  Professor  Carroll  in  his  many  literary  ven- 
tures.    Her  translations  of  Octave  Feuillet  and  of 


78 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR   SONS 


Montaigne  are  notable  for  their  grace  and  accuracy. 
In  1866  Professor  Carroll  on  account  of  failing 
health  went  to  Europe  with  Brander  Matthews 
and  afterwards  with  Messrs  E.  S.and  E.  M.  Davison. 
On  his  return  to  America  in  1870  he  resumed  his 
profession  of  journalism.  In  187 1  he  was  elected 
to  the  Chair  of  French  and  German  Languages 
and  Literature  in  New  York  University'  which 
position  he  held  to  his  death,  February  15,  1889. 
His  wife  died  in  1878,  and  he  was  survived  by 
two  daughters.  Professor  Carroll  was  connected 
with  many  of  the  New  York  papers  either  on  the 
staff  or  as  a  contributor.  His  short  stories  and 
verse  were  largely  published  in  Harper's,  The 
Century  and  Scribner's.  He  also  wrote  for  The 
Post,  The  Times  and  The  Sun.  His  scholarly 
attainments  were  supplemented  by  a  bright  fancy 
and  a  sprightly  temperament  that  gave  him  a  most 
enviable  literary  style.  His  vocabulary  was  very 
extensive,  and  his  range  of  expression  and  illustra- 
tion was  enriched  by  the  classics  and  many  modern 
languages.  His  versatility  was  marvelous.  He 
attacked  the  most  varied  subjects  with  an  ease  and 
skill  vouchsafed  to  but  few  men.  His  work  in  the 
University  left  an  impression  upon  all  that  came 
under  his  care.  His  discriminating  taste  required 
elegance  as  well  as  accuracy  from  the  student. 
The  funeral  took  place  in  the  chapel  of  the  Uni- 
versity on  Sunday,  February  17.  The  exercises 
were  conducted  by  Vice-Chancellor  MacCracken, 
assisted  by  Dr.  Howard  Crosby  and  Dr.  H.  M. 
Baird.  A  quartet  of  students  sang  "  Abide  with 
Me,"  and  "Consolation."  On  the  casket  lay  a 
wreath  of  white  roses,  tied  with  violet  ribbon,  the 
gift  of  the  students.  His  remains  were  buried  in 
Newton,  Massachusetts.  e.  g.  s. 


STEVENSON,  John  James,   1841- 

Professor  Geology,  1871- 
Born  in  New  York  City,  1841  ;  graduated  N.  Y. 
Univ.,  1863 ;  Ph.D.,  1867 ;  engaged  in  mining  enter- 
prises, 1867-69;  Prof.  Chem.  and  Nat.  Hist.  W.  Va. 
Univ.,  1869-71  ;  Prof.  Geol.  N.  Y.  Univ.  since  1871  ; 
engaged  as  Geologist  on  National  and  State  Surveys, 
1871-82  ;  author  of  works  on  Geology. 

JOHN  JAMES  STEVENSON.  Ph.D.,  LL.D., 
was  born  in  New  York  City.  October  10,  184 1. 
His  father,  the  Rev.  Andrew  Stevenson,  D.D., 
a  native  of  Ireland,  was  sent  as  missionary  to 
Nova  Scotia  by  the  Reformed  Presbyterian  Synod 
of  Ireland,  but  afterwards    came    to    New    York, 


where  for  forty  years  he  was  Pastor  of  the  Second 
Reformed  Presbyterian  Church.  His  mother  was 
daughter  of  Rev.  James  R.  Willson,  D.D.,  for  many 
years  Professor  in  the  Theological  Seminary  of 
his  denomination,  and  descended  from  Zaccheus 
Willson,  who  settled  on  Back  River,  Delaware, 
in  1 7  1 1 .  As  was  customar)-,  his  preparation  for 
College  began  at  a  very  early  age  so  that  he  had 
completed  the  requirements  in  Greek  before  his 
eighth  year  and  those  in  Latin  before  his  tenth. 
As  his  father  was  training  a  class  of  theological 
students  in  Hebrew,  he  was  entered  in  that  class 
so  that  he  read   Isaiah  in  the  original  when  nine 


JOHN    J.    .STEVENSON 

years  old.  He  entered  the  Sophomore  Class  of 
New  York  University  in  1858  and  took  the  Greek 
Prize  for  that  year ;  but  he  did  not  graduate  until 
1863,  as  ill-health  made  absence  for  two  years 
necessary.  After  graduating  he  pursued  his  studies 
in  the  University's  School  of  Analytical  Chemistry 
under  the  Professors  Draper  and  received  the  de- 
gree of  Doctor  of  Philosophy  in  1867,  one  of  the 
first  graduate  degrees  conferred  by  New  York  Uni- 
versity. Two  years  were  spent  in  connection  with 
a  mining  enterprise  at  the  West,  and  in  1869  he 
became  Professor  of  Chemistr}'  and  Natural  His- 
tory in  West  Virginia  University.     This  position 


UNIFERSITIES   AND    TUKJR    SONS 


79 


was  retained  until  187  i  when  he  returned  to  New 
York  University  as  Professor  of  Geology.  The 
scope  of  tile  cliair  was  increased  in  1882  so  as  to 
include  Ciieniistry  and  I'hysiology,  and  in  1891  so 
as  to  inchide  15iology,  but  in  1889  Ciiemistry  was 
set  off  and  in  1894  Hiolog}-,  so  that  the  chair  now 
is  the  same  as  in  187 1.  It  is  signiticanl  of  the 
University's  development  that  the  subjects  taught 
by  Professor  Stevenson  in  1882  are  divided  now 
among  five  Professors,  with  several  Assistants  and 
all  recognize  imperative  necessity  for  further  sub- 
division in  more  than  one  department.  Professor 
Stevenson  was  an  Assistant  on  the  Ohio  Geolo- 
gical Survey  in  1871-1872  and  1874,  continuing 
work  on  the  upper  coal  measures,  begun  in  West 
Virginia  during  1869.  In  1873  he  was  Geologist 
to  the  Colorado  Division  of  the  United  States 
Geographical  Surveys  west  of  the  one-hundredth 
meridian.  Severe  illness  in  1874  prevented  his 
return  to  field  work  in  the  West  and  the  summer 
was  spent  in  studying  the  coal  measures  of  \\'est 
Virginia  and  Ohio  ;  but  he  remained  in  connec- 
tion with  the  Western  work  as  Consulting  (Geolo- 
gist until  the  consolidation  of  the  surveys  in  1879. 
In  1875  he  was  appointed  on  the  Geological  Survey 
of  Pennsylvania  as  Geologist  in  charge  of  the 
southwestern  part  of  the  state  to  continue  his 
investigation  of  the  upper  coal  measures.  This 
work  was  completed  in  three  years  and  he  re- 
turned to  the  Western  work,  going  into  the  field 
during  1878  and  1879.  The  western  surveys  were 
consolidated  in  the  latter  year  and  he  declined 
appointment  as  head  of  one  of  the  divisions  under 
the  new  organization.  During  1880  he  was  em- 
ployed in  study  of  newly  discovered  coalfields 
m  southwest  Virginia  and  central  New  Mexico. 
He  returned  to  the  Pennsylvania  Survey,  and 
during  1881-1882  he  had  charge  of  the  work  in 
the  mountain  area  of  the  south  central  part  of  the 
state.  In  the  latter  year  additional  duties  were 
imposed  by  the  University ;  and  since  that  time 
he  has  had  no  connection  with  official  surve\-s.  but 
has  made  special  studies  in  pure  Geolog}-  in  many 
portions  of  the  United  States.  His  publications 
consist  of  four  large  octave  volumes  on  the  Geol- 
ogy of  Pennsylvania,  a  quarto  volume  upon  the 
Geolog)^  of  New  Mexico,  more  than  one  hundred 
briefer  memoirs  upon  Geolog)-  and  ver)-  many 
contributions  to  journals  upon  other  subjects. 
For  the  most  part  his  studies  have  been  confined 
to  the   coal  measures,  but  the  necessities  of  field- 


work  have  required  investigations  of  problems 
involving  the  whole  geological  column.  Very  early 
he  was  led  to  conclusions  respecting  the  origin  of 
coal  beds,  which  were  elal)orated  in  later  years. 
These  have  been  accepted  and  have  been  found 
applicalile  by  observers  in  coal  fields  not  examined 
by  him.  Some  conclusions  respecting  the  origin 
of  anthracite,  crudely  suggested  in  1877  but  pub- 
lished in  1893,  prove  to  have  been  anticipated 
in  their  final  form  by  V.  Giimbel  of  Bavaria 
in  a  publication  made  in  1883.  His  more  impor- 
tant conclusions,  respecting  conditions  within  the 
Rocky  Mountain  region,  presented  in  1874-1876, 
were  disputed  energetically  for  several  years,  but, 
with  few  exceptions,  they  have  been  accepted  by 
the  later  observers  and  have  pas.sed  into  literature. 
He  was  the  first  to  work  oui  the  section  of  the 
upper  coal  measures  within  the  Appalachian  area 
and  that  of  the  Laramie  in  Colorado  and  New 
Mexico.  Among  the  economic  results  of  his 
work  are  the  great  development  of  the  coal  fields 
of  southwest  Virginia,  involving  the  expenditure 
of  many  millions  of  dollars  in  mining  operations 
and  railroad  construction,  and  the  extraordinary 
growth  of  the  coke  industry  of  southwestern  Penn- 
sylvania. \Mien  he  came  to  the  University,  there 
was  no  material  for  illustration  of  lectures  upon 
Geology  and  the  institution's  means  were  verj' 
limited.  At  the  cost  of  much  time,  labor  and 
several  thousands  of  dollars  Professor  Stevenson 
gathered  an  extensive  collection  of  geological 
specimens,  of  fossils  and  of  material  for  use  in 
Applied  Geolog)'.  This  he  afterwards  gave  to  the 
University  and  it  now  forms  the  nucleus  of  the 
Geological  Museum,  which  is  one  of  the  best  in 
the  state  and  which  he  has  gathered  at  insignifi- 
cant cost  to  the  institution.  Professor  Stevenson 
has  been  Vice-President  of  the  American  Associa- 
tion for  the  Advancement  of  Science  and  the  Inter- 
national Geological  Congress,  President  of  the 
New  York  Academy  of  Sciences  and  the  Geo- 
logical Societ)'  of  America,  as  well  as  of  the 
Universit)'  Alumni  Association.  He  is  foreign, 
honorar)'  or  corresponding  member  of  the  Geologi- 
cal societies  of  Russia,  Hungar)-,  Belgium,  Nord, 
Edinburgh,  Australasia  and  America :  the  American 
Philosophical  Society,  the  Kaiserlich  Leopoldinisch- 
Carolinisch  Akademie  and  many  other  academies 
in  America  and  Europe.  The  degree  of  Doctor 
of  Laws  was  conferred  upon  him  in  1893  by 
Princeton  University.  * 


8o 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


WHEELOCK,  William  Almy,   1825- 

Member  Council  1871  — Benefactor. 
Born  in  Providence,  R.  I.,  1825;  graduated  N.  Y. 
Univ.,  1843;  teacher  in  the  Univ.  Grammar  School, 
1842-43;  in  wholesale  dry-goods  business,  1845-64; 
Pres.  Central  Nat.  Bank,  1866-81 ;  member  N.  Y.  Univ. 
Council  since  1871  ;  and  President  of  Council  since 
1898. 

WILLIAM  ALMY  WHEELOCK,  Merchant 
and  Financier,  was  born  in  Providence, 
Rhode  Island,  March  23,  1825.  His  father, 
Joseph  Wheelock,  a  native  of  Westboro,  Massachu- 
setts, born  June  25,  1788,  was  of  Welsh  descent 
and  for  many  years  was  cashier  of  the  Merchants 


&  Company,  servmg  two  years  without  compensa- 
tion in  order  to  learn  the  business.  Three  years 
later  he  became  a  partner  of  the  firm.  In  1850  he 
married  Harriet,  daughter  of  Elijah  D.  Efner,  of 
Buffalo,  of  what  was  then  one  of  the  oldest  families 
of  that  city.  From  1850  to  1855,  he  acted  as 
purchaser  for  his  firm  (now  changed  to  Merritt, 
Bliss  &  Company)  at  Manchester,  England,  and 
there  both  of  his  children  were  born.  Having 
retired  from  this  business  in  1863  he  became 
Director  in  1865  of  the  Central  National  Bank 
and  in  1866,  President,  which  post  he  held  to 
1 88 1,  when  he  resigned.  Mr.  \Mieelock"s  active 
fidelity  to  New  York  University  has  been  deeply 
written  into  her  history.  Mr.  Wheelock  has  been 
associated  with  the  American  Suretj'  Company  as 
Chairman  of  its  Executive  Committee,  the  Equit- 
able Life  as  one  of  its  Finance  Committee,  the 
New  York,  Lake  Erie  &  Western  Railroad,  the 
Gold  &  Stock  Telegraph  Company  and  the  Central 
National  Bank.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Union 
League  and  of  the  Lawyers'  Club.  He  has  served 
in  the  administration  of  the  American  Tract 
Society  and  has  been  an  Elder  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  at  Washington  Heights  for  nearly  forty 
years,  also  a  member  of  the  Church  Extension 
Committee  of  the  Presbytery  of  New  York.  He 
was  a  Director  of  the  Deaf  and  Dumb  Institute 
for  many  years.  His  city  residence  is  at  Washing- 
ton Heights,  the  grounds  covering  two  city  blocks 
commanding  a  view  of  the  Hudson.  The  children 
of  Mr.  Wheelock  are  :  Dr.  W.  E.  Wheelock  who 
married  tiie  only  daughter  of  the  late  Rev.  John 
Hall,  D.D.,  Pastor  of  the  Fifth  Avenue  Church, 
and  Harriet  E.,  wife  of  George  A.  Strong,  partner 
in  the  old  law  firm  of  Martin  &  Smith.      E.  g.  s. 


WILLIAM    A.    WHEELOCK 


Bank  of  Providence.  His  mother,  Amelia  (Ames) 
Wheelock,  was  of  English  descent  and  was  born  in 
Groton,  Massachusetts,  April  9,  1788.  The  family 
removed  to  New  York  City  in  1837.  William 
A.  Wheelock  entered  College  in  New  York  Uni- 
versity in  1839  when  Frelinghuysen  became 
Chancellor  and  received  the  Bachelor  of  Arts 
degree  with  the  noted  Class  of  1843,  and  that 
of  Master  of  Arts  in  1846.  During  a  great  part 
of  his  College  course  he  supported  himself  by 
assisting  in  teaching  in  the  University  Grammar 
School  and  as  private  tutor.  At  nineteen  he 
entered  as  clerk  the  jobbing  house  of  Merritt,  Ely 


BRUSH,  Charles  Benjamin,  1848-1897. 

Adj.  Prof.  Engineering,  1874;  Prof,  and  Dean  Engineering  School, 

1888-97. 

Born  in  New  York  City,  1848;  graduated  B.S.  and 
C.E.  N.Y.  Univ.  1867;  practicing  engineer;  engaged  in 
building  many  important  bridges  and  water  works; 
Adjunct  Prof.  Civil  Engineering  at  the  University 
1874-88  ;  Prof,  and  Dean  of  Engineering  School,  1888- 
97;  Sc.  D.  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1895;  died  1897. 

CHARLES  BENJAMIN  BRUSH,  Sc.D., 
Civil  Engineer,  was  born  in  New  York 
City,  February  15,  1848,  the  son  of  Jonathan 
Ethelbert  Brush  and  Cornelia  (Turck)  Brush.  He 
was  graduated  in  the  Class  of   1867,  Bachelor  of 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


8i 


Science  and  Civil  Engineer,  being  Englisii  Sal- 
utatorian  at  C'ommencenicnt  and  having  made  the 
Phi  Beta  Kappa.  He  was  at  first  a  member  of 
the  engineer  corps  of  the  Croton  Aqueduct,  1867- 
1869.  He  began  independent  practice  as  a  civil 
engineer  in  1869  but  in  1874  he  became  Adjunct 
Professor  of  Civil  Engineering  in  New  York  Uni- 
versity, in  1888  advancing  to  the  post  of  full  Pro- 
fessor and  Dean  of  the  Engineering  School.  He 
was  elected  an  Associate  of  the  American  Society 
of  Civil  Engineers  September  6,  1871,  became  a 
member  September  6,  1877,  was  a  Director  from 
1888  to  1 89 1  and  a  Vice-President  in  1892. 
Among  the  more  prominent  water  works  on  which 


CHARLES    B.    BRUSH 

he  was  engaged  in  his  professional  career  were 
those  of  Cincinnati.  Chicago,  Memphis,  James- 
town, East  New  York,  Passaic,  Easton  and  Mont- 
clair.  He  was  Chief  Engineer  of  the  Hoboken 
Land  d'  Improvement  Company,  of  the  North 
Hudson  County  Railway  Company,  of  the  Hoboken 
Ferry  Company,  and  of  the  Hackensack  Water 
Company.  The  development  of  the  latter  com- 
pany was  especially  due  to  his  careful  study  and 
management.  He  served  as  expert  on  the  foun- 
dations of  the  Second  and  Third  Avenue  bridges 
over  the  Harlem  in  New  York  Cit)-  and  the 
Thames    River  bridge  at    New    London,  Connec- 


ticut. He  was  engineer  for  the  contractor  in  the 
construction  of  the  Wasiiington  bridge,  and  Asso- 
ciate Engineer  for  the  proposed  New  York  and 
New  Jersey  bridge  over  the  Hudson  River  in  New 
York  City.  He  was  for  a  time  Engineer  of  the 
Hudson  River  tunnel;  Engineer  of  sewers  in  North 
Hudson  County  in  New  Jersey,  and  in  Irvington, 
New  York ;  and  among  the  other  water  works 
upon  wiiich  he  was  engaged  in  some  engineering 
capacity  may  be  mentioned  those  at  CJreenwood 
Cemetery,  Plaintield,  Higiiland  Ealls,  Syracuse, 
Portsmoiilii  and  Suffolk,  Virginia,  Ear  Rockaway, 
Alliance,  Ohio,  Kansas  City,  Missouri,  and  South 
Hampton,  New  York.  In  reporting  his  death  to 
the  Alumni  Association,  Dr.  Henry  I\L  liaird  said 
in  part :  "  the  acute  scholar,  the  thorough  teacher, 
the  master  of  his  branch  of  activity,  the  courteous 
and  genial  Christian  gentleman,  Professor  15rush. 
1  am  not  going  to  relate  step  by  step  the  course  of 
patient,  persevering,  intelligent  work,  by  which  our 
dear  friend  placed  himself  at  last  among  the  men 
that  won  for  themsehx'S  an  honorable  place  at  the 
very  head  of  the  profession  in  America."  .  .  . 
"Any  that  may  choose  to  read  his  numerous  con- 
tributions to  such  works  as  the  Transactions  of 
the  American  Society  of  CMvil  Engineers,  or  the 
American  Water  \^'orks  Association,  will  see  how 
broad  and  intelligent  his  views  were  on  all  topics 
connected  with  his  chosen  profession."'  In  1895 
New  York  University  bestowed  on  him  the  degree 
of  Doctor  of  Science.  E\en  before  this  time  his 
health  had  been  greatly  impaired  and  it  was  after 
a  long  and  tr\ing  illness  of  three  years'  duration 
and  over  that  he  finally  passed  away  on  June  3, 
1897,  leaving  a  w'idow  and  three  children.  He 
was  buried  in  Greenwood.  It  was  characteristic 
of  Charles  Brush  that  in  professional  matters  he 
never  was  content  to  be  second  and  regarded 
his  calling  as  above  politics.  He  was  never 
guilty  of  political  truckling  and  won  the  respect 
of  even  those  who  opposed  him  on  that  account. 
He  never  sought  his  ends  by  indirection.  Plain, 
outspoken  truth  was  his  invariable  habit.  He 
succeeded  where  others  would  have  failed  because 
all  men  believed  him  and  trusted  him.  Resolu- 
tions of  respect  and  commemoration  were  passed 
by  the  Hackensack  Water  Company.  Reorganized, 
by  the  Charity  Organization  Societj-  of  the  Cit}-  of 
New  York,  by  the  Queens  County  A\'ater  Com- 
pany, and  by  the  Central  Presbyterian  Church, 
New  York  Citv.  e.  g.  s. 


82 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR    SONS 


HALL,  John,   1829-1898. 

Member  of  Council,  1875,  1E91,  Chancellor,  1881-1891. 
Born  in  County  Armagh,  Ireland,  1829 ;  graduated 
Belfast  College,  1846,  and  in  theology,  1849;  appointed 
by  Queen  Victoria  Commissioner  of  Education  for 
Ireland;  came  to  U.S.,  1867  ;  Pastor  Fifth  Ave.  Presby- 
terian Church,  New  York  City,  1867-98;  Chancellor 
N.Y.  Univ.,  1881-91  ;  Trustee  of  Princeton  and  Welles- 
ley;  died  1898. 

JOHN  HALL,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Clergyman,  was 
born  in  County  Armagh,  Ireland,  July  31, 
1829.  son  of  William  and  Rachel  (Magowan) 
Hall.  His  ancestors  were  natives  of  Scotland. 
He  was  graduated  at  Belfast  College  in  Arts  in 
1846  and  in  Theology  in  1849;  having  matric- 
ulated in  1842  and  won  repeated  prizes  for 
proficiency  in  church  historj'  and  Hebrew  scholar- 
ship. He  was  licensed  to  preach  in  1849  and 
was  a  missionary  in  the  province  of  Connaught, 
Ireland,  1849-1852  ;  Pastor  of  First  Presbyterian 
Church,  Armagh,  185 2-1 867,  where  he  edited  the 
Evangelical  Witness,  built  the  Rutland  Square 
Church,  and  was  appointed  by  the  Viceroy  of 
Ireland  Commissioner  of  National  Education.  He 
received  from  Queen  ^'ictoria  the  honorary  ap- 
pointment of  Commissioner  of  Education  for  Ire- 
land. He  visited  Americain  1867  as  delegate  to  the 
Old  School  Presbyterian  Assembly  of  the  United 
States,  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  preached  for  the  con- 
gregation of  the  Fifth  Avenue  Presbyterian  Church, 
then  worshipping  in  their  old  church  in  Nine- 
teenth Street,  and  received  a  call  as  Pastor  which 
he  accepted  after  his  return  to  Ireland.  His  work 
in  this  church  resulted  in  a  new  church  edifice 
erected  in  1873,  ^^  '^  cost  of  over  $1,000,000,  the 
largest  Presbyterian  Church  in  New  York  city ; 
the  Romeyn  Chapel  in  Sevent}'-fourth  Street ;  a 
mission  on  Sixty-third  Street ;  a  Chinese  mission  on 
East  Fifty-ninth  Street  and  numerous  other  missions 
and  charitable  institutions  supported  by  annual 
contributions  of  over  $100,000  from  the  parent 
church.  In  January  1898  he  resigned  the  pastor- 
ate, but  withdrew  the  resignation  upon  the  earnest 
demand  of  the  congregation.  He  was  Chancellor 
of  New  York  University,  1881-1891 ;  a  member  of 
the  Council,  1875  ;  a  Trustee  of  Princeton  Theolo- 
gical Seminar)'  ;  of  the  College  of  New  Jerse)-, 
1868  ;  of  Wells  College,  Aurora,  New  York,  and 
of  Wellesley  College,  Massachusetts.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  Presbyterian  Board  of  Church 
Erection  ;  Chairman  of  the  Presbyterian  Board  of 
Home  Missions,  and  Chairman  of  the  Committee 


of  Church  Extension,  New  York  Presbyter}-.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  New  York  Historical  Soci- 
et)-  ;  received  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity 
from  Washington  and  Jefferson  College  in  1865  ; 
Doctor  of  Laws  from  Washington  and  Lee  Uni- 
versity and  the  College  of  New  Jersey  in  1885, 
Trinity  College,  Dublin,  in  1890  and  Doctor  of 
Divinity  from  Columbia  in  1886.  He  was  married, 
June  15,  1852,  to  Emily,  daughter  of  Lyndon 
Bolton  of  Dublin,  Ireland,  and  of  their  children 
Robert  William  became  Professor  of  Analytical 
Chemistry  in  New  York  University ;  Richard  John 
was  Professor  of  Surgery  in  the  College  of  Physi- 
cians and  Surgeons,  New  York  Cit}',  and  died  in 
Santa  Barbara,  California,  Januarj'  23,  1897  ; 
Thomas  Cuming  became  Professor  of  Theology  in 
Union  Seminary,  New  York ;  Bolton  was  grad- 
uated at  Princeton  in  1875,  author  of  books  on 
economic  and  sociological  subjects,  and  Emily  C. 
was  the  only  daughter.  His  published  works 
include  :  Family  Prayers  for  Four  Weeks,  1868  ; 
Papers  for  Home  Reading,  1873;  God's  Word 
Through  Preaching,  1875  ;  Family  Talks  to  Boys, 
1876;  A  Christian  Home,  1883,  and  numerous 
tracts  and  contributions  to  the  religious  press.  He 
died  in  Bangor,  County  Down,  Ireland,  September 
17,  1898,  whence  the  remains  were  brought  back 
to  New  York  and  rest  in  \\'oodlawn  Cemetery. 
"  Men  have  often  "  (Rev.  T.  C.  Johnston,  M.A. 
Dublin)  "  endeavored  to  discover  the  secret  of 
Dr.  Hall's  unique  influence.  Learning  he  did  not 
possess  as  the  pedants  understand  learning  —  as  if 
the  sphere  of  knowledge  were  no  larger  than  He- 
brew roots,  or  metaphysical  guessings,  or  the  last 
new  book  !  "  .  .  .  "  One  must  name  first  a  rare 
directness  and  simplicity  of  character.  The  great 
ones  are  always  known  by  this.  Your  knave  is  at 
bottom  a  fool ;  for  he  cannot  conceal  from  the 
world  that  he  is  a  knave.  Your  astute  wirepuller 
is  after  all  a  poor,  apish  kind  of  creature,  and  his 
tricks  are  always  found  at  last."  ..."  The  wise- 
headed  early  understand  this.  So  they  pass 
among  us  frequently  as  rather  simple  folk,  who  do 
not  need  to  be  taken  much  account  of.  We  com- 
placently shrug  our  shoulders,  and  half-compassion- 
ate them  while  we  have  the  audacity  to  attempt  to 
impose  upon  them  and  to  wrong  them.  But  at  the 
end  of  the  day  they  have  far  outstripped  all  com- 
petitors in  life's  race."  ...  "  Along  with  this 
simplicity  and  directness  of  character,  and  in- 
deed as  the  outcome  of  it.  Dr.  Hall  possessed  the 


UN/VERSrrJES   AND    THEIR   SONX 


83 


rare  gift  of  great  clearness  of  thought  and  speech. 
I  do  not  know  that  1  have  ever  heard  anyone 
whom  it  required  so  little  effort  on  the  hearer's 
part  to  follow.  Simple,  orderly  and  to  the  point 
his  utterances  always  were,  no  matter  what  the 
subject  he  was  dealing  with.  Some  people  re- 
garded this  as  a  want  of  profoundness,  whereas  it 
is  really  an  evidence  of  the  highest  culture.  We 
must  put  down  as  his  next  characteristic  a  patient 
earnestness  and  laborious  fidelity  in  the  doing  of 
little  things,  in  the  performance  of  humble  duties. 
Indeed  he  seemed  to  like  best  to  do  these.  Was 
it  to  teach  a  few  souls  away  in  Roscommon,  or 
preach  to  a  few  folk  gathered  in  the  little  church 
at  Queenstown  when  he  was  about  to  embark  for 
home,  or  to  visit  a  poor  servant  girl  away  up  in  an 
attic,  it  was  done  well  and  done  with  all  his 
might.  There  was  in  him,  too,  a  rare  meekness 
and  gentleness  of  spirit.  '  We  must  bear  it  for 
Christ's  sake,"  he  was  wont  to  say  to  any  one  who 
came  to  him  with  a  story  of  suffering.  He  had 
learned  the  meaning  of  that  saying  of  a  Kempis, 
so  hard,  alas  !  to  learn  :  •  If  you  gladly  bear  the 
cross,  it  will  bear  you  and  bring  you  to  the  longed- 
for  end.'  So  he  passed  among  us,  a  gentle, 
genial,  noble  spirit,  not  escaping  the  flouts  of  the 
unworthy;  and  not  without  suffering,  •  that  great 
Sculptor,  without  whose  touch  none  of  the  saints 
is  perfected.'  We  must  note  finally,  and  with 
peculiar  emphasis,  a  great  strength  and  tenacity  of 
homely  affection.  .  After  all,  the  heart  is  the  meas- 
ure of  the  man  and  Dr.  Hall's  heart  was  big.  If 
he  knew  you  he  never  forgot  you.  If  he  loved  you 
he  loved  to  the  end.  Especially  was  this  true 
of  his  feeling  toward  his  own  kin,  and  all  the 
common  homely  things  that  twine  themselves 
about  a  gentle  heart:  the  old  farm-house,  the 
friends  of  youth,  the  ageing  sisters.  He  and  they 
had  '  rin  about  the  braes ; '  the  ocean  broad 
might  roar  between  them  but  their  hearts  were 
one.  united  until  death.  Across  that  ocean  Love 
had  led  him  year  by  year  to  feast  his  eyes  on  the 
old  familiar  scenes,  to  hear  in  his  heart  the  music 
of  loved  voices,  to  dream  again  forgotten  boyish 
dreams."  E.  g.  s. 

[See  portrait  page,  i6<>.  Part  I.J 


N- J-.  1839-40;  N.  Carolina  Agent  Am.  Bible  Co., 
1840-42  ;  Prof.  Logic  and  Rhetoric  Univ.  N.  C,  1842-47  ; 
Prof.  Nat.  Science  Randolph-Mason  College,  Pa., 
1847-48;  Pastor  in  Newbern,  N.  C,  1848-50;  Pres. 
Greensboro,  N.  C.  Female  College,  1850-54;  removed  to 
New  York  City,  1865;  engaged  in  journalistic  work; 
established  Church  of  the  Strangers,  and  Pastor  until 
death;  Pres.  Rutgers  Female  College,  New  York  City; 
member  Council  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1876-93;  established 
Deems  Fund  of  N.  Y.  Univ.  1887  ;  writer  and  editor  ; 
LL.D.  Univ.  of  N.  C. ;  D.D.  Randolph-Mason  College ; 
died  1893. 

CHARLES  EORCE  DEEMS,  D.D.,  LL.D., 
was  born  in  Baltimore,  Maryland,  Decem- 
ber 4.  1820,  .son  of  George  W.  Deems,  a  clergy- 
man of  the  Methodist    faith.     He  received  early 


DEEMS,   Charles  Force,   1820-1893. 

Member  Council,  1876-1893,  Founder  Deems  Fund,  1887. 
Born   in  Baltimore.  Md.,  1820;  graduated  Dickinson 
College,  1839;  preached  in  Methodist  Church,  Asbury, 


CHARLES    F.   DEEMS 

training  in  the  preparator}-  studies  at  home,  and 
graduated  with  high  honors  at  Dickinson  College, 
Carlisle,  Pennsylvania,  in  1839.  In  that  year  he 
entered  the  Methodist  ministr}-,  accepting  a  call 
to  Asbury,  New  Jersey.  After  one  year,  however, 
he  resigned  to  become  General  Agent  representing 
North  Carolina  of  the  American  Bible  Company. 
In  1842  his  occupation  was  again  changed  to  that 
of  Educator  and  he  entered  the  Chair  of  Logic 
and  Rhetoric  in  the  University  of  North  Carolina 
where  he  continued  for  five  years.  He  taught  as 
Professor  of  Natural  Sciences  at  Randolph-Macon 


84 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR   SONS 


College  in  Ashland,  Virginia,  1847-1848,  and 
then  returned  to  pastoral  work  in  Newbern,  North 
Carolina,  in  1850  being  chosen  Delegate  to  the 
General  Conference  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  of  the  South,  held  in  St.  Louis.  While 
serving  in  that  capacity  he  received  two  calls  to 
educational  positions  —  the  Presidency  of  the 
Greensboro,  North  Carolina,  Female  College,  and 
the  Presidency  of  Centenary  College  in  Jackson, 
Louisiana,  and  choosing  the  former  remained  at 
the  head  of  the  Female  College  until  1854.  At 
one  time  he  was  Presiding  Elder  in  the  North 
Carolina  Conference  of  the  Wilmington  and  New- 
bern districts.  In  1865  Dr.  Deems  removed  to 
New  York  City  with  the  intention  of  devoting  him- 
self to  journalistic  work,  and  at  once  became 
Editor  and  Publisher  of  The  Watchman,  a  reli- 
gious weekly.  Later  he  occupied  editorial  rela- 
tions with  various  journals,  including  Frank 
Leslie's  Sunday  Magazine  and  Christian  Thought. 
His  church  work  continued  and  from  July  22, 
1866,  when  he  preached  his  first  New  York  ser- 
mon to  an  audience  of  fifteen  persons  in  the 
Uni\ersity  Building,  lie  was  a  prominent  figure  in 
the  religious  Hfe  of  the  city.  Soon  after  his 
arrival  in  New  York  he  organized  the  Strangers' 
Sunday  Home  Society,  renting  the  University 
Chapel  for  a  meeting  place.  Subsequently, 
through  the  generosity  of  Cornelius  Vanderbilt  he 
was  enabled  to  found  as  the  outgrowth  of  that 
Society  the  Church  of  the  Strangers  of  which  he 
remained  Pastor  until  his  death.  After  returning 
from  a  tour  in  Palestine  in  1881  he  founded  the 
American  Institute  of  Christian  Philosophy  and 
acted  as  its  President  and  as  Editor  of  its  organ. 
Christian  Thought,  from  tiie  founding  until  his 
death.  He  was  for  a  time  President  of  Rutgers 
Female  College  in  New  York  City.  In  connection 
with  New  York  ITniversity,  of  whose  Council  he 
was  a  member  from  1876  to  1893,  he  will  long  be 
remembered  as  the  founder  of  the  Deems  Fund. 
It  was  upon  the  occasion  of  the  celebration  of  the 
twenty-first  anniversary  of  the  Church  of  the 
Strangers,  October  3,  1887,  that  Dr.  Deems  made 
this  gift,  stipulating  that  the  money  should  always 
be  used  as  a  loan  fund  for  needy  students.  The 
Deems  Lectureship  of  New  York  University, 
endowed  with  $15,000.  was  establi.shed  in  his 
memory,  in  1895.  by  the  American  Institute  of 
Christian  Philosophy.  It  secures  every  few  years 
a  series  of  lectures  upon  The  Cherished  Faith  in 


the  Light  of  Science  and  Philosophy,  and  their 
publication  in  book  form.  He  also  gave  to  the 
University  of  North  Carolina  a  Deems  Fund  in 
memory  of  his  son,  Lieutenant  Theodore  Disos- 
way  Deems,  who  was  killed  at  the  battle  of 
Gettysburg.  An  important  feature  of  his  wonder- 
fully active  and  varied  career  was  the  performance 
of  a  large  amount  of  writing  for  publication  ; 
this  took  the  form  of  sermons  and  articles  con- 
tributed to  periodical  literature  and  of  various 
volumes.  Some  of  his  books  are :  Triumph  of 
Peace  and  Other  Poems,  New  York,  1840;  Life 
of  Rev.  Dr.  Clarke,  1840  ;  Devotional  Melodies, 
1842  ;  Twelve  College  Sermons,  1844  ;  The 
Home  Altar,  1850;  What  Now?,  1853;  ^^'eights 
and  Wings,  1874;  A  Scotch  Verdict  in  Re-Evo- 
lution; The  Light  of  the  Nations,  1872  ;  the  last 
named,  originally  published  in  1868  under  the  title 
Jesus,  is  the  most  pretentious  and  by  far  the  most 
powerful  of  his  works  ;  he  was  occupied  three 
years  in  writing  it.  Dr.  Deems  received  the  degree 
of  Doctor  of  Divinity  from  Randolph-Macon,  and 
that  of  Doctor  of  Laws  from  the  University  of 
North  Carolina.  He  was  married  June  20.  1843, 
to  Anna,  daughter  of  Israel  Doty  Disosway  of 
New  York  City,  one  of  the  founders  of  Randolph- 
Macon  College.  He  died  in  New  York  City, 
November  18,  1893.  * 


RUSSELL,   Isaac  Franklin,    1857- 

Professor  of  Law,  1881- 
Born  in  Hamden,  Conn.,  1857  ;  attended  Southold 
Acad.  L.I.;  graduated  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1875;  LL.B.,  1877; 
A.M.,  1878;  LL.M.,  Yale,  1879;  D.C.L.,  Yale,  1880; 
LL.D.,  Dickinson,  1893  >  l^w  lecturer  at  the  Univ.,  1880 ; 
Prof,  since  1881 ;  practicing  lawyer. 

ISAAC  FRANKLIN  RUSSELL,  LL.D., 
D.C.L.,  was  born  in  Hamden,  near  New 
Haven,  Connecticut,  August  25,  1857.  His  father, 
the  Rev.  William  H.  Russell,  born  in  New  York 
City  of  English  ancestors,  has  been  for  fifty  years 
a  Methodist  minister  belonging  to  the  New  York 
East  Conference,  and  has  served  pastorates  in 
many  parts  of  the  City  of  New  York  under  the 
itinerant  polity  of  that  denomination.  This  worthy 
gentleman  is  now  living  in  retirement  in  Hamil- 
ton, New  Jersey,  having  sent  four  sons  to  the 
ITniversity,  of  whom  three  succeeded  in  taking 
degrees,  to  wit  :  Dr.  William  H.  Russell,  Jr.,  now 
of  Grahamville,  Florida ;  Charles  E.  Ru.ssell,  of 
the  Bar  of  New  York  Cit)- ;  and  Professor  Russell, 


UNirKKsniKS    .ISD    ■fllEIR    SONS 


8s 


the  subject  of  tliis  sketch.  I'he  Rev.  William  II. 
Russell  was  self-educated,  haviii<;  mastered  (Ireek 
without  an  instructor,  and  prepared  all  his  chil- 
dren to  enter  College.  He  received  the  honorary 
degree  of  Master  of  Arts  from  Wesleyan  Univer- 
sity in  1878.  Susan  Voorhees  (lliller)  Russell, 
the  mother  of  I'rofessor  Russell,  was  born  in 
Rochester,  New  York,  of  Dutch  ancestry,  and 
received  her  education  in  Michigan  where  her 
father,  Isaac  lliller,  settled  early  in  life  as  a 
pioneer.  Professor  Russell  received  the  major 
part  of  his  preparation  for  College  under  home 
instruction.  He  attended  for  one  year  the  South- 
old  Academy  on  Long  Island.  With  his  older 
brother,  William  H.,  he  entered  the  University, 
passing  the  Junior  examinations  in  187 1.  He 
graduated,  with  the  highest  honors  of  his  class,  in 
1875,  being  at  that  time  under  eighteen  years  of 
age.  In  College  he  won  distinction  as  a  speaker 
and  writer,  became  President  of  the  Eucleian 
Society  and  was  elected  a  member  of  Phi  Beta 
Kappa  Society ;  later  he  became  the  Secretary 
of  the  New  York  Beta  Chapter  of  Phi  Beta  Kappa 
and  ser\-ed  for  over  ten  years  in  that  capacity. 
He  has  also  been  active  in  the  New  York  City 
Graduate  Club  of  Phi  Beta  Kappa.  On  gradua- 
tion he  won  an  essay  prize  (one  of  the  Butler 
Eucleian  prizes,)  and  was  awarded  a  Fellowship  of 
$2 50,  dividing  honors  and  emolument  evenly  with 
William  I).  Edwards,  since  eminent  at  the  Bar  and 
in  the  Senate  of  New  Jersey.  The  young  man 
then  went  to  the  Law  School  of  the  University,  at 
that  time  under  the  administration  of  Professor 
David  R.  Jacques,  whose  only  associate  in  the 
Faculty  was  the  Hon.  Henry  E.  Davies,  ex-Chief 
Judge  of  the  New  York  Court  of  Appeals,  who  held 
moot  courts  on  Fridays.  He  graduated  in  May 
1877,  winning  a  prize  of  $100  for  passing  the  best 
written  examination.  After  a  brief  clerkship  with 
James  D.  Lynch,  a  distinguished  real  estate  opera- 
tor, he  entered  the  law  office  of  Eugene  Smith,  a 
prominent  practitioner,  a  Yale  \'aledictorian  and 
a  gentleman  of  the  highest  standing  in  the  pro- 
fession. With  the  clear  purpose  of  seeking  prepa- 
ration for  a  scholastic  career,  Mr.  Russell  resumed 
study  at  Yale  where  he  spent  two  years  in  post- 
graduate work.  He  graduated  as  Master  of  Laws 
at  Yale  in  1879,  being  the  only  candidate  for  that 
degree  and  having  enjoyed  in  many  subjects  the 
exclusive  usufruct  of  the  professorial  toil  of  many 
distinguished   teachers,   such  as  Judge  Robinson, 


now  Dean  of  the  Law  Faculty  in  the  Catholic 
University  of  Washington,  District  of  Columbia, 
and  Judge  Baldwin  of  the  Connecticut  Supreme 
Court.  His  graduating  thesis  was  on  the  "  Lien  of 
a  Material  Man  on  Vessels  of  Another  State,"  in 
which  he  assailed  the  rule  announced  in  the  famous 
case  of  The  Lottaioaniia.  The  Faculty  awarded  him 
the  Doctor's  Oration,  which  he  delivered  on  the 
theme  "Napoleon  as  a  Legislator,"  July  i,  j88o, 
when  he  received  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Civil  Law 
in  the  presence  of  a  distinguished  body  including 
the  President  of  the  I'nited  States  and  two  mem- 
bers of  his  cabinet,  William    M.  E\arts  and    Post- 


IS.A.AC     KK.\NKLIN     RUSSKLL 

master-General  Key.  Immediately  on  his  return 
to  New  York  he  was  appointed  to  lecture  on 
Roman  Law  at  the  Law  School  of  the  University, 
and  delivered  a  course  of  six  lectures  to  the  Class 
of  1 88 1.  Before  the  close  of  that  academic  year, 
1 880-1 88 1,  he  was  appointed  Professor  of  Law 
and  has  since  served  at  that  post  of  duty.  At  the 
same  time  and  until  the  I'niversity  College  moved 
to  University  Heights  he  was  Professor  of  Politi- 
cal Science,  meeting  undergraduate  Seniors  in  the 
study  of  International  and  Constitutional  Law, 
and  giving  instruction  to  Juniors  in  Political 
Economy.  When  the  (Graduate  Seminar}'  was 
organized  he  offered  courses  in  Sociolog}-.     When 


86 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


the  School  of  Pedagogj'  was  projected  he  served 
on  a  committee  to  organize  that  department  of 
University  instruction,  and  himself  took  a  small 
part  in  the  actual  labor  of  lecturing  to  pedagogical 
students.  For  four  or  five  years  he  lectured  regu- 
larly to  the  Senior  Class  at  the  Medical  College 
on  Forensic  Medicine.  He  has  also  been  verj- 
successful  in  administrative  work,  for  many  years 
serving  as  Secretary  and  Treasurer  of  the  Faculty 
of  Law,  and  conducting  all  the  executive  affairs  of 
the  Law  Department.  During  the  period  of  his 
Treasurership  the  Law  School  grew  from  what 
was  substantially  a  one  year's  course  with  a  single 
Professor  till  it  reached  in  1891,  its  new  develop- 
ment and  had  a  genuine  two  years'  course  of 
study,  ample  quarters  and  library  with  a  com- 
petent Faculty  of  four  Professors,  two  for  each 
class,  and  with  annual  classes  of  over  one  hun- 
dred each.  Perhaps  the  greatest  distinction  that 
has  come  to  Professor  Russell  has  been  through 
his  direction  of  the  work  of  the  \\'oman's  Law 
Class  for  the  past  eight  years.  This  unique  insti- 
tution was  organized  about  ten  years  ago  by  the 
Woman's  Legal  Education  Society,  which  has  fur- 
nished the  financial  support  for  the  Lecturer's 
Chair.  The  work  of  conducting  this  class  has 
been  severe  and  unremitting  and  by  general  con- 
sent has  been  most  successful ;  this  work  has 
been  largely  Professor  Russell's  with  the  aid  and 
co-operation  of  Mrs.  John  P.  Munn  and  Miss 
Helen  Miller  Gould,  President  and  Vice-President 
of  the  Woman's  Legal  Education  Societ}-.  Over 
four  hundred  women  have  taken  the  full  courses 
of  the  ^^'oman's  Law  Class.  They  include  many 
well  known  authors,  editors,  journalists  and  women 
of  affairs,  as  well  as  the  wives  and  daughters  of 
the  most  celebrated  judges,  physicians,  clerg)-men 
and  capitalists  of  the  Greater  New  York.  In  fact 
students  have  been  attracted  from  distant  states 
and  even  from  foreign  countries  to  this  branch  of 
the  University  work.  For  five  years  Professor 
Russell  has  lectured  at  the  Brooklyn  Institute 
before  the  Department  of  Law,  his  lectures  there 
being  fully  reported.  Several  years  ago,  at  the 
suggestion  of  Frederic  B.  Pratt,  he  organized  the 
course  in  Commercial  and  Business  Law,  now 
given  in  many  English  speaking  countries  under 
the  auspices  of  the  International  Committee  of  the 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association.  This  work, 
which  he  has  directed  in  detail  from  the  begin- 
ning, involving  much  severe  toil  and  great  respon- 


sibilit)',  is  largely  a  labor  of  love  generously 
rendered  in  a  favorite  cause.  Professor  Russell 
has  been  for  several  years  Secretary  of  the  Juris- 
prudence Department  of  the  American  Social 
Science  Association,  and  has  acted  also  as  Chair- 
man of  that  section,  planning  and  executing  the 
entire  program  for  several  meetings,  and  himself 
reading  papers  on  International  Arbitration,  Legal 
Education  and  Codification  which  have  attracted 
much  attention  and  elicited  numerous  editorial 
comments.  As  a  speaker  Professor  Russell  has 
for  many  years  appeared  before  patriotic,  scholas- 
tic and  learned  societies,  as  well  as  at  College 
commencements,  at  banquets,  on  the  "  stump  "  for 
political  candidates  and  even  in  the  pulpit,  as  he 
is  a  licensed  local  preacher  in  the  Methodist 
denomination,  and  frequently  appears  before  con- 
gregations of  Presbyterian,  Episcopalian,  Con- 
gregational, Dutch  Reformed  and  even  Catholic 
and  Jewish  bodies.  As  a  writer  he  has  con- 
tributed to  the  Youth's  Companion,  the  Albany 
Law  Journal,  the  Brief,  the  Yale  Law  Journal, 
the  American  Lawyer,  the  Methodist  Review 
and  to  many  other  periodicals.  His  work  entitled 
"  Outline  Study  of  Law,"  of  which  fully  three 
thousand  copies  have  been  sold  and  a  third 
edition  has  just  issued  from  the  press,  received 
flattering  notices  from  jurists  of  high  rank,  includ- 
ing the  Chief-Justice  of  the  United  States  Supreme 
Court  and  the  Lord  Chief-Justice  of  England. 
Professor  Russell  has  been  in  active  practice  at 
the  Bar  for  over  twenty  years,  appearing  fre- 
quently at  court  and  sometimes  serving  as  referee 
and  receiver  on  judicial  appointment.  He  also 
has  large  interests  in  propert}'  under  his  care  as 
guardian  and  trustee.  Dr.  Russell  is  a  member 
of  the  Sabbath  Committee  and  has  been  a  mana- 
ger of  the  Bible  Society.  He  belongs  to  many 
scholastic  organizations  and  also  to  social  clubs, 
such  as  the  Union  League  Club  of  Brooklyn,  the 
Lawyer's  Club  in  Manhattan,  the  Quill  Club  and 
the  Phi  Delta  Phi  Club.  He  has  always  been 
active  in  religious  and  political  circles,  participat- 
ing in  the  public  exercises  of  the  Camp  Meetings 
at  Ocean  Grove,  New  Jersey,  where  he  has  had 
his  summer  home  for  many  years  and  serving  on 
political  campaign  committees  of  the  Republican 
party.  He  received  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws 
from  Dickinson  College  in  1893.  During  the 
tvvent}^  years  of  his  professional  ser\ice  he  has 
seen    many  of  his   students  elected  to  Congress 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


8 


7 


and  to  the  Supreme  Bench  and  also  to  College 
Presidencies.  In  1886  he  married  Ruth,  daughter 
of  \V.  M.  Ferriss  of  Bay  Ridge,  Long  Island;  he 
has  four  sons.  Mrs.  Russell,  daughter  of  an 
eminent  scholar,  is  a  graduate  of  the  Woman's 
Law  Class  and  Treasurer  of  the  Alumnae.  Pro- 
fessor Russell  owes  his  interest  in  Economics  and 
Sociology  to  the  influence  of  Professor  Sumner  of 
Yale,  his  fondness  for  Philosophical  Jurisprudence 
and  Roman  Law  to  the  influence  of  Judge  Bald- 
win, and  ascribes  his  literary  bent  to  the  steady 
encouragement,  the  fatherly  admonition  and  the 
eloquent  example  of  Chancellor  MacCracken  to 
whose  initiative  he  is  indebted  for  all  the  great 
opportunity  of  his  life.  The  writings  of  Sir  Henry 
Maine  and  Herbert  Spencer  have  powerfully 
influenced  his  thought  during  his  later  years.  His 
daily  association  at  College  and  in  his  law  office 
with  the  late  Dean  of  the  Faculty  of  Law,  Professor 
David  R.  Jacques,  LL.D.,  for  about  a  quarter  of  a 
century,  has  kept  him  reverential  toward  classical 
learning  and  the  scholarship  of  Harvard  in  the 
time  of  Longfellow,  Greenleaf  and  Story.  Chan- 
cellor MacCracken,  writing  in  189 1,  said:  "The 
secret  of  Professor  Russell's  success  may  be  found 
in  three  facts :  first,  his  assiduous  study  ;  second, 
his  ability  to  impart  knowledge  in  a  clear,  forcible 
way  ;  third,  his  enthusiasm  in  the  work  of  teach- 
ing, implying  interest  in  the  student  and  a  per- 
sonal and  living  sympathy  with  him  in  his  best 
aims."  Professor  Russell's  bibliography  includes  : 
Methodism  as  it  is  to  be.  Church  and  Home, 
December  1890 ;  Prospects  in  the  Law,  University 
Quarterly,  April  1892  ;  Thoughts  on  the  Study  of 
Law,  Intercollegiate  Law  Journal,  April  1892  ; 
The  Right  L^se  of  Wealth,  Church  and  Home, 
June  1892  ;  Woman  as  a  Bread  Winner,  Church 
and  Home,  February  1893  ;  The  Pastor  and  his 
Work,  Church  and  Home,  October  1893;  Lec- 
tures on  Law  for  Women,  New  York,  L.  K.  Strouse 
&  Company,  1893  ;  Outline  Study  of  Law,  New 
York,  L.  K.  Strouse  &  Company,  1894;  The  New 
New  Woman,  Church  and  Home,  October  1895  ; 
Abraham  Lincoln,  Church  and  Home,  Februarj- 
1896  ;  Austin  Abbott,  University  Magazine,  June 
1896 ;  Austin  Abbott,  Proceedings  of  American 
Bar  Association  for  1896,  pp.  668;  England's 
Chief-Justice  and  his  Message,  Church  and  Home, 
October  1896;  The  Declaration  of  Independence, 
Church  and  Home,  July  1897  ;  The  Vendetta, 
Methodist    Review,    pp.     583-594  ;     The     Most 


.Vncient  Law,  Yale  Law  Journal,  June  1898;  The 
Pliilosophy  of  Myth,  Methodist  Review,  Septem- 
ber 1898;  International  Arbitration,  Transactions 
of  American  Social  Science  Association,  1898; 
Why  Law  Schools  are  Crowded,  Albany  Law 
Journal,  September  16,  1899;  The  Legal  Pro- 
fession, Youth's  Companion,  July  1900;  Outline 
Study  of  Law,  New  York,  15aker,  Voorhis  &  Com- 
pany (Third  Edition),  pp.  363,  1900;  Decline 
of  Forensic  Eloquence,  The  Brief,  July  1900; 
Domain  of  the  Written  Law,  The  American 
Lawyer,  July  1900.  K.  g.  s. 


SCHELL,  Augustus,  1812-1884. 

Member  Council,  1881-83. 
Born  in  Rhinebeck,  N.  Y.,  1812;  graduated  Union, 
1830;  studied  at  Litchfield  Law  School;  practicing 
lawyer  in  New  York  City ;  prominent  in  politics  as  a 
leader  in  Tammany  Hall  and  as  Chairman  Dem.  State 
Com.,  1853-56  ;  Collector  Port  of  N.Y.,  1857-61  ;  Director 
in  railroad  and  other  corporations;  member  University 
Council  1881-83;  died  1884. 

AUGUSTUS  SCHELL  was  born  in  Rhine- 
beck,  New  York,  August  i,  18 12.  After 
academic  education  at  l^nion  College,  where  he 
graduated  in  1830,  he  took  up  the  study  of  Law 
in  the  Litchfield  Law  School,  and  soon  after  being 
admitted  to  the  Bar  entered  practice  in  New  York 
City.  Here  he  won  a  conspicuous  success  in  an 
extensive  and  lucrative  business.  He  engaged  in 
politics  at  an  early  age,  and  for  many  years  was 
prominently  identified  with  Tammany  interests,  for 
many  years  working  for  reform  and  purification  in 
the  organization.  He  became  Chairman  of  the 
Tammany  Hall  General  Committee  in  1852,  and 
for  three  years  thereafter  served  at  the  head  of  the 
Democratic  State  Committee.  Mr.  Schell  occupied 
the  office  of  Collector  of  the  Port  of  New  York 
during  the  administration  of  President  Buchanan, 
1857-1861.  During  the  Presidential  campaign  of 
i860  he  joined  the  wing  of  the  Democratic  party 
which  pledged  itself  to  the  support  of  John  C. 
Breckinridge,  and  was  elected  Chairman  of  the 
National  Committee  of  that  body.  In  1872  he 
served  in  the  same  capacity  for  the  Greeley  cam- 
paign. In  1867  he  was  active  in  the  convention 
meeting  to  revise  the  State  Constitution,  and  in 
1878  he  ran  unsuccessfully  as  the  Tammany  candi- 
date for  the  Mayorship  of  New  York  Cit>'.  As  his 
fortune  increased  Mr,  Schell  became  extensively 
connected  as  Director,  or  otherwise,  with  many 
leading   railroad    corporations    and    other    large 


88 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


business  interests.  To  him  the  Universit}-  College 
is  indebted  for  an  endowment  of  $5000.  known  as 
the  Augustus  Schell  Fund,  given  in  1867.  * 

ALEXANDER,  George,  1843  — 

Vice-President  of  the  Council,  1889  — 
Born  in  West  Charlton,  N.  Y.,  1843;  prepared  for 
College  at  Charlton  Academy;  graduated  Union  Col- 
lege, 1866;  Princeton  Theol.  Sem.,  1870;  Pastor  East 
Ave.  Presby.  Church,  Schenectady,  N.  Y.,  1870-83 ;  Prof. 
Logic  and  Rhetoric,  Union  College,  1877-83;  D.D. 
Union  College,  1884;  Pastor  Univ.  Place  Presby. 
Church,  New  York  City,  1884;  member  Council  N.  Y. 
Univ.  since  1887,  and  Vice-Pres.  since  1889. 

GE0R(;E  ALEXANDER.  D.D..  was  born  in 
West  Charlton,  Saratoga  county.  New 
York,  October  12,  1843,  son  of  Alexander  E.  and 
Margaret  (Bunyan)  Alexander,  descended  from 
Scotch  ancestry.  His  first  education  was  received 
in  the  public  schools  and  at  Charlton  Academy. 


GEORGE    .ALEXANDER 

his  studies  in  the  latter  institution  leading  to 
jjrejiaration  for  College.  In  1866  he  graduated 
Bachelor  of  Arts  at  Union  College,  from  which 
at  a  later  date,  1884,  he  received  the  honor  of 
the  Doctor  of  Divinity  degree.  After  two  years 
of  private  tutoring,  he  entered  the  Princeton 
Theological  Seminary,  and  there  graduated  in 
1870  after  two  years  of  study.      \n  the  same  year 


he  accepted  a  call  to  the  East  Avenue  Presbyterian 
Church,  Schenectady,  New  York,  where  he  con- 
tinued as  Pastor  until  1883,  during  the  last  six 
years  of  that  period  filling  also  the  position  of 
Professor  of  Logic  and  Rhetoric  in  Union  College. 
Dr.  Alexander's  appointment  to  his  present  posi- 
tion as  Pastor  of  the  Universit)-  Place  Presbyterian 
Church  was  in  1884.  Since  1887  he  has  been 
associated  with  New  York  University  as  a  member 
of  the  Council,  of  which  body  he  is  at  present 
Vice-President.  He  is  also  a  Director  of  the 
Princeton  Theological  Seminary,  and  a  Trustee 
of  Sao  Paulo  College,  Brazil,  and  of  Union  College. 
Schenectady,  New  York.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
Union  College  Alumni  and  Century  associations 
and  the  Adirondack  Leatrue  Club.  * 


OPDYKE,   William  Stryker,   1836- 

Member  Council,  1883-99,  Founder  University  Heights. 
Born  in  New  York  City,  1836  ;  graduated  N.  Y. 
Univ.,  1856;  studied  in  Albany  Law  School,  1856  57, 
and  1859-60;  practicing  lawyer  in  New  York  City; 
member  Bd.  of  Councilmen  of  New  York  City,  1864; 
Assemblyman,  1873;  member  Council  N.  Y.  Univ., 
1883-99  ;  Sec,  1887-93;  a  founder  of  University  Heights. 

WILLIAM  STRYKER  OPDYKE  was 
born  in  New  York  City,  October  6, 
1836,  son  of  George  and  Elizabeth  Hall  (Stryker) 
Opdyke.  He  is  descended  from  Louis  Jansen 
Op  Dyck,  who  came  to  New  Netherlands  before 
1653,  and  lived  in  New  York  City  and  Gravcsend 
from  1655  until  his  death  in  1659  ;  also  from  Jan 
Strxker,  who  came  to  New  Amsterdam  in  1652. 
Mr.  Opdyke  received  early  education  in  the 
schools  of  Irvington  and  Newark,  New  Jersey, 
and  in  the  University  (irammar  School  of  New 
Y'ork  City.  He  graduated  as  Bachelor  of  Arts 
from  New  York  University  in  1856,  and  for  train- 
ing for  professional  life  he  attended  the  Albany 
Law  School.  Admitted  to  the  New  York  Bar  in 
1859,  he  entered  upon  a  practice  in  New  Y'ork 
City  in  which  he  has  since  continued.  He  has 
twice  held  public  office ;  in  1864  as  a  member  of 
the  Board  of  Councilmen  of  New  York  City,  and 
in  1873  as  a  member  of  the  New  York  Assembly. 
Mr.  Opdyke  has  long  been  identified  with  the  life 
of  New  Y'ork  University,  ser\ing  in  its  Council 
since  1883,  and  was  Secretary  of  the  body  from 
1887  to  1893,  and  in  1890  contributing  to  the 
founding  of  the  new  home  of  the  I'niversity  at 
University    Heights.      He   was    President   of   the 


UNU'ERSITIES   .-IN!)    Tlll-Jli    SONS 


89 


University  Alumni  Association  in  1S97  and  1898. 
In  politics  Mr.  Opdyke  has  been  since  1884  of 
Democratic  convictions,  having  previously  voted 
the  Republican  ticket.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
]5ar  Association,  the  Metropolitan,  Reform,  and 
University  clubs,  and  a  life  member  of  the  (Geo- 
graphical Society.  He  was  married,  October  20, 
1863,  to  Margaret  E.  I'ost,  and  has  one  son, 
Alfred  Opdyke.  * 

SKIDMORE,  Lemuel,  1843  — 

Member  Council,  1882-1900. 
Born  in  New  York  City,  1843;  educated  private 
schools;  graduated  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1861  ;  LL.B.  Harvard, 
1863;  admitted  to  New  York  Bar,  1864;  practiced  in 
New  York  City  ever  since  ;  Civil  Service  Commissioner, 
1893-94  :  member  Council  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1882-1900. 

LEMUEL  SKIDMORE,  Lawyer,  was  born 
in  New  York  City,  August  25,  1843,  .son 
of  William  Burtis  and  Harriet  Ann  (Bond)  Skid- 
more.     His  first  American  ancestor  was  Thomas 


LEMUFT,    SKIDMORE 


Scudamore,  who  emigrated  from  Westerly, 
Gloucestershire,  England,  settling  at  Cambridge, 
Massachusetts,  in  1640;  and  he  is  the  fifth  in 
descent  from  Thomas's  grandson,  John,  who 
changed  the  name  to  Skidmore,  and  who  in  1695 
settled  at  Long  Hill,  afterward  Newtown,  in 
the  Parish  of  Stratford,  Connecticut.  In  early 
inscriptions    and    records    the    name    is  variously 


written  Scudamore,  Scidmore,  and  Skitlmore.  His 
preliminary  education  was  obtained  at  various 
private  schools  in  his  native  city  and  he  received 
his  College  training  at  New  York  University,  from 
wliich  he  was  graduated  with  the  (Mass  of  1861. 
His  legal  studies  were  pursued  at  the  Harvard 
Law  School,  where  he  received  the  degree  of 
Bachelor  of  Law  in  1863,  and  ever  since  his 
admission  to  the  Bar  which  took  place  in  New 
York  City  the  following  year,  he  has  practiced  his 
profession  in  the  metropolis.  In  1882  he  was 
elected  to  the  Council  of  New  York  University  to 
serve  until  1900;  during  his  term  of  service  he 
was  a  member  of  the  Committee  on  the  Law 
School.  Mr.  Skidmore  held  the  office  of  Civil 
Service  ("ommissioner  for  New  York  City  in  1893 
and  1894.  In  1888  he  was  united  in  marriage 
with  Mary  Johnson ;  their  children  are :  Anna, 
born  (October  30,  1889;  Lemuel  Jr.,  born  May  7, 
1S91;  Harriet  B.,  born  December  19,  1895,  and 
James  IJond  Skidmore,  born  November  18,  1899.   * 


TAYLOR,   William  M.,  1829-1895. 

Member  Council,  1882-95. 
Born  in  Kilmarnock,  Scotland,  1829 ;  graduated 
Univ.  of  Glasgow,  1849;  graduated  Theol.  Hall  of 
United  Presby.  Church,  Edinburgh,  1852;  Pastor  in 
Scotland  and  England  until  1872;  Pastor  Tabernacle 
Church,  New  York  City,  1872-95 ;  D.D.  Yale  and 
Amherst,  1872;  founder  Univ.  Heights,  and  member 
Univ.  Council,   1882-95  J   died   1895. 

WILLIAM  M.  TAYLOR,  D.D.,  was  born 
in  Kilmarnock,  Scotland,  October  23, 
1829.  Graduating  at  the  University  of  Glasgow 
in  1849,  he  entered  the  Theological  Hall  of  the 
United  Presbyterian  Church  in  Edinburgh  and 
pursued  a  course  of  theological  study  for  three 
years,  graduating  in  1852.  In  the  following  year 
he  was  settled  as  Pastor  in  the  village  of  Kilmaurs, 
Ayrshire  county,  Scotland,  where  he  remained  for 
two  years,  until  called  to  the  Derby  Road  Church 
in  Liverpool,  England.  Dr.  Taylor  first  visited  the 
United  States  in  1871,  and  during  a  brief  sojourn 
he  made  so  pronounced  an  impression  while 
preaching  from  the  pulpit  of  the  Church  of  the 
Pilgrims  in  Brookhn,  that  upon  the  resignation  of 
the  Rev.  Dr.  J.  P.  Thompson  from  the  Pastorship 
of  the  Tabernacle  Congregational  Church  of  New 
York,  he  was  at  once  chosen  to  fill  the  vacant 
office.  Seventeen  years  of  useful  work  in  his 
Liverpool  church  had  been  most  fruitful,  and  his 
departure   to   the  American  position  was   marked 


90 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR    SONS 


by  numerous  tokens  of  the  admiration  of  his 
former  congregation.  His  success  in  New  York 
was  not  less  conspicuous,  and  he  continued  in 
charge  of  the  Tabernacle  Church  until  his  death, 
which  occurred  in  1895.  Dr.  Taylor  was  for 
many  years  an  ardent  promoter  of  the  interests  of 
New  York  University,  being  active  in  the  move- 
ment  to  found   University   Heights    and    occupy- 


WILHAM     M.    TAYLOR 

ing  a  place  in  the  University  Council  from  1882 
until  1895.  He  received  the  degree  Doctor  of 
Divinity  from  both  Yale  and  Amherst  in  1872. 
He  published:  Life  Truths,  1862;  The  Miracles, 
1865  ;  Helps  to  Faith  not  Hinderances  ;  and  The 
Lost  Found,  a  series  of  sermons  on  the  fifteenth 
chapter  of  Luke.    Dr.  Taylor  died  February  8,1895. 


BANKS,  David,  1827- 

Benefactor,  Member  of  the  Council,  1884- 
Born  in  New  York  City,  1827;  graduated  Shay's 
Grammar  School,  1842 ;  entered  business  with  his 
father  in  law-book  publishing ;  now  proprietor  of  the 
business ;  member  of  the  University  Council  since 
1884;  has  made  many  gifts  to  the  University;  Chair- 
man of  Athletic  Association. 

DAVID  BANKS,  Publisher,  was  born  Decem- 
ber 25,  1827,  in  New  York  City.  His 
father  was  David  Banks,  a  prominent  lawyer  and 
founder    of   the    famous  publishing   house   which 


bears  his  name.  Mr.  Banks's  grandfather.  Cap- 
tain Banks,  served  throughout  the  Revolutionary 
War,  crossing  the  Delaware  with  Washington  and 
taking  part  with  distinction  in  many  famous  con- 
flicts. Mr.  Banks  attended  Shay's  Grammar 
School,  graduating  in  1842.  His  parents  in- 
tended to  have  him  take  a  College  course,  but  he 
ultimately  abandoned  the  plan  and  entered  the 
employ  of  his  father's  firm.  His  advancement 
was  very  rapid,  and  on  completing  his  twenty-first 
year  he  was  made  a  partner  in  the  firm.  The 
New  York  house  of  David  Banks  was  first  located 
at  the  corner  of  Wall  and  Broad  streets,  whence 
it  removed  to  the  Tribune  Building,  Spruce  and 
Nassau  streets ;  then  to  Nassau  Street.  Remain- 
ing here  for  over  fifty  years  it  grew  to  be  of 
national  importance.  In  1894  it  was  shifted  to 
Murray  Street.  Besides  an  enormous  stock  of 
law  books,  there  are  gathered  here  a  unique  col- 
lection of  law  publications  of  very  great  historical 
value,  together  with  MSS.  and  documents  of  price- 
less worth.  Mr.  Banks's  philanthropic  and  civic 
spirit  has  chosen  for  itself  particularly  New  York 
University,  the  Council  of  which  he  entered  in 
1884.  Mr.  Banks  is  now  Chairman  of  the  com- 
mittees on  University  Heights,  and  on  the  Library, 
and  is  Chairman  of  the  Athletic  Association.  He 
was  one  of  the  founders  of  University  Heights. 
Through  his  liberality  and  personal  effort  the  Law 
Library  has  been  supplied  with  over  four  thousand 
volumes.  Mr.  Banks  has  always  taken  a  very 
strong  interest  in  athletics.  The  athletic  life  of 
New  York  University  is  very  largely  indebted  to 
him  ;  he  has  given  freely  of  his  money  and  of  his 
time  to  develop  this  important  College  interest. 
For  many  years  Mr.  Banks  has  ranked  as  one  of 
the  crack  rifle  and  pistol  shots  of  the  countrj'.  For 
twenty  years  he  was  recognized  as  the  champion 
fly-fisher  of  the  United  States.  He  served  as 
Commodore  of  the  Atlantic  Yacht  Club  for  four 
years,  retiring  in  1894  in  favor  of  George  Gould, 
and  was  again  elected  in  1901.  Mr.  Banks  owns  a 
number  of  water-craft,  among  which  is  the  famous 
racing  yacht  Water-witch,  the  winner  of  many 
trophies,  a  yacht  which  Mr.  Banks  considers 
a  priceless  possession.  Mr.  Banks  has  himself 
offered  many  valuable  trophies  to  encourage 
sports.  New  York  University  cherishes  some 
twenty-one  silver  cups  presented  by  him,  of  rare 
beauty  and  considerable  intrinsic  worth.  Mr.  Banks 
has  been  known  all  his  life  as  a  stanch  Democrat, 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    TllElR    SONS 


91 


and  has  served  several  times  as  a  delegate  to  the 
stale  conventions.  Throughout  his  career  he  has 
never  held  any  political  office  though  he  has  been 
offered  the  nomination  for  many  important  offices. 
The  most  important  of  these  was  the  candidacy 
for  the  Mayoralty  of  New  York  City.  Mr.  Banks 
was  tlie  founder  of  the  old  Atalanta  Boat  Club, 
of    wliich    he    is    the  oldest    member   and    present 


DAVID    BANKS 

Commodore.  He  is  Commander  of  the  Society  of 
Foreign  Wars,  and  a  club  member  of  the  Zeta  Psi 
Fraternity,  of  which  the  New  York  University 
Chapter  is  the  original  one.  Although  in  his 
seventy-fourth  year  now,  Mr.  Banks  is  as  active  as 
most  men  in  their  fifties.  He  is  still,  as  he  always 
has  been  since  his  assumption  of  control,  the  life 
and  soul  of  his  business  house  and  is  evidently 
destined  to  maintain  his  authority  there  for  many 
years,  if  mental  and  physical  vigor  may  be  taken 
as  an  index.  e.  g.  s. 


HERING,  Daniel  \A/'ebster,  1850  — 

Professor  Physics,  1885- 

Born  near  Smithburg,  Md.,  1850;  studied  at  Western 
Md.  College,  1867-69 ;  graduated,  Ph.B.,  Sheffield 
Scientific  School,  Yale,  1872;  C.  E.,  Yale,  1878;  engaged 
in  railroad  engineering;  Prof.  Math.  Western  Md.  Col- 


lege,  1880-84;    Prof.    Physics   Western    Univ.   of   Pa., 
1884-85;   Prof.  Physics  N.  Y.  Univ.  since  1885. 

DANH:L  WEBSTER  HERINC},  Ph.D.,  son 
of  Joshua  and  Susanna  (Harman)  Hering, 
was  born  near  Smithburg,  Washington  county, 
Maryland,  March  23,  1850.  Professor  Hering's 
course  as  a  student  may  be  reckoned  from  the  time 
of  his  family's  locating  near  Johnsville,  Maryland, 
in  1857.  Here  he  was  placed  in  the  public  school 
under  the  charge  of  John  S.  Repp,  a  teacher  of 
wide  and  well-merited  reputation.  In  1861  Mr. 
Repp  obtained  the  consent  of  the  Board  of  Exam- 
iners for  public  school  teachers  to  present  this 
pupil  and  another  some  three  years  older  to  be 
examined  by  the  Board  for  teacher's  certificates. 
The  candidates  were  awarded  the  certificate  com- 
prising reading,  writing,  arithmetic,  English  gram- 
mar, geography,  algebra,  geometry,  trigonometry 
and  history,  and  dated  Frederick,  Maryland, 
August  23,  1861.  The  war  from  i86i  to  1865 
interfered  with  the  old  order  of  things,  and  little 
more  was  to  be  gained  from  the  public  schools  at 
this  time  by  the  subject  of  this  notice.  A  desire 
for  higher  education  had  taken  hold  of  him,  how- 
ever, and  his  energies  were  bent  apon  preparing 
for  a  course  in  civil  engineering.  During  the 
school  year  of  1866-1867  he  attended  the  West- 
minster Seminary,  and  frequently  assisted  in 
teaching  the  mathematical  classes.  The  following 
year  he  was  engaged  as  student  and  teacher  in  the 
Western  Maryland  College,  then  in  the  first  year 
of  its  existence.  He  remained  there  another  year 
as  Instructor  in  Mathematics,  and  in  1869  entered 
the  Sheffield  Scientific  School  of  Yale.  To  have 
come  under  the  personal  instruction  of  the  Profes- 
sors he  met  there  when  they  were  at  their  best, 
means  much  to  a  real  student,  There  were  Whit- 
ney and  Lounsbury  giving  lavishly  to  Freshmen  of 
their  keen  insight  into  and  profound  knowledge 
of  language  and  literature  ;  there  were  Lyman  and 
Brewer  and  Eaton  and  Yerrill  and  Brush  in  the 
sciences  ;  while  Mathematics  and  Engineering  were 
taught  in  great  part  by  Professor  W.  A.  Norton 
who  had  himself  gone  to  the  Yale  Professorship 
from  his  Chair  in  the  New  York  University  and 
to  whom,  in  a  sense,  Professor  Hering  is  now  a 
successor.  As  a  student  in  the  Sheffield  School 
he  won  the  prize  for  excellence  in  all  the  studies 
for  Freshman  year,  and  for  the  Mathematics  of 
Junior  year.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Berzelius 
Societ)-,   and   was   graduated    with    distinction    in 


92 


UNIl'ERSrriES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


1872,  as  Bachelor  of  Philosophy,  from  the  course 
in  Civil  Engineering.  In  the  following  spring  he 
was  employed  on  the  Engineer  Corps  of  the  Berks 
County  Railroad  (now  Reading  and  Lehigh  Rail- 
road in  Penns\lvania).  After  nearly  two  )ears" 
work  on  this  line  he  left  it  upon  its  completion,  as 
principal  assistant  engineer.  Owing  to  the  depres- 
sion in  public  enterprises  following  the  financial 
crisis  of  1873-1874,  work  in  engineering  was  at  a 
standstill,  and  he  engaged  chiefly  in  teaching 
again  in  Western  Maryland  College  and  elsewhere 
until  1876,  when  he  was  appointed  to  a  Fellowship 
in   Engineering  in  the  Johns   Hopkins    Cniversity, 


I).    W.     HERING 

being  one  of  the  band  of  enthusiastic  students, 
gathered  together  from  the  whole  length  and 
breadth  of  the  land,  who  contributed  to  the  lofty 
tone  and  high  purpose  with  which  this  famous 
University  began  its  work.  In  the  two  years  here, 
devoted  principally  to  Physics  and  Mathematics, 
pure  and  applied,  and  to  Modern  Languages,  he 
profited  richly  by  associating  as  fellow  and  student 
with  many  of  the  University  staff,  among  whom 
may  be  named  President  Oilman,  Professors 
Sylvester,  Hilgard  (chief  of  the  United  States 
Coast  Survey),  and  Rowland  ;  and  more  intimately 
among  the  Associates  and  Fellows,  Herbert  B. 
Adams,  Henry  C.  Adams  (now  of  Michigan  Uni- 


versity), Hastings  (now  of  Vale),  Brandt  (now  of 
Hamilton),  Story  (now  of  Clarkj,  Elliot,  Sihler 
(now  of  New  York  University),  Royce  (now  of 
Harvard),  and  many  others.  In  1878,  upon  his 
work  here  and  a  thesis  which,  in  the  absence  of 
any  special  engineering  department  in  Johns  Hop- 
kins, was  submitted  to  the  f\aculty  of  Yale,  and  on 
the  recommendation  of  the  Johns  Hopkins  Facult)', 
the  degree  of  Civil  Engineer  was  conferred  upon 
Professor  Hering  by  his  alma  mater  Yale.  He 
entered  shortly  after  upon  professional  work  as 
assistant  engineer  in  the  construction  of  the  Balti- 
more &:  Cumberland  Valley  Railroad  where  he 
continued  until  1880.  He  was  then  appointed  to 
the  Chair  of  Mathematics  in  the  Western  ALaryland 
College,  which  position  he  held  until  1884.  In 
1895,  when  this  College  celebrated  the  completion 
of  its  first  quarter  of  a  century,  it  conferred  upon 
Professor  Hering  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  I'hi- 
losophy.  In  1881  he  married  Mary  Hollis  Webster, 
a  daughter  of  the  eminent  divine  and  scholar,  the 
late  Dr.  Augustus  Webster  of  Baltimore.  In  1884 
he  was  appointed  to  the  Chair  of  Physics  in  the 
Western  University  of  Pennsylvania,  but  left  there 
at  the  end  of  a  year  upon  his  election  to  the  Chair 
of  Physics  in  the  University  of  the  City  of  New 
York,  now  the  New  York  l^niversity.  L^p  to  this 
time,  instruction  in  physics  in  tiiis  institution  had 
been  conducted  in  the  old-fashioned  way  of  lectures 
and  recitations  exclusively  ;  the  physical  laboratory 
and  laboratory  methods  of  studying  phjsics,  con- 
.stituting  the  so-called  "  new  physics  "  in  America, 
being  as  yet  confined  chiefly  to  the  new  in.stitutions. 
With  the  efforts  to  rejuvenate  the  University, 
following  the  resignation  of  Dr.  Crosby  from  the 
Chancellorship,  the  curriculum  was  remodeled,  and 
laboratory  work  in  ph\sics  was  announced  for  the 
first  time,  to  be  undertaken  by  the  new  appointee 
with  neither  laboratory  nor  funds  to  equip  one. 
Professor  Hering's  work  therefore  was  that  of 
organizing  a  system  of  instruction  with  very  scanty 
means.  A  beginning  was  made,  however,  and  the 
work  has  been  steadily  advanced  so  as  to  keep 
pace  with  the  progress  of  similar  work  in  other 
Colleges,  and  what  was  little  more  than  an  incident 
in  the  work  of  the  Professor  of  Mathematics  and 
Natural  Philosophy  prior  to  1884  has  become, 
under  his  direction,  an  important  department  of 
the  Uni\-ersit)-,  with  still  larger  promise  by  the 
conversion  of  the  Charles  Butler  Hall  into  a 
physics  building.     Professor  Hering  has  also  sus- 


UNIFKRS/r/F.S   JND    'I'llElR    SONS 


93 


tained  a  share  of  the  iiistruclion  in  engineering, 
particularly  the  applied  mechanics,  and  has  con- 
tributed l)y  his  labors  and  his  counsel  to  the 
development  of  the  present  School  of  Applied 
Science,  with  its  valuable  and  growing  experimental 
outfit.  In  1886  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the 
American  Astronomical  Society,  which  soon  after 
became  the  Astronomical  Department  of  the 
]5rooklyn  Institute.  For  three  years  he  was  a 
member  of  the  ("ouncil  of  the  last  named  institu- 
tion, and  during  one  year  was  President  of  the 
Department  of  Physics.  It  is  as  a  teacher  more 
than  in  any  other  capacity  that  he  has  applied 
himself,  during  the  past  twenty-five  years,  to  scien- 
tific work,  lie  has,  however,  engaged  to  some- 
extent  in  original  investigation,  and  besides  lec- 
turing frequently  and  presenting  papers  before 
various  societies,  he  has  contributed  scientific 
articles  from  time  to  time  to  The  Scientific  Ameri- 
can, Science.  The  Popular  Science  Monthly, 
American  Electrician,  Electrical  World,  Engineer- 
ing News  and  other  journals.  He  is  an  associate 
member  of  the  National  Institute  of  Art,  Science 
and  Letters,  a  member  of  the  American  Social 
Science  Association,  a  Fellow  of  the  New  York 
Academy  of  Sciences  and  one  of  tlie  original 
members  of  the  American  Phxsical  .Society. 

E.  u.  s. 

SLOAN,   Samuel,   1817- 

Member  Council,  1884- 
Born  in  Lisburn,  Ireland,  1817  ;  graduated  Columbia 
Grammar  School  1830;  Supervisor  Kings  county,  1850- 
51;  State  Senator,  1858-59;  Pres.  Hudson  River  Rail- 
road, 1855-62;  Pres.  Del.,  Lackawanna  &  W.  Railroad, 
1867-90;  Pres.  of  various  other  roads;  member  Council 
N.  Y.  Univ.,  1884- 

SAMUEL  SLOAN  was  born  in  Lisburn,  near 
Belfast,  Ireland,  December  25,  18 17,  and 
came  to  the  United  States  in  his  early  childhood. 
He  was  educated  in  the  Columbia  College  (Iram- 
mar  School,  and  at  an  early  age  was  placed  in  a 
clerk's  position  to  learn  business  methods.  'I'he 
history  of  his  successful  business  career  is  one  of 
constant  advances  through  the  various  stages  of 
commercial  activity.  He  became  President  of  the 
Delaware,  Lackawanna  &  Western  Railroad,  an 
office  which  he  held  from  1867  to  1900,  the  Oswego 
iv:  Syracuse,  the  Syracuse,  Binghamton  &  New 
York,  tlie  L'tica,  Chenango  &  Susquehanna  Valley, 
the  Fort  Wayne  &:  Jackson,  the  Green  Bay, 
Winona  X:  St.  Paul,  and  other  railroads.  He  was 
President    of   the    Hudson    River    Railroad    from 


1855  to  1862.  Mr.  Sloan  was  Supervisor  of 
Kings  county,  New  York,  in  1850-185 1,  and 
State  Senator  in  1858- 1859.  In  1862  he  was 
chosen  Commissioner  for  all  the  trunk  lines  run- 
ning to  the  west,  to  direct  the  arbitration  of  rail- 
road  disputes.       Since   1884   he   has  been  one  of 


i^jLy^---smssr^f'^'n'ry:7iimr 


raftrT'--" 


SAMUEL    SI.OAN 

the  Council  of  New  York  University,  and  during 
the  ]:)eriod  of  his  ser\ice  has  proved  an  earnest 
friend  and  wise  ad\iser  of  the  institution.  Mr. 
Sloan  is  a  member  of  the  Committee  on  IMedical 
College  and  Property.  * 


VAN  SCHAICK,  Henry,  1825- 

Member  Council,  1856-72,  1898-,  Secretary  1856-65. 
Born    in    New    York    City,    1825;     graduated    N.   Y. 
Univ.,  1843  ;  A.  M.  in  course  ;  practicing  lawyer  ;  Mem- 
ber Council   N.  Y.  Univ.,  1856-72,   1898- ;   Sec.  Council, 
1856-65  ;  a  founder  of  University  Heights. 

HKXRY  VAN  SCHAICK  was  born  in  New 
York  City,  November  10,  1825.  His  father 
was  Myndert  Van  Schaick,  a  benefactor  of  tlie 
University,  and  member  of  its  Council  for  thirty- 
five  years.  His  grandfather.  Go  sen  Van  Schaick, 
was  a  distinguished  officer  of  the  American  .Army 
during  the  Revolution  and  other  early  wars  ;  an 
account  of  these  ancestors  is  to  be  found  on 
another  page  of  this  volume.      Mr.  \'an  Schaick's 


94 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


mother  was  Elizabeth  Hone  Van  Schaick.  His 
graduation  from  the  University  was  with  the  Class 
of  1843,  ^"d  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts 
received  then  was  followed  after  three  years  by  the 
bestowal  of  the  Master's  degree.  After  the  com- 
pletion of  the  College  course  he  studied  law  and 
entered  the  practice  of  that  profession  in  his  native 
city.  Here  he  has  continued  through  a  busy  and 
successful  career,  becoming  identified  with  many 
large  interests  of  the  city,  notably  as  Director  of 
the  Manhattan  Life  Insurance  Company  and  as 
Trustee  of  the  Manhattan  Savings  Bank.  Mr. 
Van  Schaick  has  for  years  been  devoted  to  the 


H.    VAN    SCHAICK 

University  of  which  he  is  a  graduate,  holding  at 
present  a  position  in  the  Council  in  a  term  extend- 
ing from  1898  to  1902.  This  same  body  he  has 
previously  served,  as  a  member  from  1856  to  1872, 
and  as  Secretary  from  1856  to  1865.  His  name 
will  also  be  enrolled  among  the  benefactors  of  the 
institution  as  one  of  the  founders  of  University 
Heights.  During  a  period  of  about  twenty  years 
Mr.  Van  Schaick  spent  the  greater  part  of  his  time 
abroad,  returning  to  New  York  for  occasional  visits. 
Mr.  Van  Schaick  was  married,  April  9.  1857,  to 
Charlotte  Sargent  Gray,  daughter  of  Samuel  C.Gray. 
His  children  have  been :  Mary,  Henry  Sybrant, 
George  Gray.  Elizabeth  and  Eugene  Van  Schaick.    * 


VANDERPOEL,  Aaron  John,  1825-1887. 

Law  Professor,  Member  Council,  1870-87. 
Born  in  Kinderhook,  N.  Y.,  1825;  graduated  N.  Y. 
Univ.,  1843;  A.M.  in  course;  LL.D.,  1881;  practicing 
lawyer  in  Kinderhook  and  New  York  City ;  Sheriff  of 
New  York  City;  Prof,  in  Law  Dept. ;  member  Council 
N.  Y.  Univ.,  1870-87;  died  1887. 

AARON  JOHN  VANDERPOEL,  LL.D.,  was 
born  in  Kinderhook,  New  York,  October 
24,  1825,  son  of  Dr.  John  and  Sarah  Wood 
(Oakley)  Vanderpoel.  He  graduated  from  the 
Arts  Department  of  New  York  University  in  1843, 
and  subsequently  received  the  degree  of  Master 
of  Arts  in  course,  and  that  of  Doctor  of  Laws 
conferred  as  a  mark  of  honor  in  1881.  Following 
graduation  Mr.  Vanderpoel  studied  law,  and  for 
many  years  conducted  a  successful  practice  in 
Kinderhook  and  New  York  City.  He  was  retained 
as  counsel  by  the  New  York  Board  of  Health  and 
by  the  Police  Department,  and  was  at  one  time 
Sheriff  of  the  city.  He  was  identified  with  New 
York  University  as  a  Professor  in  the  Law  Depart- 
ment, and  by  service  as  a  member  of  the  University 
Council  from  1870  until  his  death  in  1887.  Mr. 
Vanderpoel  was  married,  August  3, 1852,  to  Adaline 
E.,  daughter  of  Henry  C.  Van  Schaack,  and  had 
five  children  :  Mary  C,  Augustus  H.,  Lydia  Beek- 
man,  Aaron  ]\L,  and  Margaret  Vanderpoel.  He 
died  in  Paris,  France,  August  22,  1887.  * 


HEWITT,    Abram    Stevens,  1822- 

Member  Council,  1874-18B2. 
Born  in  Haverstraw,  N.  Y.,  1822  ;  graduated  Colum- 
bia, 1842;  Acting  Prof,  of  Math.,  1843;  studied  law  and 
practiced  for  short  time;  engaged  in  iron  business  with 
Peter  Cooper;  Sec.  and  Director  Cooper  Union;  U.  S. 
Commissioner  to  Paris  Exposition,  1867;  Representa- 
tive to  Congress,  1875-79,  and  again  1881-86  ;  Mayor  of 
New  York  City,  1887-89;  an  organizer  of  the  County 
Democracy,  1879;  promoted  U.  S.  Geol.  Surv.;  Chair- 
man Democratic  National  Committee,  1876;  Orator  at 
the  opening  of  Brooklyn  Bridge,  1883;  President  Co- 
lumbia Alumni  Association,  1883;  President  of  Amer- 
ican Institute  of  Mining  Engineers,  1876  ;  recognized 
authority  on  finance,  labor  and  development  of  national 
resources  ;  Member  Council  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1874-82. 

ABRAM  STEVENS  HEWITT,  LL.D.,  was 
born  in  Haverstraw,  New  York,  July  31, 
1822.  Proficiency  in  his  studies  in  the  New  York 
public  schools  gained  for  him  a  scholarship  at 
Columbia  during  the  progress  of  which  he  sup- 
ported himself  by  teaching.  Graduating  with 
honor  in  1842,  he  remained  at  the  College  the  fol- 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


95 


lowing  year  as  Acting  Professor  of  Mathematics. 
A  warm  friendship  between  him  and  his  chxssmate, 
Kdward  Cooper,  resulted  in  his  allying  himself 
by  marriage  with  that  well-known  family,  and  he 
became  the  business  associate  of  his  College  com- 
panion, lie  studied  law  and  was  admitted  to  the 
Bar  in  1845,  but  soon  abandoned  the  profession 
to  engage  in  the  iron  business  with  Peter  Cooper 
whom  he  subsequently  succeeded  in  compan)-  with 
Edward  Cooper,  and  the  firm  of  Cooper  and 
Hewitt  became  the  owners  and  operators  of  several 
large  iron  works.  Having  visited  England  solely 
for  the   purpose  of  familiarizing  himself  with  the 


ABRAM    S.    HEWITT 

manufacture  of  gun-barrel  material,  Mr.  Hewitt 
placed  his  resources  at  the  disposal  of  the  Govern- 
ment during  the  Civil  War,  and  furnished  gim- 
barrel  iron  to  the  \\'ar  Department  at  a  heavy  loss 
to  his  concern.  He  has  also  kept  his  works  in 
operation  during  periods  of  business  depression, 
and  as  a  result  labor  troubles  have  been  avoided. 
His  report  on  Iron  and  Steel  as  United  States 
Commissioner  to  the  Paris  Exposition  in  1867  was 
published  both  in  America  and  Europe,  and  his 
farewell  address  as  President  of  the  American 
Institute  of  Mining  Engineers  (1876)  on  a  Centurj' 
of  Mining  and  ^Metallurgy  in  the  United  States, 
also    created    favorable    comment    on    both    sides 


of  the  Atlantic.  Leaving  Tammany  and  allying 
himself  with  Irving  Hall,  he  assisted  in  1879,  in 
organizing  the  County  Democracy.  During  his 
ten  years  in  Congress  his  speeches  carried  weight 
with  both  parties,  and  he  was  mainly  instrumental 
in  reestablishing  the  United  States  (leological 
Survey.  As  Mayor  of  New  York,  1887-1889,  his 
administration  was  conducted  upon  a  well  organ- 
ized business  basis,  and  marked  by  a  determina- 
tion to  hold  the  heads  of  departments  accountable 
for  the  stewardships  intrusted  to  their  charge. 
Mr.  Hewitt  was  Chairman  of  the  Democratic 
National  Committee  in  1876.  He  was  President 
of  the  Columbia  Alumni  Association  for  1883,  was 
selected  as  Orator  at  the  opening  of  Brooklyn 
Bridge  the  same  year,  and  has  long  been  con- 
sidered a  high  authority  on  labor,  finance,  the 
development  of  National  resources,  and  numerous 
other  business  and  political  issues.  He  has  been 
Secretary  and  Director  of  the  Cooper  Union  from 
its  organization,  and  for  more  than  forty  years  his 
duties  in  these  capacities  equaled  those  of  a  Col- 
lege President.  He  was  made  a  Master  of  Arts 
by  Columbia  in  course,  a  Doctor  of  Laws  in  1887, 
and  has  displayed  his  appreciation  and  loyalty  by 
presenting  the  College  with  a  substantial  benefac- 
tion. He  has  been  associated  with  the  interests 
of  New  York  University,  serving  as  a  Member  of 
the  Council  from  1874  to  1882.  * 


VANDERPOEL,     Samuel     Oakley,     1824- 
1886. 

Medical  Professor,  Member  Council  1875-1886. 
Born  in  Kinderhook,  1824;  graduated  College  Dept. 
N.  Y.  Univ.,  1842;  studied  in  Albany  Medical  College, 
1843-44;  graduated  Jefferson  Medical  College,  1845; 
studied  abroad,  1847-49 ;  practicing  physician  in 
Kinderhook,  1845-47,  and  in  Albany,  1850-72 ;  Prof. 
General  Pathology  Albany  Medical  College,  1866-69, 
and  of  Theory  and  Practice  of  Medicine,  1879-81  ;  Sur- 
geon-General N.  Y.  State,  1857-58,  1861-62;  Health 
Officer  Port  of  N.  Y.,  1872-80;  Prof.  Public  Hygiene 
Univ.  Medical  College,  1883-86;  member  Council 
N.  Y.  Univ.,  1875-86;  LL.D.,  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1878; 
died  1886. 

SAMUEL  OAKLEY  VANDERPOEL,  M.D., 
LL.D.,  was  born  in  Kinderhook,  New  York, 
February  22,  1824,  son  of  Dr.  John  and  Sarah  \V. 
(Oakley)  Vanderpoel.  He  graduated  from  the 
College  Department  of  New  York  I'niversit)-  in 
1842,  receiving  the  Master  of  Arts  degree  in  course. 
His    study  of   medicine    was    commenced    in    the 


96 


UNIVERSITIES   JND    THEIR   SONS 


Albany  Medical  College,  where  he  remained  during 
one  year,  1843-1844,  and  in  1845  he  graduated 
from  tiie  Jefferson  Medical  College  of  Philadelphia. 
After  two  years  of  practice  in  his  native  town  he 
was  for  two  years,  until  1849,  engaged  in  profes- 
sional study  at  the  University  of  Paris.  Upon  his 
return  he  settled  in  Albany,  where  he  continued  to 
practice  for  twenty-two  years.  He  held  two  Pro- 
fessorships at  the  Albany  Medical  College,  that  of 
General  Pathology  from  1866  to  i86g,  and  that  of 
the  Theory  and  Practice  of  Medicine  from  1876  to 


SAMUEL    O.    VANDERPOEL 

18S1.  From  1883  to  i886  Dr.  Vanderpoel  was 
Professor  of  Pul^lic  Hygiene  in  the  New  York 
University  Medical  College,  and  from  1875  until 
his  death  in  1886  he  was  a  member  of  the  Council 
of  the  University.  He  was  manager  of  the  State 
Lunatic  Asylum  in  Utica,  New  York,  from  1867  to 
1882  ;  Surgeon-General  of  New  York  State  in 
1857-1858,  and  1861-1862  ;  and  Health  officer 
of  the  Port  of  New  York  from  1872  to  1880. 
Among  other  hospital  appointments  were  those  of 
Visiting  and  Consulting  Physician  to  the  Albany 
City,  St.  Peter's,  and  the  State  Emigrant  hos- 
pitals. In  1863  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine 
was  conferred  upon  him  by  the  Albany  Medical 
College,  and  he  received  the  Doctor  of  Laws  degree 


from  New  York  University  in  1878.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  Medical  and  Surgical  Society  of 
New  York,  the  New  York  County  Medical  Society, 
of  which  he  was  President  in  1884,  and  the  New 
York  State  Medical  Society,  of  which  he  was  Presi- 
dent in  1870.  He  was  also  a  fellow  of  the  New 
York  Academy  of  Medicine.  Dr.  A'anderpoel  was 
married.  December  10,  1850,  to  Gertrude,  daugh- 
ter of  Dr.  Peter  Wendell;  his  children  are  :  \^'endell, 
Samuel  Oakley,  Jr.,  Herman  Wendell,  John,  Eliza- 
beth Wendell,  Lewis  Morris  and  Gertrude  WendelJ 
Vanderpoel.  Dr.  Samuel  O.  Vanderpoel  died  in 
Washinsrton,  District  of  Columbia.  March  12,  1886. 


ANDREWS,    William  Loring,   1837- 

Member  Council,  1881- 
Born  in  New  York  City,  1837;  educated  in  private 
schools;  in  leather  business  until  1875;  engaged  in 
literary  and  artistic  pursuits  ;  Honorary  Librarian  Met- 
ropolitan Museum  of  Art,  1886- ;  M.  A.  Yale,  1894; 
Member  Council  of  N.Y.  Univ.,  1881- ;  author. 

WHJJAM  L()RL\G  ANDREWS  was 
born  in  New  York  City,  September  9, 
1837,  son  of  Loring  and  Caroline  Catherine  (Dele- 
mater)  Andrews.  His  father,  a  prominent  leather 
merchant  of  New  \'ork  City,  was  a  Councilor  and 
benefactor  of  New  York  l^niversily;  of  his  ance.s- 
try  and  career  an  account  is  to  be  found  on  an- 
other page  of  this  volinne.  Mr.  Andrews  was 
educated  in  private  schools,  receiving  the  training 
necessary  for  equipment  for  a  business  life.  At  an 
early  age  he  became  engaged  in  his  father's  busi- 
ness, and  -SO  continued  until  1875,  when  by  tiie 
death  of  his  father  he  was  obliged  to  assume  ciiarge 
of  the  extensive  estate,  which  was  not  settled  until 
1883.  Since  that  date  much  of  his  time  has  been 
devoted  to  the  collection  of  rare  books  and  engrav- 
ings, and  to  literary  studies.  The  results  of  this 
avocation  ha\e  found  expression  in  a  number  of 
books,  published  chiefly  in  limited  editions,  through 
Dodd,  Mead  (S:  Company,  Chas.  Scribncr's  Sons, 
and  other  New  York  publishers  ;  of  his  bibliog- 
raphy the  following  books  are  of  especial  interest : 
The  Old  Booksellers  of  New  York,  and  other 
Papers;  Essays  on  the  Portraiture  of  the  American 
Re\olutionary  War ;  A  Prospect  of  the  College 
in  Cambridge,  in  New  England  ;  New  Amsterdam, 
New  Orange,  New  York ;  Fragments  of  American 
History.  The  illustrations  of  these  books  are  re-« 
productions   of    some   of    the    rare    prints  of   Mr. 


UNiyERSlTJES   AISD    'I'llKlR    SONS 


97 


Andrews's  follcclion.  In  addition  to  ids  sci\ice 
in  tlie  Council  of  tlic  New  X'oik  University,  of 
vvhic'li  bod\-  hi-  lias  hciii  a  nicMnber  since  iSSi, 
Mr.  An(h\'\\s  has  been  an  acti\t!  worker  in  \arious 
institutions  of  New  York  C'ity  devoted  to  the  pub- 
lic good.  He  has  been  since  1876  a  Trustee  of 
the  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art  and  its  Honorary 
Librarian  since  1886.  He  was  also  for  ele\en 
years  one  of  the  Managers  yf  the  House  of  Refuge 
on  Randall's  Island.  For  about  fifteen  years  he 
has  been  a  Trustee  of  the  Bank  for  Savings  at 
Fourth  Avenue  and  Twenty-second  Street,  and  is 
well  known  as  one  of  the  founders  and  the  second 
President  of  the  Grolier  Club.  He  is  a  member 
of  the  (Century  Association,  the  Union  League, 
Church  and  Grolier  clubs,  the  Savile  C'lub  of 
London,  the  St.  Nicholas  Society,  the  New  York 
Historical  Society,  the  Academy  of  Design,  and 
the  New  York  Chamber  of  Commerce.  He  is  also 
an  honorary  member  of  the  Eleventh  Army  Corps. 
His  scholarly  attainments  were  recognized  by  the 
bestowal  of  the  honorary  degree  of  Master  of  Arts 
by  Yale  in  1894.  Mr.  Andrews  was  married  Octo- 
ber 17,  i860,  to  Jane  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Theo- 
dore Crane  of  New  York  City ;  their  two  sons, 
Loring  W^illiam  and  Theodore  Crane  Andrews, 
died,  one  at  the  age  of  21,  while  a  member  of  the 
Senior  Class  at  Yale  Universit)-,  and  the  other  15. 


MUNRO,   George,  1825  1896. 

IVIember  Council,  1887-96,  Benefactor. 
Born  in  Nova  Scotia,  1825;  early  education  in  Pictou 
Acad.,  N.  S. ;  taught  school,  1847-50;  Rector  Free 
Church  Academy  and  Instr.  Math.  Halifax  College, 
1850-56;  removed  to  New  York  City  and  entered  pub- 
lishing business,  1856;  publisher  of  the  Seaside 
Library,  The  New  York  Fireside  Companion,  etc. ; 
made  gifts  to  Dalhousie  College,  N.  S.,  and  estab- 
lished Professorships  ;  member  Council  of  N.  Y.  Univ., 
1887-96;  a  founder  of  Univ.  Heights,  and  benefactor; 
died  1896. 

GEORGE  MUNRO  was  born  in  the  County 
of  Pictou,  Nova  Scotia,  November  12, 
1825.  At  twelve  he  was  apprenticed  to  the  printer 
of  the  Pictou  Observer.  But  before  the  expiration 
of  two  years  he  determined  to  further  his  own 
education,  entering  the  New  Glasgow  School, 
studying  Latin,  Greek  and  ^Lathematics  with  great 
ardor  for  three  years,  then  taking  a  school  for  his 
support,  and  in  1844  entering  Pictou  Academy, 
which  later  became  Dalhousie  College,  and  out  of 
which    came  distinjruished  men    like    Sir  William 


Dawson,  the  famous  scientist.  After  1847  on 
completing  his  course  Mr.  Munro  taught  for  three 
years  in  the  schools  of  New  Glasgow  and  in  1850 
he  was  called  to  Halifax  as  Rector  of  the  Free 
Church  .Academy  and  Instructor  of  ^hlthematics 
in  the  College.  .\l  the  same  time  he  studied 
Theology.  In  1856  he  came  to  New  York,  served 
for  a  while  with  the  American  News  0)mpany,  then 
began  business  for  himself,  publishing  Munro's 
Ten  Cent  Novels,  an  enterprise  which  grew  into 
a  large  and  profitable  business.  In  1867,  Novem- 
ber 2,  he  ]iut  forward  The  New  York  Fireside 
C!onipanioii,  which  he  edited  from  the  beginning. 
In  1877  he  began  The  Seaside  Library  which 
brought  the  best  fiction  to  the  humblest  home,  but 
which  also  reproduced  works  of  literary  criticism, 
and  biography  and  hi.story,  including  the  Revised 
Version  of  the  New  Te.stament,  May  21,  1881, 
as  a  number  of  the  Seaside  Library,  in  parallel 
columns  with  the  St.  James's  version,  Tischendorf's 
introduction  and  an  account  of  the  Vatican,  the 
Alexandrian  and  the  Sinaitic  MSS.  In  time 
Mr.  Munro  became  a  millionaire.  But  in  the 
use  of  much  of  this  wealth  he  turned  with  benefi- 
cent affection  to  his  own  College,  Dalhousie, 
beginning  his  benefactions  in  1879  and  gradually 
founding  five  Professorships,  viz.,  tho.se  of  English 
Literature,  Hi.story,  Physics,  Metaphysics  and 
Constitutional  Law,  furthermore  he  established 
Tutorships  in  Classics  and  Mathematics  for  poor 
and  deserving  students,  a  benefaction  which  was 
manifestly  born  of  his  own  hard  struggles  for  a 
liberal  education.  Besides  these  permanent  bene- 
factions he  gave  annually  $22,000  to  Dalhousie 
College.  The  open  scholarships  which  he  offered 
for  competition  stimulated  greatly  the  high  schools 
and  academies  of  Nova  Scotia,  New  Brunswick, 
Prince  Edward  Island,  and  the  neighboring  prov- 
inces of  the  Dominion.  "He  always  exercised 
his  right  of  nominating.  As  to  his  Professorships 
he  always  exercised  his  right  of  nominating  Pro- 
fessors on  his  foundations,  and  in  every  instance 
his  nominations  proved  to  be  of  the  highest  and 
the  best  character,  and  were  not  only  confirmed  by 
the  Board  of  Governors  but  approved  by  the  press 
and  general  sentiment  of  the  country."  He  was  a 
member  of  the  Fifth  Avenue  Presbyterian  Church 
and  for  many  years  his  contributions  for  church 
work  of  various  kinds  far  exceeded  his  personal 
and  family  expenses  put  together.  He  was  the 
first  Chairman  (in  the  Council  of  New  York  Uni- 


98 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR    SONS 


versify)  in  charge  of  the  up-town  movement.  He 
died  of  a  sudden  stroke  of  heart-failure  on  April  23, 
1896,  on  his  estate  at  Pine  Kill,  Catskills,  while 
engaged  in  directing  its  fitting  up  for  the  coming 
summer,  not  far  from  the  summer  home  of  the  late 
Dr.  Crosby.  His  sons  continue  his  enterprises. 
His  oldest  daughter  is  the  wife  of  President  Schur- 
man  of  Cornell  University.  The  Council  of  New 
York  University  closes  its  memorial  minute  in  his 
honor  with  this  paragraph:  "  Lofty  in  purpose,  wise 
in  plans,  unsparing  in  labor,  generous  in  means, 
sincere,  unostentatious  and  kind,  he  has  made  his 
native  land  of  New  Scotland  and  his  adopted  city 
of  New  York  both  of  them  the  richer  for  his 
living."  E.  G.  s. 


HAVEMEYER,  William  Frederick,  1850- 

Member  of  Council  1891-  ,  Treasurer  1892- 

Born  in  New  York  City,  1850 ;  engaged  in  sugar 
refining  business  until  1889;  Vice-Pres.  Nat.  Bank  of 
No.  Amer.,  Queen's  County  Bank  and  the  Fort  Worth 
&  Rio  Grande  Railway;  member  Council  of  the  Univ. 
since  1891  ;  Treasurer  since  1892;  he  has  made  impor- 
tant gifts  to  the  Univ. 

WILLI.\M  PREDERICK  HAVt^ 
MEYER  was  born  in  New  York 
City,  March  31,  1850.  He  is  the  youngest  son 
of  William  F.  and  Sarah  Agnes  (Craig)  Have- 
meyer.  The  history  of  New  York  City  and  that 
of  the  Havemeyer  family  is  so  closely  interwoven 
that  they  cannot  well  be  separated.  William  F., 
the  father,  a  graduate  of  Columbia  College  in  1823, 
followed  his  father  in  the  sugar  refining  business 
for  some  years,  but  retired  from  active  participa- 
tion in  this  business  at  a  very  early  age  and 
devoted  himself  to  general  business  interests  and 
public  affairs.  His  business  interests  were  great, 
and  his  ability  in  them  of  a  preeminent  character. 
His  interests  in  the  affairs  of  his  native  city  and 
country  were  as  great,  and  he  devoted  much  of 
his  time  and  talents  to  them.  He  was  four  times 
nominated  for  Mayor  of  the  city  and  three  times 
elected:  in  1845,  1848  and  1871.  Hector  C. 
Havemeyer,  one  of  the  sons  of  William  F.,  Sr., 
was  a  practical  man  of  business.  He  engaged  in 
the  sugar  refining  business  at  an  early  age  and 
carried  it  on  to  the  date  of  his  death.  To  his 
ingenuity  is  due  much  of  the  modern  machinery 
now  in  use  in  that  business.  Upon  the  consolida- 
tion of  the  various  refineries,  this  branch  of  the 
family  gradually  withdrew  from   active    participa- 


tion in  the  business,  and  to-day  are  in  no  wise  con- 
nected with  it,  save  as  holders  of  small  portions  of 
the  stock.  Hector  C.  died  in  1889.  William  F., 
the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was  connected  with  the 
business  of  sugar  refining  in  various  capacities 
up  to  the  death  of  his  brother  Hector,  when  he 
withdrew,  and  has  later  devoted  his  energies  to 
general  business.  Devotion  to  business  and  the 
enhancement  of  fortune  are  common  enough  in 
this  country,  but  when  there  be  coupled  with 
these  traits  the  idea  of  Trusteeship, — that  position 
and  fortune  are  good  only  because  they  are  means 
to  the  ends  of  charity  and  benevolence ;  that  they 
are  good  for  the  way  they  bring  the  larger  enjoy- 


W.M.     K.     HAVKMEVER 

ments  of  encouraging  the  youth,  succoring  the 
lame  and  halt  and  bringing  comforts  to  the  needy 
—  then  are  the  devotion  to  business  and  the 
enhancement  of  fortune  made  noble.  A  man  of 
such  ideas  is  William  F.  Havemeyer.  Amid  the 
cares  of  business  he  has  ever  been  ready  to  lend 
a  willing  assistance  to  the  institutions  and  the 
individuals  whom  he  has  found  worthy  and  needy. 
Among  the  institutions  which  he  serves,  aside 
from  the  University,  are  the  Presbyterian  Hospital, 
the  Babies'  Hospital,  the  University  Place  Presby- 
terian Church  and  several  others.  In  his  private 
life    Mr.    Havemeyer   is    singularly    happy.     His 


UNIFERSrriES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


99 


education  was  a  private  one  and  early  developed 
in  him  many  of  the  tastes  which  characterize  him 
to-day,  —  a  love  of  home,  a  taste  for  the  arts,  a 
high  appreciation  of  books  and  a  zeal  for  acquir- 
ing knowledge.  He  was  married  in  the  spring  of 
1877  to  Josephine  L.  Harmon  and  their  home  has 
been  in  New  York  City  from  that  time.  He  has 
a  beautiful  country  home  on  Rumson  Road  near 
Seabright,  New  Jersey,  and  at  both  his  city  and 
country  homes,  surrounded  by  their  children  and 
friends,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Havemeyer  have  dispensed 
a  hospitality  and  an  influence  which  is  both 
delightful  and  beneficent.  Mrs.  Havemeyer's 
death  occurred  November  16,  1898.  The  l^ni- 
versity  has  grateful  cause  to  remember  Mrs.  Have- 
meyer, whose  charming  influence  was  exerted  in 
many  of  its  causes,  to  which  she  gave  of  her  time 
and  substance  in  abundance.  Mr.  Havemeyer's 
tastes  in  art  and  literature  have  led  to  his  acquir- 
ing an  excellent  and  well-stocked  gallery  of 
pictures,  while  his  library  is  rich  in  Americana. 
Probably  no  other  one  library  in  the  Tnited  States 
caa  vie  wuth  his  in  tlie  number  of  works  on 
American  history  prior  to  and  immediately  con- 
nected with  the  life  of  Washington.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  Metropolitan,  Century,  Grolier, 
Liederkranz  and  other  prominent  clubs.  In  his 
business  life  Mr.  Havemeyer  wields  an  important 
influence;  an  influence  commensurate  with  the 
various  interests  with  which  he  is  connected.  He 
is  the  Vice-President  of  the  National  Bank  of 
North  America  and  of  the  Queens  County  Bank. 
He  is  also  Vice-President  of  the  Fort  Worth  & 
Rio  Grande  Railway  and  is  on  the  Board  of 
Directors  of  various  other  important  business 
institutions.  Mr.  Havemeyer  has  been  an  impor- 
tant influence  in  the  University  ever  since  his 
connection  with  it.  He  has  been  its  Treasurer, 
serving  without  salary,  since  1892.  In  that  time 
the  University  has  grown  into  a  great  institution, 
practically  out  of  nothing.  This  has  involved 
much  hard  work  on  the  part  of  its  officers  and 
the  importance  of  the  work  done  by  Mr.  Have- 
meyer as  a  member  of  the  Committee  on  Finance, 
and  as  Treasurer,  cannot  be  overestimated.  The 
question  of  finance  in  the  various  movements  of 
the  institution  has  been  great.  It  was  through  his 
influence  that  the  University  was  able  to  find  a 
ready  sale,  without  the  necessary  broker's  charges, 
for  its  Washington  Square  Building  bonds.  And 
in    trving   times    of    stress  and  worrv  Mr.   Have- 


meyer has  more  than  once  pledged  his  own  per- 
sonal credit  for  the  University  and  has  thus  saved 
the  institution  much  in  the  way  of  interest  charges. 
Investing  safely  and  advantageously  the  funds  of 
any  institution  is  not  only  important,  but  exceed- 
ingly trying  and  difficult.  The  present  list  of 
securities  held  by  the  University  is  due  almost 
entirely  to  the  judgment  of  Mr.  Havemeyer,  and 
his  work  as  a  member  of  the  Finance  Committee 
deserves  the  highest  praise  from  the  institution. 
Not  content  with  serving  the  institution  as  he  has, 
devoting  his  time  and  money  without  recompense 
or  thought  of  his  own  position,  Mr.  Havemeyer 
has  been  a  most  generous  friend  to  the  University. 
In  1894  he  gave  to  the  University  the  Havemeyer 
Chemical  Laboratory',  in  memory  of  his  brother, 
Hector  C.  Havemeyer,  of  whom  mention  has  been 
made.  This  Laboratory  stands  in  the  quadrangle 
;U  luiiversity  Heights,  is  built  of  brick  corre- 
sponding to  the  other  new  and  permanent  build- 
ings, and  in  matter  of  size,  convenience,  and 
equipment  is  well  adapted  to  the  needs  of  the 
University  undergraduate  schools.  Added  to  this, 
Mr.  Havemeyer  has  given  at  intervals  many  valu- 
able books  to  the  Library,  the  character  and 
rarity  of  which  have  made  his  gifts  doubly 
acceptable.  e.  c.  s. 

MacCRACKEN,   Henry  Mitchell,   1840- 

Prof.  Philosophy   1884- ,  Vice-Chancellor  1885-91,  Chancellor  1891- 

Born  in  Oxford,  Ohio,  1840;  graduated  Miami  Univ., 
1857 ;  Instr.  Classics  Grove  Acad.,  Cedarville,  Ohio, 
1857-58;  Principal  of  Schools,  So.  Charleston,  Ohio, 
1858-60;  graduated  Princeton  Theol.  Sem.,  1863;  Pres- 
byterian clergyman,  Columbus,  Ohio,  1863-67;  studied 
in  Germany,  1867-68,  Pastor  First  Presbyterian  Church, 
Toledo,  0.,  1868-81  ;  Chancellor  and  Prof.  Phil.  West- 
ern Univ.  of  Pa.,  1881-84  ;  Prof.  Phil.  N.  Y.  Univ.  since 
1884;  Vice-Chancellor,  1885-91 ;  Chancellor  since  1891  ; 
D.  D.  Wittenberg  College,  1878;  LL.D.  Miami,  1887. 

HENRY  MITCHELL  M.xcCRACKEN, 
D.I).,  LL.D.,  was  born  in  Oxford,  Ohio, 
September  28,  1840,  son  of  Rev.  John  Steele  and 
Eliza  Hawkins  (Dougherty)  MacCracken.  The 
ancestors  of  Dr.  MacCracken  came  from  Scotland. 
Both  of  his  paternal  grandfathers  fought  in  the 
War  of  the  Revolution,  Henry  MacCracken  fall- 
ing in  leading  the  defence  of  a  post  in  the  Sus- 
quehanna Valley.  In  Miami  University,  Ohio, 
Dr.  MacCracken  graduated  in  1857  ;  Dr.  John  S. 
Billings  and  Mr.  Whitelaw  Reid  being  among  his 
fellow-students.     After  graduation  he  accepted  the 


lOO 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR   SONS 


position  of  Instructor  in  Classics  in  drove  Acad- 
emy, Cedarville,  Ohio.  In  1858  he  became 
Principal  of  Schools  in  South  Charleston,  Ohio, 
where  he  remained  until  i860.  In  that  year  he 
entered  the  United  Presbyterian  Theological  Sem- 
inary, Xenia.  Ohio,  where  he  spent  two  years, 
transferring  to  Princeton  Theological  Seminary  in 
1862  and  graduating  there  in  1863.  From  1863  to 
1867  he  was  minister  of  the  Westminster  Presby- 
terian Church  of  Columbus,  Ohio.  He  resigned 
this  post  in  1867  (having  been  instrumental  con- 
jointly with  others  in  founding  the  University  of 
Wooster,   Ohio),  in   order  to  pursue  philosophical 


HENRY    M.     MacCRACKEN 

and  theological  studies  in  Germany,  visiting  for 
this  purpose  Tubingen  and  Berlin.  On  return- 
ing, late  in  1868,  he  became  Pastor  of  the  First 
Presbyterian  Church  of  Toledo.  He  married 
Catlierine  Hubbard  of  Columbus.  His  four 
children,  Mary  Fay,  John  Henry,  George  Gere 
and  Henry  Noble  MacCracken,  were  born  during 
liis  residence  in  Toledo.  The  General  Assembly 
minutes  of  1870  credit  him  with  proposing  the 
Presbyterian  Tercentenary  movement  of  1872, 
which  led  to  wide  results.  Among  his  larger 
writings  produced  during  this  period  the  most 
noteworthy  is  Lives  of  the  Leaders  largely  from 
the  German.     He  remained  at  Toledo  until  1881, 


when  lie  was  chosen  to  the  Chancellorship  of  the 
Western  University  of  Pennsylvania,  at  Pittsburg, 
Pennsylvania.       During    his    pastorate    a    strong 
attachment  had  been  formed  between  Pastor  and 
people    and    the    tender   of    his    resignation    was 
received  with  deep  regret.     The  members  of  the 
church,  more  than  three  hundred  in   number,  in 
accepting    his    resignation    unanimously  voted    to 
allow  him  to  name  his  own  successor  and  in  the 
meantime  to  continue  to  act  as  their  Pastor,  which 
he  did  until  the  day  when  he  assisted  in  the  instal- 
lation as  their  Pastor  of  that  successor  whom  he 
had  chosen.     He  was  at  the  head  of  the  Western 
I'niversity  of    Pennsylvania   from   1881    to    1884, 
being    instrumental    in    removing  this   College   in 
1882  from  Pittsburg  to  Allegheny  and  in  placing 
it   upon   a  more  hopeful  foundation.     On   July  4, 
1884  he  gave  the  historical  address  at  the  Scotch- 
Irish  Reunion  at  Belfast,  Ireland.     In  this  year, 
he  was  called  to  the  Chair  of  Philosophy  in  New 
York   University    to    succeed    Dr.   B.    N.   Martin, 
deceased,    soon    becoming    Vice-Chancellor     and 
Fxecutive  Officer  and  in   1891   Chancellor.     ']"he 
history  of  New  York  University  since   1884  is  so 
largely  interwoven  with    the    strongest    efforts  of 
Dr.    MacCracken's    life    that  we    must    refer   the 
reader    to    the    seventh-twelfth    chapters    of    the 
History  of  New  York  University.     Laudation  of 
the  living  cannot  to  any  great  extent  be  the  func- 
tion of  the  historian,  but  no  fair-minded  student  of 
its  history,  and  no  alumnus  of  New  York  Ihiiver- 
sity  can  withhold  from  the   sixth  Chancellor  (he 
fullest  recognition  of  services  w^hich  can  only  be 
measured  in  their  proportionate  value  and  critical 
importance  by  a  study  of  the  entire  seventy  years 
of  the  history  of  the  foundation  from  1830  to  1900. 
We  are  largely  writing  for  those  who  are  to  come 
after    us    and    therefore   a   brief   sketch   of   some 
salient  points  and  essential  elements  in  the  char- 
acter of  the  sixth  Chancellor  must  not  be  entirely 
omitted  in  this  place,     Like  all  men  endowed  with 
the  genius  of  executive  faculty  he  is  to  an  uncom- 
mon degree  master  of  himself,  and  possesses  the 
moral  faculty  of  subordinating  personal  prejudice 
and  emotion  in  dealing  with  things,  and  also  in 
dealing  with  men  ;  abstaining  from  the  foisting  of 
personal  convictions  or  views  into  the  details  and 
mechanisms  of  didactic  and  administrative   func- 
tions entrusted  to  others.     He  is  keenly  alive  to 
the  power  of  personality  and  the  trend  of  aspira- 
tion   in    others ;    his    discriminating   judgment    is 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    IIIEIK    SONS 


loi 


fxpendcd  on  tlie  choice  of  acadeniic  teachers  and 
tlie  ()i<j;anizinjj  and  stimulating^  of  their  activities 
witii  a  niininuini  of  interposition  on  his  ])art  in 
work  actually  connnitted  to  them,  \\liile  I'ndowcd 
with  strong  personal  convictions  he  is  in  action 
emancipated  to  a  rare  dcfjree  from  what  we  may 
call  emotional  prejudice.  I  lis  persistence  and  en- 
durance is  one  of  his  strongest  traits.  Endowed 
and  specially  trained  ciuickly  to  recognize  tiie  es- 
sential point  in  men  and  things  he  is  really  con- 
servative when  he  appears  bold,  and  in  calculating 
that  wiiicli  is  reall\'  sequential  and  seeing  far 
beyond  the  obvious  and  immediate  by  present 
elements  of  things  he  is  ciualified  to  lead  in  an 
uncommon  degree.  Exacting  of  his  own  powers 
to  the  limit  of  the  same  he  works  harder  than 
any  other  man  in  the  administration,  and  no 
detail  is  too  insignificant  for  his  forceful  and 
])rogressive  judgment.  His  written  thoughts  are 
more  effective  than  his  spoken  utterances,  yet 
these  when  appearing  in  print,  gain  on  their  first 
effect,  because  their  matured  character  in  point 
of  clearness  forces  assent  the  more  they  are 
considered.  e.  g.  s. 

LOOMIS,  Alfred   Lebbeus,   1831-1895. 

Adjunct  Prof.  Practice  of  Medicine  1864-66,  Prof.,  1866-95. 
Born  in  Bennington,  Vt.,  1831  ;  graduated  Union 
College,  1851 ;  M.D.,  N.  Y.  College  Phys.  and  Surg., 
1853  ;  hospital  work,  1853-55  !  entered  practice  in  New 
York  City ;  Lee.  Physical  Diagnosis  College  Phys. 
and  Surg.,  1862;  Adjunct  Prof.  Practice  of  Medicine 
N.  Y.  Univ.,  1864-66;    Prof.,  1866-96;   died  1895. 

ALFRED  LEBBEUS  LOOMIS,  M.D.,  was 
born  in  Bennington,  Vermont,  in  1831. 
His  parents  and  all  his  immediate  relatives  died 
of  ]5ulmonary  troubles,  and  young  Loomis  at  an 
early  age  suffered  from  the  symptoms  of  similar 
complaints.  He  graduated  at  I'nion  College  in 
185  I .  gained  the  degree  of  Medicinae  Doctor  at  the 
C!ollege  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  in  New  A'ork 
City  in  1853,  then  served  two  years  as  Interne, 
and  then  began  his  jjrofessional  career,  thrown 
entirely  upon  his  own  resources.  He  had  a  defi- 
nite purpose  to  inspire  him.  an  alert  intelligence 
to  guide,  a  tireless  activity  to  execute,  a  will  that 
never  wavered,  and  a  kindly,  generous  heart  — 
such  were  the  factors  which  brought  success.  As 
one  of  his  early  contemporaries  said  after  1  )r. 
Loomis's  death :  "  Loomis  was  from  the  first 
looked  upon  as  a  man  of  great  promise,  and  he 
was  successful  from  the  start.     He  was  alwavs  at 


work,  always  energetic,  and  his  energy  was  emi- 
nently practical."  He  .soon  took  up  as  a  sphere 
of  his  own  the  treatment  of  diseases  of  tlie  <  liest. 
Before  he  was  thirty  he  gathered  around  iiini  a 
large  private  class  of  students  and  in  1862  at 
tiiirty-one  he  was  appointed  Lecturer  upon  Physi- 
cal Diagnosis  in  the  College  of  Physicians  and 
Surgeons.  His  health  now  gave  way  and  he 
spent  half  a  year  in  the  heart  of  tlie  Adirondacks 
and  regained  his  health.  Thenceforward  he  spent 
two  months  of  every  year  in  that  region.  In  1864 
he  entered  the  Medical  Faculty  of  New  York 
I'niversity  as  Adjunct  Profes.sor,  and  in  1866  on 
the  retirement  of  Dr.  Metcalfe  he  succeeded  to  the 
full  Chair  of  the  Practice  of  Medicine.  It  was 
after  the  fire  of  May  1866,  when  the  fortunes  of 
the  school  were  at  a  low  ebb.  The  steady  rise 
of  the  school  thereafter  was  largely  due  to  the 
incessant  energy  of  Dr.  Loomis,  crowned  by  the 
endowment  of  the  Loomis  Laboratory  when 
the  school  became  an  integral  part  of  the  Uni- 
versity, free  of  any  proprietary  interest  vesting  in 
its  Faculty.  Under  his  advice  the  administration 
of  Bellevue  Hospital  and  of  the  Charity  Hospital 
was  vastly  improved,  e.g.  in  groimds  and  build- 
ings, in  the  introduction  of  trained  nursing  and 
improved  methods,  in  the  equalization  of  repre- 
sentation on  the  staff  and  in  methods  which  did 
away  with  the  unseemly  .strife  for  place.  He 
established  a  sanitarium  for  consumptives  at 
Saranac  in  the  Adirondacks  and  began  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  hospital  for  consimipti\es  at  Liberty, 
.Sullivan  county,  New  \'ork,  the  main  building  of 
which  was  secured  after  his  death  by  a  gift  of 
j;6o,ooo  given  by  J.  P.  Morgan  to  be  known  as 
Loomis  Memorial  Hospital.  He  was  elected  to 
the  Presidency  of  every  society  of  which  he  was 
a  member,  e.g.,  the  State  Society,  the  Academy  of 
Medicine,  the  Association  of  American  Physicians, 
and  the  Third  Congress  of  American  Physicians 
and  Surgeons  in  1894.  It  was  largely  due  to  his 
energ}',  aided  by  large  gifts  from  ^[rs.  Hosack 
and  from  Mrs.  W'oerishoffer,  that  the  fine  building 
of  the  Academy  of  Medicine  was  erected.  He  left 
in  his  will  a  fund  to  permanently  provide  for  social 
reunions  of  the  Academy.  The  affection  and  con- 
fidence of  his  patients  was  given  to  Dr.  Loomis  in 
an  uncommon  degree,  and  this  influence  —  as 
the  clientele  itself  —  was  national.  Not  less  than 
three  thousand  physicians  were  trained  by  Dr. 
Loomis.     Of    his    own  work    Dr.   Loomis    said   in 


I02 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR  SONS 


February  1891,  at  sixty:  '"It  is  not  because  I 
have  received  money  from  it  that  1  liave  taught 
in  the  University  for  twenty-five  years ;  I  have 
not  received  pay  enough  that  any  one  of  you 
would  work  six  months  for,  for  the  whole  time  — 
I  have  given  almost  as  much  as  I  have  received 
for  it;  but  it  is  because  I  am  interested  in  the 
University,  and  I  want  you  to  be  interested  in  it." 
During  the  last  four  years  of  his  life  he  gave 
freely  of  his  means  and  time  in  the  movement  to 
acquire  University  Heights  and  particularly  in  the 
construction  of  Language  Hall.  He  died  of  pneu- 
monia January  23,  1895.  ^-  ^-  ^• 
[See  portrait,  page  135,  Part  I.] 


ternity.  Beta  Phi  Chapter,  having  been  President 
of  the  Council  in  1887.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
American  Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Sci- 
ence, of  the  New  York  Academy  of  Medicine,  and 


MUNN,  John  Pixley,  1847- 

Member  Council,  1892-igoo. 
Born  in  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  1847;  graduated  Univ. 
of  Rochester,  1870;  M.D.  Bellevue  Hosp.  Med.  Col- 
lege, 1876;  Practicing  Physician  in  New  York  City; 
Consulting  Surgeon  Randall's  Is.  Hosp.  ;  Member 
Univ.  Council,  1892-1900. 

JOHN  PIXLEY  MUNN,  M.D.,  is  a  son  of  Dr. 
Kdwin  G.  Munn,  who  was  a  native  of  Le  Roy, 
New  York,  where  he  was  born  in  1806,  and  who 
practiced  at  Rochester,  New  York,  the  profession 
of  an  oculist  and  attained,  mainly  by  ingenuity  and 
close  observation,  profound  skill  and  success  in 
the  most  difficult  and  delicate  operations  incident 
to  that  branch  of  the  medical  art,  being  in  fact  tlie 
pioneer  oculist  of  that  entire  section,  with  a  clien- 
tele in  widely  distant  parts  of  the  country.  Dr. 
E.  G.  Munn  was  married  to  Aristine  Pixley,  whom 
he  left  a  widow  in  1848.  Their  son,  John  Pixley 
Munn,  was  then  one  year  old.  He  graduated 
Bachelor  of  Arts  at  the  University  of  Rochester 
in  1870,  then  under  the  Presidency  of  that  eminent 
educator  Martin  B.Anderson.  In  1876  he  gradu- 
ated at  Bellevue,  and  ever  since  he  has  practiced 
his  profession  in  New  York  City.  He  has  been 
Visiting  Surgeon  to  the  Randall's  Island  Hospital, 
where  he  is  still  Consulting  Surgeon.  He  was  a 
Curator  of  St.  Luke's  Hospital  1879-1892.  Dr. 
Munn  became  Medical  Director  of  the  United 
States  Life  Insurance  Company  of  New  York  in 
1883.  Some  of  the  observations  which  he  had 
gained  in  this  line  of  work  he  published  in  a 
treatise  entitled  Albuminaria  in  Persons  Appar- 
ently Healthy  (Medical  Record,  1878,  1879  and 
1880).  He  was  married  April  21,  1881,  to  Martha 
Buell  Plum.     He  is  a  member  of  the  D  K  E  Fra- 


JOHN    p.   MUNN 

of  the  New  \'()rk  County  Medical  Society.  In 
1892  Dr.  Munn  entered  the  Council  of  New  York 
University,  and  his  active  and  consistent  devotion 
to  its  best  interests  has  been  amply  proven  since 
that  time.  e.  g.  s. 


FLINT,  Charles  Ranlett,  1850- 

Member  Council,  1892- 
Born  in  Thomaston,  Me.,  1850;  graduated  Brook- 
lyn Polytechnic  Institute,  1868;  has  followed  general 
commission  business,  dealing  extensively  in  South 
American  products ;  Consul  of  Chili  in  New  York 
City,  1875;  Consul  of  Nicaragua,  1884;  Consul-Gen- 
eral  of  Costa  Rica ;  delegate  to  Internat.  Conference 
of  Amer.  Republics,  1889-90 ;  assisted  in  negotiating 
reciprocity  treaty  with  Brazil ;  participated  in  the  Da 
Gama  rebellion  of  Brazil;  member  of  Council  N.  Y. 
Univ.  since  1892. 

CHARLES  RANLETT  FLINT  was  born 
in  Thomaston,  Maine,  January  24,  1850, 
son  of  Benjamin  and  Sarah  (Tobey)  Flint.  He  is 
descended  from  Thomas  P'lint  who  came  from 
Wales  in  1642  and  settled  in  the  Village  of  Salem, 
now  South  Danvers,  Massachusetts.  His  father, 
Benjamin   Flint,  was  a  ship-owner  who  lived  and 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


103 


built  Ills  vessels  in  Thomaston  during  tlie  early 
part  of  iiis  life,  and  in  1858  removed  to  New  York 
City.  Charles  R.  Flint  received  early  education 
in  the  public  schools  of  Thomaston  and  Brooklyn, 
New  York,  and  at  the  private  school  of  Warren 
Johnson  in  Topsham,  Maine,  and  graduated  in 
1868  from  the  Polytechnic  Institute  of  Brooklyn, 
New  York.  He  was  there  President  of  his  class, 
and  was  elected  President  of  the  Alumni  Associa- 
tion. He  began  his  business  career  in  New  York 
City  as  a  dock  clerk,  and  in   187  i  he  was  ready  to 


CHARLES    R.    FLINT 

take  a  principal  part  in  business  as  a  member 
of  the  firm  of  Gilchrist.  Flint  &  Company,  shii> 
chandlers.  One  year  later  he  helped  to  form  the 
firm  of  William  R.  Grace  &  Company,  and  in  1876, 
having  visited  the  countries  of  South  America,  he 
organized  the  firm  of  Grace  Brothers  &:  Company 
in  the  City  of  Callao,  Peru.  In  1875  he  was 
appointed  Consul  of  Chili  in  New  York  City. 
His  business  prosperity  continued  to  advance  and 
he  became  active  in  many  important  enterprises, 
including  the  Export  Lumber  Company  and  the 
United  States  Electric  Lighting  Company.  He 
continued  to  visit  South  America,  chiefly  in  the 
interest  of  the  large  rubber  business  which  he  con- 
ducted on  the  Amazon,  and  in  1884  he  received 
the   appointment  as  Consul  for  Nicaragua,  repre- 


senting that  country  in  the  negotiations  relating  to 
the  building  of  the  canal.  Mr.  Flint  has  also  been 
in  recent  years  the  Consul-General  of  Costa  Rica 
in  this  country.  \n  1885  he  retired  from  the  firm 
of  W.  R.  Grace  &  Company  to  become  a  partner 
with  his  father  and  his  brother,  Wallace  B.  Flint, 
in  the  firm  of  I'lint  iS:  ("ompany,  which  became 
most  successful  in  the  lumber,  rubber  and  general 
commission  business  and  engaged  extensively  in 
the  importation  of  South  American  ])roducts.  In 
1895  Mr.  I'lint  Ijrought  about  tlu-  consolidation 
of  the  e-xport  department  of  his  firm  with  the 
Coombs,  Crosby  &  Eddy  Company,  under  the 
corporate  name  of  Flint,  Eddy  eV  Compay.  This 
concern  is  to-day  the  largest  house  in  the  United 
States  engaged  in  the  purchase  of  American  manu- 
factured goods  for  export.  In  1896  the  firm  of 
I'lint  &  Company,  which  had  continued  in  a 
general  banking  and  ship]5ing  business,  estab- 
lished the  Flint  &  Company  I'acific  Coast  Cli])per 
Line  between  New  York  and  San  Francisco.  In 
189 1  Mr.  Flint  united  the  manufacturers  of  rubber 
boots  and  shoes  in  this  country  into  one  large 
concern  —  the  United  States  Rubber  Company, 
capitalized  at  $40,000,000,  and  became  its  Treas- 
urer. He  was  also  instrumental  in  1892  in  form- 
ing the  Mechanical  Rubber  Company,  of  which 
he  became  a  Director.  In  public  life  Mr.  Flint 
has  rendered  notable  service  to  the  country  in 
several  offices.  In  1889-1890  he  was  a  delegate 
of  the  United  States  to  the  International  Confer- 
ence of  American  Republics,  and  it  was  through 
his  suggestion,  while  serving  as  a  member  of  the 
Committee  on  Banking,  that  the  proposition  of 
an  International  American  Bank  was  brought 
before  Congress.  Later  he  served  as  the  con- 
fidential agent  of  the  L'^nited  States  in  negotiating 
the  reciprocity  treaty  with  Brazil.  During  the 
Da  Gama  rebellion  in  Brazil  he  became  the  agent 
of  President  Pie.xoto,  and  in  that  capacity  dis- 
played great  energj'  and  executive  power  in  meet- 
ing the  crises  of  that  time.  A  fleet  of  six  vessels, 
including  two  torpedo  boats,  two  converted  yachts 
and  two  armed  steamers,  was  equipped  and  organ- 
ized into  an  effective  navy  through  Mr.  Flint's 
efforts,  and  arrived  in  time  to  strengthen  the 
Republicans  sufficiently  to  bring  about  the  defeat 
of  the  Monarchists.  Mr.  Flint,  in  addition  to  the 
business  connections  already  noted,  is  a  Director 
of  the  National  Bank  of  the  Republic,  the  .State 
Trust  Company,  the    Knickerbocker   Trust   Com- 


I04 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


pany  and  the  Produce  Exchange  Bank ;  he  is  also 
Treasurer  of  the  Hastings  Pavement  Company 
and  the  Manaas  Electric  Lighting  Company,  and 
was  Chairman  of  the  Reorganization  Committee 
which  consolidated  the  street  railroads  of  Syracuse 
under  the  name  of  The  Syracuse  Rapid  Transit 
Railroad  Company.  He  has  been  since  1892  one 
of  the  Council  of  New  York  University.  He  is  an 
enthusiastic  advocate  of  athletic  sports  and  recrea- 
tions and  has  been  for  several  years  well  known 
for  his  gaming,  fishing  and  yachting;  the  yacht 
Gracie,  which  he  formerly  owned  is  said  to  have 
taken  more  prizes  than  any  other  American  boat. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  Union,  Century,  Riding, 
Metropolitan,  New  York  Yacht,  Seawanhaka 
Yacht,  Larchmont  Yacht  and  South  Side  Sports- 
man's clubs,  and  the  New  England  Society.  Mr. 
PMint  was  married  in  1883  to  E.  Kate,  daughter 
of  Joseph  F.  Simmons  of  Troy,  New  York.       * 


JOHNSON,   Willis  Fletcher,   1857- 

Member  Council,  1898- 
Born  in  New  York  City,  1857 ;  prepared  for  College 
at  Pennington  Seminary,  N.  J.;  entered  Univ.  of  City 
of  New  York  with  the  Class  of  1879  ;  left  the  University 
before  graduating  and  engaged  in  teaching,  lecturing 
and  business  pursuits  ;  joined  Editorial  Staff  of  New 
York  Tribune  in  1880,  and  still  a  member  thereof; 
Lecturer  at  Pennington  Seminary,  Pennington,  N.  J., 
the  Priscilla  Braislin  School,  Bordentown,  N.J.,  ^nd 
other  institutions  ;  since  1893  a  Trustee  of  Pennington 
Seminary  and  of  the  Priscilla  Braislin  School ;  member 
of  Council  N.Y.  Univ.  since  1898;  M.A.,  Dickinson 
College,  1891  ;  Litt.  M.,  N.  Y.,  Univ.,  1895;  L.H.D., 
Dickinson,  igoi. 

WITJJS  FLETCHER  JOHNSON,  Jour- 
nalist and  Educator,  was  born  in  Vestry 
Street,  New  York  City,  then  the  fashionable  St. 
John's  Park  neighborhood,  on  October  7,  1857, 
being  the  fourth  and  youngest  child  of  his  parents. 
His  father  was  V\^illiam  Johnson,  a  native  of  Kings- 
ton-on-Hull,  England,  and  descendant  of  a  kinsman 
of  Samuel  Johnson,  the  illustrious  lexicographer ; 
he  came  to  this  country  in  183 1  and  pursued  the 
vocation  of  an  architect  and  builder  while  also 
leading  the  life  of  a  man  of  letters  and  a  philan- 
thropist. His  mother,  whose  maiden  name  was 
Alathea  Augusta  Coles,  was  a  native  of  Long 
Island,  New  York,  and  a  descendant  of  the  Coles, 
Fletchers  and  other  families  well  known  among 
the  founders  of  the  New  England  States.  In  the 
winter  of  1 857-1858  the  family  removed  to  a  large 


estate  at  New  Providence,  New  Jersey,  and  there  the 
boyhood  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch  was  spent. 
His  first  teacher  was  his  father,  a  man  of  rare 
intellectual  attainments  and  literary  tastes,  and  his 
first  schoolroom  that  father's  well-stocked  library. 
In  those  early  years  he  lived  in  so  close  a  com- 
munion with  nature  as  to  become  an  ardent  lover 
and  close  student  of  her  varying  phases,  and  built 
up  a  sound  body  to  be  the  dwelling-place  of  a 
sound  mind.  He  was  thus  already  well  versed  in 
the  Sciences,  History  and  General  Literature 
when,  in  1872,  he  went  for  a  short  term  to  the 
Ladd   School   in   Summit,   New    Jersey.     Next   he 


Wll.l.IS    FLETCHKR    JOHNSON 

went  to  Pennington  Seminary,  Pennington,  New 
Jersey,  and  there  took  both  the  classical  and 
scientific  courses,  doing  five  years'  work  in  two, 
and  graduating  with  honors  in  1875.  That  fall 
he  entered  the  University  of  the  City  of  New 
York,  as  New  York  Uni\-ersity  was  then  called, 
as  a  member  of  the  Class  of  1879,  College  of  Arts 
and  Letters.  He  was  at  once  elected  President 
of  his  class,  and  a  member  of  the  Philomathean 
Society  and  of  the  Psi  U^psilon  Fraternity.  In 
the  University  he  was  distinguished,  as  he  had 
been  at  school,  for  his  ability  in  English  Com- 
position and  Oratory,  and  his  proficiency  in 
Logic,   Rhetoric,  Philosophy,  History  and  similar 


UNII  EKsrriES    AND    TUEIR    SONS 


105 


biaiH  Ik's  of  Icuning.  Allcr  two  years,  h()\vc\cr, 
liis  iKallh  became  temporarily  impaired  and  lie 
was  compelled  to  li'a\e  liie  Ihiiversity,  which 
circumstances  unfortunately  prevented  him  from 
reentering  as  a  student.  He  then  engaged  for  a 
time  in  sciiool  teaching  in  'I'uckerton,  New  Jersey, 
and  in  the  delivery  of  lectures  and  addresses  on 
\arious  topics.  lie  began  writing  for  the  peri- 
odical press,  both  editorial  matter  and  miscellany 
in  prose  and  verse,  and  essayed  several  lines  of 
business.  M  last,  in  the  summer  of  1S80  he 
became  a  member  of  the  editorial  stafY  of  the  New 
York  Tribune,  and  thus  entered  upon  what  was  to 
be  one  of  the  chief  works  of  his  life.  For  seven 
years  he  was  Assistant  Day  Editor,  and  then,  for 
seven  \-ears  more.  Day  Editor.  In  this  place 
much  of  the  active  management  of  the  paper 
devolved  upon  him,  especially  the  direction  of 
correspondents,  the  acceptance  or  rejection  of 
contributions,  etc.  In  addition  to  the  routine 
duties  of  the  place  he  found  time  for  some  edito- 
rial writing,  book-reviewing,  etc.  In  1894  he 
became  one  of  the  principal  editorial  writers, 
devoting  all  his  attention  to  that  work,  and  in 
that  place  he  still  remains.  He  has  made  a 
specialty  of  discussing  the  foreign  relations  of 
this  country,  the  politics  and  diplomacy  of  foreign 
lands,  and  questions  pertaining  to  social  and 
industrial  reform,  but  has  also  written  much  on 
nearly  all  topics  of  current  interest.  In  addition 
to  his  editorial  work,  Dr.  Johnson  has  maintained 
an  unfailing  interest  in  schools  and  colleges  and 
educational  affairs  in  general.  He  has  been  heard 
as  a  lecturer  at  New  York  University,  Wesleyan 
I'niversity,  Dickinson  College  and  numerous  semi- 
naries, Chautauqua  Assemblies,  etc.  He  was  for 
some  years  a  regular  staff  lecturer  at  the  Law- 
renceville  School,  Lawrenceville,  New  Jersey,  the 
Bordentown  Military  Institute,  Bordentown,  New 
Jersey,  and  the  Tome  Institute,  Port  Deposit, 
Maryland,  and  still  sustains  that  relation  to, the 
Pennington  Seminary,  Pennington,  New  Jersey, 
and  the  Priscilla  Braislin  School,  Bordentown, 
New  Jersey.  He  has  been  since  1893,  on  request 
of  the  organized  alumni,  a  Trustee  of  Pennington 
Seminary,  and  also  a  Trustee  of  the  Priscilla 
Braislin  School.  In  1898  he  was  unanimously 
elected  a  member  of  the  Council  of  New  York 
University.  He  has  written  and  edited  a  number 
of  books,  and  was  a  contributor  to  the  latest 
edition    of    Johnson's     I'niversal  Cyclopedia.     In 


the  preiKiration  of  the  New  "\'ork  University  vol- 
umes of  Umvkksitiks  and  iiiKiR  Sons  Dr. 
John.son  has  acted  as  editor  in  charge  of  the 
biographical  sketches  of  officers  and  alumni.  His 
services  to  the  cause  of  education  and  his  literary 
and  journalistic  work  have  received  recognition  in 
the  form  of  academic  degrees,  Dickinson  College 
having  given  him  that  of  Master  of  Arts  in  1891, 
New  York  University  that  of  Master  of  Letters 
in  1895,  and  Dickinson  that  of  Doctor  of  Human- 
ities (L.H.D.)  in  1901.  He  was  married  in  1878, 
in  Tuckerton,  New  Jersey,  to  Sue  Rockhill,  and 
since  that  date  has  made  his  home  in  Brooklyn, 
New  York.  * 


McALPIN,  David 'Hunter,  1816   1901. 

Benefactor;  Member  01  Council,  1898  1901, 

Born  in  Pleasant  Valley,  N.  Y.,  i8i5;  engaged  in 
tobacco  business  in  New  York  City  at  an  early  age; 
has  made  important  gifts  to  the  University;  one  of  the 
founders  of  University  Heights;  died  1901. 

DAVID  HUNTER  McALPIN  was  born  in 
Pleasant  Valley,  New  York  State,  in 
1816.  His  ancestors  came  to  America  from  the 
north  of  Ireland  in  181 1,  and  settled  in  Pleasant 
Valley,  Dutchess  county.  New  York.  Unaided 
and  alone  he  had  to  battle  in  the  earlier  part  of 
life,  his  indomitable  energy  supplying  the  oppor- 
tunities afforded  to  others  by  an  elaborate  system 
of  education.  At  an  early  age  he  came  to  New 
Y'ork  City  and  found  employment  with  Mr. 
Hughes,  a  dealer  in  cigars  on  Catherine  Street, 
at  a  time  when  this  business  street  enjoyed  a 
vogue  excelled  by  no  other  one  in  the  city. 
Having  secured  Mr.  Hughes's  share  in  the  busi- 
ness by  purchase,  Mr.  McAlpin  associated  him- 
self with  Mr.  Cornish,  a  tobacco  manufacturer 
on  Avenue  D,  a  thoroughfare  where  the  vast 
business  is  still  located.  Mr.  Cornish  was  bought 
out  by  Mr.  McAlpin  who  speedily  began  to 
introduce  into  the  New  York  manufactory  the  use 
of  the  best  Virginia  tobacco.  On  Avenue  D  the 
business  was  extended  in  1868  so  as  to  take  in 
two  entire  blocks.  Mr.  McAlpin  was  a  Director 
and  official  in  very  many  of  the  foremost  financial 
corporations  of  New  York  City,  and  his  acquisi- 
tions in  the  line  of  real  estate  have  proved  his 
sagacious  judgment.  By  his  first  wife,  who  was 
Frances  Adelaide  Rose.  Mr.  McAlpin  had  ten 
children,  of  whom  nine  were  sons.  The  vast  sums 
expended  for  labor  in  his  enterprises  constituted 


I  06 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


Mr.  McAlpin  one  of  the  most  noteworthy  sources 
of  the  prosperity  of  New  York  City.  Mr.  McAlpin 
was  a  devoted  member  of  his  church,  and  also 
a  generous  friend  of  New  York  University,  a 
founder  of  Universitj'  Heights,  and  a  member  of 
the  Council  from  1898  to  1901.  He  died  February 
8,  1901.  E.  G.  s. 


ALLEN,  Jerome,   1830-1894. 

Professor  Pedagogy  1387-1894,  Professor  Emeritus  1894. 
Born  in  Westminster,  Vt..  1830;  attended  Kimball 
Union  Acad.,  N.  H. ;  graduated  Amherst,  1851  ;  Prin- 
cipal Maquoketa  (la.)  Acad.,  1853-55;  taught  in  Alex- 
ander College,  Dubuque,  la.,  1855-59;  Principal  Brown 
Collegiate  Inst.,  Hopkinton,  la.,  1859-67;  Supt.  Schools, 
Monticello,  la.,  1867-70;  Prof.  Nat.  Sciences  State  Nor- 
mal School,  Geneseo,  N.  Y.,  1873-81  ;  Pres.  State  Nor- 
mal School,  St.  Cloud,  Minn.,  1881-84;  Prof.  Pedagogy 
in  the  University,  1887-94;  Prof.  Emeritus,  1894;  Ph.D., 
Lenox  College,  1886;  died  1894. 

JKROME  .\LLKN.  Ph.D.,  was  born  at  West- 
minster, Vermont,  July  17,  1830.  He  pre- 
pared for  College  at  Kimball  Union  Academy, 
Meriden,  New  Hampshire.  He  taught  his  first  dis- 
trict school  at  seventeen  in  \'ermonl,  many  of  his 
pupils  being  older  and  larger  than  him.self,  and  the 
selectmen  pronounced  that  winter's  school  the  be.st 
one  ever  taught  in  the  district.  He  was  gradu- 
ated from  Amher.st  in  185 1.  From  1853  to  1855 
he  took  charge  of  the  academy  at  Maquoketa, 
Iowa.  From  1855  to  1859  he  taught  Natural 
Sciences  in  Alexander  College,  Dubuque.  Then 
he  became  Princi])al  of  ]5rown  Collegiate  Institute 
at  Hopkinton.  and  also  Pastor  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church  there.  'I'his  Collegiate  Institute  was 
adopted  by  the  Presbyterian  S\nod  of  Iowa  in 
1 86 1  as  Leno.x  College,  Jerome  Allen  becoming 
President  and  sending  many  recruits  to  the  front 
during  the  civil  war.  In  1886  he  received  the 
degree  of  Doctor  of  Philosophy  from  Lenox.  In 
1867  his  health  compelled  him  to  relinquish  this 
post.  Then  he  became  Superintendent  of  Schools 
at  Monticello,  Iowa,  organizing  many  of  the  first 
Teachers'  Institutes  held  in  the  state.  Then  he 
went  to  New  York,  where  he  assisted  in  revising 
Monteith's  Geographical  Series,  incorporating  in  it 
his  system  of  map  drawing.  He  also  prepared  and 
published  his  methods  for  teachers  in  Grammar. 
After  two  years  of  such  work,  and  three  more 
largely  spent  in  conducting  Institutes,  he  became 
Professor  of  Natural  Sciences  at  the  State  Normal 
School,  Geneseo,  New  York,  publishing  a  manual 


of  Chemistr}-.  This  post  he  held  eight  years,  when 
he  accepted  the  Presidency  of  the  State  Normal 
School,  St.  Cloud,  Minnesota.  Here  he  remained 
three  years,  when  his  wife's  health  compelled  him 
to  relinquish  this  charge.  He  removed  to  New 
York  and  became  Assistant  Editor  of  the  School 
Journal.  In  1887  he  was  elected  Professor  of 
Pedagogy  in  New  York  Universit}-,  and  on  March 
30,  1890,  the  Council  established  the  School  of 
Pedagog}-,  of  which  Professor  Allen  became  Dean. 
In  1892  he  visited  Europe  to  gain  professional 
inspiration  as  well  as  to  find  improvement  of  his 
health  if  possible.  In  the  fall  of  1893  a  severe 
illness  compelled  him  to  abandon  active  academ- 
ical work,  and  in  March  1894,  he  was  made  Pro- 
fessor Emeritus  of  Pedagog)-.  He  died  at  his 
home  in  Brooklyn,  May  26,  1894.  \Ahile  younger 
powers  and  forces  more  technically  trained  took 
up  his  work,  Jerome  Allen  deserves  an  honorable 
place  as  the  pioneer  in  this  field  at  New  York 
University.  He  had  a  large  and  philosophical 
conception  on  the  formation  of  powers  and  char- 
acter, and  a  wide  \iew  of  the  modeling  and  influ- 
encing factors  in  that  process.  E.  g.  s. 


MORRO^V,    Prince    A.,    1846- 

Professor  Genito-Urinary  Diseases,  1884- 
Born  in  Mount  Vernon,  Ky.,  1846;  received  degree 
of  A.B.  from  Cumberland  College,  Ky.,  graduated 
Univ.  Med.  College,  1873;  studied  in  Europe;  Clinical 
Lee.  Dermatology  at  the  University,  1882;  Clinical 
Professor  Genito-Urinary  Diseases,  1884-98;  Prof 
smce  1898;  honorary  A.M.,  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1883;  author 
of  important  medical  writings. 

PRINCE  A.  MORROW,  M.I).,  was  born  at 
Mount  \'ernon.  Christian  county,  Ken- 
tucky, December  19,  1846.  His  father.  (leneral 
William  Morrow,  was  a  prominent  politician  and 
planter.  His  mother.  Mary  (Cox)  Morrow,  was 
a  descendant  of  a  Virginia  family  who  were 
among  the  earliest  settlers  of  Southern  Ken- 
tucky. Dr.  Morrow  received  his  literary  educa- 
tion in  Cumberland  Cf)llege,  Kentucky.  The 
degree  of  Master  of  Arts  was  conferred  upon 
him  by  the  l^niversity  of  the  City  of  New 
York  in  1883.  He  .studied  medicine  in  the  Uni- 
versity Medical  College  and  was  graduated  in 
1873.  He  also  studied  in  the  Ecole  de  Medecine, 
Paris,  and  spent  fifteen  months  in  the  hospitals 
and  medical  schools  of  London,  Paris,  Berlin  and 
Vienna.     He  was  appointed  Clinical  Lecturer  on 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    TIIKIR    SONS 


107 


Dermatolo<jy  in  the  University  Medical  College, 
1SS2  ;  Clinical  Professor  of  denito-Urinary  Dis- 
eases in  1884;  Professor  of  Genito-Urinary 
Diseases  in  the  Ihiiversity  and  ]5ellevue  Hospital 
Medical  College  in  1898;  Emeritus  Professor 
since  June  1899.  Dr.  Morrow  is  a  member  of 
the  New  York  Academy  of  Medicine  and  of  the 
leading  medical  societies  in  this  city  and  state 
and  is  ex-President  of  the  American  Dermato- 
logical  Association  and  Corresponding  Member 
of  various  foreign  societies ;  la  Academia  de 
Medicina  de  Mexico ;  the  Societe  r"ran9aise  de 
Dermatologie     et    de     Syphiligraphie     de     Paris; 


Diseases,  Syphilology  and  Dermatology,  in  three 
large  volumes,  1892,  1893,  1894;  and  Leprosy 
Twentieth  Century  Practice,  1899,  besides  having 
been  a  voluminous  contributor  to  the  literature  of 
skin  and  genito-urinary  diseases,  these  contribu- 
tions comprising  more  than  sixty  papers  and 
monographs.  Within  recent  years  Dr.  Morrow  has 
devoted  much  attention  to  the  study  of  leprosy 
and  has  embodied  the  results  of  his  j^ersonal 
observations  of  the  disease  in  Mexico,  California 
and  the  Hawaiian  Islands  in  numerous  articles 
which  have  appeared  in  the  medical  journals. 

E.  O.  S. 


P.    A.    MORROW 

die  Wiener  Dermatologische  (lesellschaft,  etc. 
He  is  Visiting  Surgeon  to  the  City  Hospital, 
Attending  Physician  to  the  New  York  Hospital, 
Skin  and  Venereal  Department,  and  Consulting 
Dermatologist  to  St.  Vincent  Hospital.  Dr. 
Morrow  was  for  ten  years  the  Editor  of  the  Journal 
of  Cutaneous  and  Genito-Urinary  Diseases ;  the 
Translator  and  Editor  of  Eournier  on  Syphilis  and 
Marriage,  1881;  the  author  of:  Venereal  Mem- 
oranda, 1885  ;  Drug  Eruptions,  1887,  afterward 
republished  by  the  New  Sydenham  Societ)-,  Lon- 
don ;  An  Atlas  of  Skin  and  Venereal  Diseases, 
with  seventy-five  Chromo  lithographic  plates, 
1888-89  ;     Morrow's     System    of     Genito-Urinary 


ELLINWOOD,  Frank  Field,  1826- 

Professor  Comparative  Religion,  1887- 
Born  in  Clinton,  N.  Y.,  1826;  graduated  Hamilton 
College,  1849;  studied  at  Auburn  Theol.  Sem.,  and 
graduated  Princeton  Theol.  Sem.,  1853;  Pastor  in 
Belvidere,  N.  J.,  1853-54;  Central  Presbyterian  Church, 
Rochester,  N.  Y.,  1854-65;  engaged  in  church  work  in 
various  offices  since  1865;  Prof.  Comparative  Religion 
in  Grad.  Dept.  N.  Y.  Univ.  since  1887;  D.D.  N.  Y. 
Univ.,  1865,  and  LL.D.,  1895. 

FRANK  FIELD  ELLINWOOD,  D.D., 
I/L.D.,  was  born  in  Clinton,  New  York, 
June  20,  1826,  in  the  same  house  in  which  his 
father,  Eli  Ellinwood,  was  born  in  1795.  His 
mother,  Sophia  (Gridley)  Ellinwood,  was  born 
in  Clinton,  March  10,  1800.  His  inunediate 
ancestry  sprang  from  Ralph  Ellinwood,  a  \\'elsh- 
man,  who,  with  his  Scotch  wife  (of  the  name  and 
kindred  of  the  renowned  William  Wallace),  came 
to  this  country  about  1657,  and  .settled  in  what  is 
now  Cambridge,  Massachusetts.  The  name  of 
the  family  in  New  England  and  many  other  states 
is  variously  written  Ellinwood  and  Ellingwood,  but 
all  are  of  one  line  of  descent.  His  great-grand- 
father, Thomas  Ellinwood,  was  a  prominent  citizen 
of  Brimfield,  Massachusetts.  Several  of  his  sons, 
among  whom  was  Professor  Ellinwood's  grand- 
father, Samuel  Ellinwood,  were  among  the  first 
settlers  of  the  Township  of  Kirkland.  now  Clinton, 
New  York.  The  maternal  grandfather,  Samuel 
Gridley,  was  al.so  one  of  the  settlers  of  Clinton,  and 
the  grandparents  on  both  sides  were  among  the 
founders  and  supporters  of  the  Indian  Mission 
School  of  Samuel  Kirkland,  afterwards  known  as 
Oneida  Academy.  In  181 2  this  Academy  was 
raised  to  the  dignity  of  Hamilton  College.  At 
this  early  academy  Professor  Ellinwood's  father 
was  educated;   and    he  himself  is  an  alumnus  of 


io8 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


Hamilton  College.  After  graduating  in  1849,  he 
was  engaged  in  teaching  for  two  years  in  Albany 
and  Batavia,  New  York,  and  entered  Auburn 
Theological  Seminary  in  1851.  Crowding  his 
theological  studies  into  two  years,  he  graduated  at 
the  Seminary  at  Princeton,  New  Jersey,  in  1853, 
and  was  at  once  installed  Pastor  of  the  Second 
Presbyterian  Church  of  Belvidere,  New  Jersey.  In 
the  autumn  of  1854  he  was  called  to  the  Central 
Presbyterian  Church  of  Rochester,  New  York, 
where,  after  eleven  years,  his  health  failed,  and  he 
resigned  his  Pastorate.  A  year  of  health  repair 
followed,   after  which,  in  the  autumn  of   1866,  he 


FRANK    K.    EI.LINWOOI) 

became  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Church  Erec- 
tion of  the  "  New  School  "  Branch  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church.  In  1870  he  was  chosen  Secretary 
of  the  Committee  appointed  by  the  General 
Assembly  to  raise  a  fund  of  $5,000,000  for  per- 
manent structures  and  endowments,  as  a  memorial 
of  the  reunion  of  the  two  branches  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church.  In  187  i  he  was  called  to  a  Secre- 
taryship of  the  Presbyterian  Board  of  Foreign 
Missions,  in  which  position  he  has  remained  till 
the  present  time.  In  1887  he  was  also  elected 
Professor  of  Comparative  Religion  in  the  Gradu- 
ate Department  of  New  York  I'niversity.  He 
received  from  that  University  the  degrees  of  Doc- 


tor of  Divinity,  conferred  in  1865,  and  Doctor  of 
Laws  in  1895.  Besides  doing  much  editorial  work, 
he  has  published  many  magazine  articles  and 
three  books,  The  Great  Conquest,  Oriental  Reli- 
gions and  Christianity,  and  Questions  and  Phases 
of  Modern  Missions."  E.  g.  s. 


STODDARD,   Francis  Hovey,   1847- 

Professor  English  Language  and  Literature,  1888- 
Born  in  Middlebury,  Vt.,  1847;  graduated  Amherst, 
i86g;  studied  at  Oxford,  England;  Inst.  English  Univ. 
of  Cal.  ;  Prof.  Eng.  Lang,  and  Lit.  N.  Y.  Univ.  since 
1888;  M.A.,  Amherst ;  Ph.D.,  Western  Univ.  of  Pa.; 
author. 

FRANCIS  HOVEY  STODDARD  was  born 
April  25,  1847,  in  Middlebury,  Vermont. 
He  was  the  son  of  Solomon  Stoddard,  for  a  num- 
ber of  years  Professor  of  Languages  at  Middlebury 
College,  who  died  in  early  manhood,  but  who  was 
well  known  to  the  educational  world  as  one  of  the 
foremost  linguistic  scholars  of  his  day,  and  as  one 
of  the  authors  of  Andrews  and  Stoddard's  Latin 
Grammar,  a  text-book  in  almost  universal  use  in 
Colleges  and  schools  a  generation  ago.  The 
family  from  which  Professor  Stoddard  is  descended 
has  been  for  two  centuries  a  distinguished  one  in 
New  England.  The  founder,  Anthony  Stoddard, 
came  to  America  in  1639.  He  settled  in  Salem, 
Massachusetts,  and  served  as  representative  in  the 
Colonial  Legislature  for  twenty  successive  years, 
from  1664  to  1684.  Of  his  fifteen  children,  Solo- 
mon, the  eldest,  graduated  at  Harvard  in  1662, 
was  inunediately  after  elected  Fellow,  and  was  the 
first  Librarian  of  Harvard  College,  an  office  which 
he  held  from  1667  to  1674.  This  Solomon  Stod- 
dard was  afterwards  for  fifty-seven  years  Pastor 
of  the  Church  in  Northampton,  Massachusetts, 
having  during  the  later  years  of  his  pastorate  his 
grandson,  Jonathan  Edwards,  as  his  colleague. 
His  descendants  have  been  noted  citizens  of  North- 
ampton in  an  unbroken  line  to  the  present  day. 
One  of  these  descendants  was  Solomon  Stoddard, 
High  Sheriff,  under  the  Crown,  of  Hampshire 
county  at  the  time  of  the  American  Revolution. 
Another  was  Colonel  John  Stoddard,  Chief-Justice 
of  the  Colonial  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  and  a 
member  of  His  Majesty's  Council  under  George 
II.  Professor  Francis  Stoddard's  grandmother  was 
the  daughter  of  Benjamin  Tappan  and  the  grand- 
daughter of  a  sister  of  Benjamin  Franklin,  so  that 
he  is  collaterally  related  to  such  widely  diverse  per- 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    'IIIEIK    SONS 


109 


sonalitics  as  David  Brainerd,  Jonathan  Edwards, 
Ik'iijamin  I'lanklin  and  Aaron  i5urr.  In  sludyinj^ 
tlic  liistory  of  tliis  faniil)'  it  is  interesting  to  note 
the  part  played  by  the  older  ('olle<;es  in  train- 
inji^  the  men  who  were  inlluential  in  the  Colonial 
and  the  earlier  National  clays  of  the  American 
people.  The  founder  of  this  family  came  to  Bos- 
ton in  1639;  his  son  graduated  at  Harvard  in 
1662  ;  his  grandson  graduated  at  Harvard  in  1701  ; 
his  great-grandson  graduated  at  Yale  in  1756;  his 
great-great-grandson  graduated  at  Yale  in  1790;  and 
the  great-great-great-grandson.  Solomon,  the  father 
of  Professor   Francis   Stoddard,  graduated  at  Vale 


KRAXCIS    HOVEV    STODDARD 

in  1820.  Another  Yale  graduate  was  the  brother 
of  Solomon,  David  Tappan  Stoddard,  missionary 
to  the  Nestorians  in  Syria.  The  greater  part  of  the 
early  life  of  Professor  Francis  Stoddard  was  spent 
at  the  home  of  his  ancestors  in  Northampton, 
Massachusetts.  He  there  fitted  for  Amherst  Col- 
lege under  the  instruction  of  Professor  Josiah  Clark. 
In  1869  he  graduated  with  high  honors  from 
Amherst  College,  and  immediately  engaged  in 
teaching.  He  afterwards  made  a  special  study  of 
English  linguistics  and  literature  at  the  University 
of  Oxford,  in  England,  where  he  prosecuted  ex- 
tended investigations  into  the  origin  and  history 
of  mediteval  Enjilish  literature.     He  then  became 


Instructor  in  English  at  the  University  of  Cali- 
fornia. In  1888  he  became  Professor  of  the 
English  Language  and  Literature  at  New  York 
I  ni\crsit\.  He  received  the  degree  of  Master  of 
Arts  from  Amherst  College,  and  the  degree  of 
Doctor  of  Philosophy  from  the  Western  University 
of  Pennsylvania.  Professor  Stoddard  is,  perhaps, 
best  known  to  scholars  as  a  student  of  the  litera- 
ture of  the  Anglo-Saxon  and  early  English  periods  ; 
but  his  writings  extend  over  a  much  broader  range, 
and  some  of  his  special  studies  in  the  field  of 
modern  literature  are  of  interest  to  the  general 
reader  as  well  as  to  the  special  student.  He  is 
a  member  of  many  learned  societies,  and  of  the 
Authors'  Club  and  the  Century  Association  in 
New  York  City  ;  and  has  been  prominent  in  many 
of  the  more  recent  educational  movements.  Pro- 
fesssor  Stoddard  is  the  author  of  numerous  .studies 
and  monographs,  among  which  maybe  mentioned: 
The  Modern  Novel,  1883;  Women  in  the  English 
Universities,  1886  ;  The  Caedmon  Poems  in  MS., 
Junius  IX,  1887  ;  Conditions  of  Labor  in  England, 
1887  ;  Miracle  Plays  and  Mysteries,  1887  ;  Tolstoi' 
and  Matthew  Arnold,  1888  ;  Literary  Spirit  in  the 
Colleges,  1893  ;  The  Study  of  the  English  Lan- 
guage, 1894;  The  Evolution  of  the  English  Novel, 
1900.  E.  G.  s. 

HALL,  Robert  William,  1853- 

Asst.  Prof.  Chemistry  1886-89,  Prof.  Analytical  Chemistry  1889- 

Born  in  Armagh,  Ireland,  1853 ;  educated  at  private 
schools  and  with  tutors;  graduated  Princeton,  1873; 
A.M.  in  course  ;  graduated  School  of  Mines.  Columbia, 
with  degree  of  E.M.,  1876;  consulting  chemist  in 
private  practice  until  1886;  Acting  Asst.  Prof.  Chem. 
N.  Y.  Univ.,  1886;.  Asst.  in  Analytical  Chem.,  1887; 
Prof.  Analytical  Chem.,  since  1889. 

ROBERT  WILLIAM  HALL  was  born  April 
25,  1853,  in  the  city  of  Armagh,  County 
Armagh,  Ireland,  a  city  long  noted  as  the  ecclesi- 
astical capital  of  Ireland.  His  father  was  the 
Rev.  Dr.  John  Hall,  his  mother  Emily  (Bolton) 
Hall.  On  his  father's  side  Professor  Hall  is 
of  Scotch  Irish  extraction.  "  Scotch-Irish  "'  by 
the  way,  does  not  mean  half  Scotch  and  half  Irish, 
but  the  descendant  of  Scotch  settlers  kept  from 
intermarriage  with  the  Irish  by  the  difference 
of  religion.  On  the  maternal  side  the  subject  of 
this  sketch  is  descended  from  English  stock  but  of 
a  family  settled  in  Ireland  far  earlier  than  the 
Scotch  immigration.     His  early  education  was  had 


I  lO 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


in  private  schools  in  Ireland.  In  1869  he  entered 
Princeton,  graduating  in  1873  with  the  degree  of 
Bachelor  of  Arts.  Dr.  McCosh  had  just  entered 
upon  his  work  at  Princeton.  The  elective  system 
just  introduced  was  applied  only  to  a  limited 
extent  and  in  the  latter  part  of  the  course.  The 
new  influences  had  hardly  begun  to  make  them- 
selves felt.  The  College  was  still  a  typical  old- 
fashioned  American  one ;  no  laboratories  of  any 
kind,  Chapel  attendance  required  twice  daily,  week 
days  and  Sundays,  study  of  the  Classics  required 
even  of  the  students  least  fitted  for  such  studies 
with  the  usual  result  of  lowering  the  standard  of 
the  whole  class.  From  Princeton  he  went  to  the 
School  of  Mines,  Columbia,  where  he  received 
the  degree  of  Mining  Engineer  in  1876.  At  that 
time  the  courses  in  the  School  of  Mines  differed 
less  from  each  other  than  at  present,  and  the 
students  of  Mining  Engineering  had  almost  the 
full  amount  of  Chemistry.  Robert  Hall  took  up 
that  branch  and  served  as  consulting  chemist  to 
several  companies  and  conducted  a  general  private 
practice  until  1888.  In  1888  he  became  associated 
with  the  Chemical  Department  of  New  York  Uni- 
versity in  which  he  now  holds  the  Chair  of  Ana- 
lytical Chemistry.  Professor  Hall  has  bestowed 
much  pains  upon  the  establishing  of  a  Summer 
School  at  University  Heights,  and  has  continued  to 
attend  to  its  welfare  with  unflagging  interest.  He 
is  a  member  of  the  Chemists'  Club,  the  American 
Chemical  Society,  the  Society  of  Chemical  Indus- 
tries and  the  Association  of  Alumni  of  the  School 
of  Mines.  His  published  writings  consist  of 
Cyclopedia  articles  and  contributions  to  scientific 
journals.  e.  g.  s. 


to  Germany  in  the  fall  of  1881,  and  attended  the 
University  of  Berlin  until  the  spring  of  1883.  He 
left  Berlin  for  Paris  in  April  1883  whence  in  July  he 
went  to  Geneva,  where  he  remained  until  Novem- 
ber. At  the  Commencement  of  June  of  that  year 
his  alma  mater  conferred  upon  him  the  degree  of 
Master  of  Arts.  He  passed  the  following  winter 
and  spring  (1883- 1884)  traveling  and  .studying  in 
Italy.  Returning  in  May  to  Geneva  he  remained 
there  until  the  fall,  when  he  went  back  to  Paris 
intending  to  spend  the  winter  studying  at  the 
Sorbonne,  but  was  driven  by  circumstances  to 
Berlin    where   he  studied  the    rest  of    the  winter. 


GILLETT,  William  Kendall,   i860- 

Acting  Professor  French  and  Spanish  1891-98,  Professor  1898-. 

Born  in  New  York  City  i86o;  graduated  N.  Y.  Univ. 
1880;  engaged  in  foreign  study,  1880-85;  Instr.  French 
and  German  Lehigh  Univ.,  1885-88;  studied  in  Spain, 
1888-89,  and  in  France,  1890-91;  Acting  Prof.  French 
and  Spanish  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1891;   Prof,  since  1898. 

WILLIAM  KENDALL  GILLETT  was 
born  May  16,  i860,  in  New  York  City. 
He  was  prepared  for  College  at  home  by  his  par- 
ents and  a  cousin,  the  Rev.  Henry  C.  Alvord,  class 
of  1876.  He  entered  the  Freshman  Class  of  New 
York  University  in  the  fall  of  1876  and  received 
the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts  in  1880.  He  spent 
one  year  at  the  Columbia  Law  School,  traveled  in 
Scotland  and  England  in  the  summer  of  188 1,  went 


WM.     K.    GILLETT 

He  came  home  in  1885  and  went  as  instructor  in 
French  and  German  to  Lehigh  University.  There 
he  remained  in  that  position  three  years  (1885- 
1888).  Desirous  of  spending  a  year  of  study  in 
Spain  he  gave  up  his  work  at  Lehigh  University 
and  passed  a  year,  1888-1889,  in  Madrid  and 
Seville,  besides  traveling  about  the  peninsula. 
While  in  Spain  he  received  an  appointment  for 
one  year  as  Acting  Professor  of  French  and  Span- 
ish in  New  York  L^niversity.  Permission  was 
granted  him  to  remain  abroad  one  year  more  be- 
fore taking  up  his  duties  and  this  year  he  spent  in 
Paris,  studying  at  the  Sorbonne  and  the  Colle'ge  de 
France.     Since   1891,  when  he  began  his  duties, 


UNIFERSITIES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


I  I 


he  has  continued  his  connection  with  New  York 
University  and  during  the  College  year  of   1S9.S 
1899  was   elected  to  the   full    Professorship.      He 
spent  the  vacations  of    1.S96  and    1S99  in   study  in 
France.  K.  <;.  s. 

ABBOTT,  Austin,  1831-1896. 

Dean  of  Law  School,   and  Professor  Equity,   Pleading  and 
Evidence,  1891-1896. 

Born  in  Boston,  Mass.,  1831  ;  graduated  N.  Y.  Univ., 
1851,  LL.D.,  1886;  studied  law,  and  admitted  to  Bar, 
1852  ;  devoted  many  years  to  production  of  law  books  ; 
Dean  of  the  Univ.  Law  School,  and  Prof.  Equity, 
Pleading  and  Evidence,  1891-1896;  founded  the  Univ. 
Law  Review;   died  1896. 

AUSTIN  ABBOTT,  LL.D.,  law  author,  was 
born  in  Boston,  Massachusetts,  December 
18,  1831.  His  father,  Jacob  Abbott,  bore  a  name 
which  was  a  household  word  to  American  boys 
and  girls  forty  and  fifty  years  ago,  some  two  hun- 
dred books  for  young  readers  having  come  from 
his  pen.  Jacob  Abbott  was  also  for  some  years 
the  occupant  of  a  Professor's  chair  at  Amherst 
and  later  the  head  of  a  noted  boys'  school,  the 
"  Little  Blue  School "  at  Farmington,  Maine. 
Austin  belongs  to  a  unique  band  of  four  brothers, 
all  of  whom  graduated  from  New  York  Univer- 
sity :  his  senior,  Benjamin  Yaughn  Abbott  (died 
in  1890),  was  of  the  Class  of  1850;  Austin 
himself  of  1851;  Lyman  of  1853;  and  Edward 
of  i860.  Admitted  to  the  Bar  in  1852,  Austin 
Abbott  almost  immediately  began  to  turn  towards 
legal  literature ;  he,  conjointly  with  Benjamin 
Vaughn,  his  older  brother,  began  the  production 
of  Abbott's  Digest  of  New  York  Decisions  ;  later 
they  brought  out  thirty-five  volumes  of  Abbott's 
Practice  Reports;  twelve  volumes  of  Digest  of 
National  Decisions  ;  two  volumes  of  Forms  of 
Pleading,  which  proved  itself  a  very  useful  work. 
After  twenty  years  of  joint  labor  Austin  proceeded 
alone,  publishing  four  volumes  of  Abbott's  Court 
of  Appeal  Decisions ;  thirty-one  volumes  of  Ab- 
bott's New  Cases  ;  an  Annual  Digest  of  New  York 
Decisions.  His  first  treatise  was  published  in 
1880  on  Trial  Evidence,  a  widely  circulated  book 
of  reference.  In  this  decade  of  1880-1890  Austin 
Abbott  published  in  all  five  volumes  dealing  with 
mode  and  method  of  legal  operation,  designated 
by  him  as  Brief  Books.  His  incessant  producti\ity 
was  enormous :  for  beside  all  this  he  acted  as  law- 
editor  of  the  Centur}'  Dictionarv-  and  wrote  a  daily 
article  for   the  Daily   Register  (the   predecessor  of 


the  New  York  Law  Journal).  In  1891  he  became 
Dean  of  the  University  Law  School,  occupying  the 
Chair  of  Equity,  Pleading  and  Evidence,  and  he 
threw  himself  at  si.xty  into  this  academic  work  with 
the  enthusiasm  of  a  man  of  thirty.  He  organized 
the  Law  Department  and  supplemented  its  required 
work  with  graduate  courses.  In  the  fall  of  1893 
he  founded  the  Ihiiversity  Law  Review.  As  he 
carried  in  his  very  consciou.sness  a  summary  of 
law  on  almost  every  important  point  it  is  no  won- 
der that  his  legal  aid  was  retained  in  many  very 
important  cases,  e.g.  the  Beecher-Tilton  suit,  and 
the  prosecution  of  President  Garfield's  assassin  ; 
he  was  also  referee  in  the  celebrated  case  of 
Griggs  Ts.  Day.  Lawyers  consulted  him  when  they 
were  at  their  wits' ends.  He  was  for  twenty-five 
years  a  Deacon  in  the  Broadway  TalDernacle  in 
New  York  City,  and  an  active  worker  in  the  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association,  of  which  he  was  a 
founder.  In  broad  questions  of  public  policy  and 
reform,  such  as  dealing  with  the  Indians  or  in  the 
question  of  international  arbitration,  kindled  by  the 
Venezuelan  matter  of  1895- 1896,  he  took  a  most 
active  part.  There  was  in  Austin  Abbott  a  gentle- 
ness and  patience  bordering  on  e.xcess ;  the  in- 
finite activity  of  his  mind  and  the  fine  faculty  of 
profound  discrimination  were  weapons  so  purely 
spiritual  and  intellectual  that  a  rude  or  angry  word 
seemed  unthinkable  in  conjunction  with  Au.stin 
Abbott.  The  following  is  from  the  pen  of  Carlos  C. 
Alden,  one  of  his  most  devoted  pupils:  '•  Progression 
in  the  law  was  a  favorite  theme.  The  law  must 
and  would  keep  abreast  of  the  march  of  progress ; 
and  legal  practitioner,  author  or  teacher  must  also 
move  on  or  be  left  behind,  must  be  ever  (in  his 
words)  studying  actual  law,  in  its  present  life  and 
motion,  and  the  causes  which  are  shaping  and 
modifying  it  from  time  to  time."  In  founding  the 
Review,  he  announced  for  its  purpose  the  presen- 
tation of  the  law  of  to-day:  "If  the  law  were  not 
progressive,  civilization  would  be  stationar)- ;  we 
review  its  past  to  ascertain  its  course  and  measure 
its  advances,  to  learn  precisely  what  it  is  to-day  and 
prepare  for  its  fresh  and  truer  expression  to-mor- 
row." Viewing  jurisprudence  as  the  greatest  of 
powers  for  the  advancement  of  civilization  and  the 
prosperity  of  the  country,  he  urged  its  adoption  as 
a  general  academic  .study.  It  was  his  constant 
endeavor  to  inculcate  in  the  minds  of  his  students 
that  broad-minded  appreciation  of  the  science  of  the 
law  which  he  so  keenly   felt.      For  man}-  \ears  Dr. 


1  I  2 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR   SONS 


Abbott  stood  as  a  commanding  figure  in  the  field 
of  legal  literature.  Slight,  though  tall  and  erect  in 
stature,  his  slender  form  supported  a  head  of 
marked  intellectual  powers,  impressing  an  ob- 
server with  the  complete  domination  in  his  per- 
sonality of  the  mental  over  the  physical.  This 
impression  deepened  upon  every  advance  in  ac- 
quaintance. Those  who  knew  him  intimately 
found  him  unaffected  by  any  conceit  of  knowledge, 
exceptionally  modest  and  gracious  of  demeanor. 
No  man  of  modern  times  lias  been  so  devoted  to 
research  in  the  law  or  has  placed  such  rich  stores 
of  erudition  at  the  command  of  his  professional 
brethren.  His  life  work  will  never  be  forgotten  or 
outgrown,  but  will  ever  play  an  inseparable  part  in 
the  progress  of  the  law.  He  was  made  a  Doctor 
of  Laws  by  the  University  in  1886.  Austin  Ab- 
bott died  April  19,  1896.  e.  g.  s. 
[See  ixMtiait  page  232.  Part  I.] 


AYRES,  Winfield,  1864- 

Instructor  Anatomy,  1894- 
Born   at    Oakham,    Mass.,     1864;    graduated    Mass. 
State    Coll.,   1886;    M.D.    Bellevue    Hosp.    Med.    Coll., 
1893;  engaged  in   Bellevue   Hosp.,  1893-94;   Instr.   and 
Demons.  Anatomy  N.  Y.  Univ.,  since  1894. 

W INFIELD  AYRES,  M.D.,  was  born  at 
Oakham,  Massachusetts.  October  6,  1864, 
the  son  of  Moses  O.  and  Hannah  I.  (Farnham; 
Ayres.  On  both  the  paternal  and  maternal  sides 
his  ancestors  were  English,  but  were  settled  in  this 
country  as  early  as  1640.  His  primary  and  sec- 
ondary education  was  acquired  in  the  excellent 
public  schools  of  his  native  state,  and  from  them 
he  proceeded  in  due  course  to  the  Massaclnisetts 
State  College  where  he  was  graduated  in  1886  witii 
the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Sciences.  At  a  later 
date  he  decided  upon  the  study  and  practice  of 
Medicine,  and  accordingly  entered  Bellevue  Hos- 
pital Medical  College,  from  which  institution  he 
was  graduated  in  1893  with  the  degree  of  Doctor 
of  Medicine.  Following  his  graduation  Dr.  Ayres 
remained  at  Bellevue  Hospital,  as  a  member  of  its 
staff,  from  April  1893.  to  October  1894.  He  then 
became  an  Instructor  and  Demonstrator  in  Anat- 
omy in  the  Faculty  of  his  Alma  Mater,  and  still 
retains  that  place  in  the  Faculty  of  the  New  Yoik 
University  and  Bellevue  Hospital  Medical  College. 
For  three  years  he  has  been  Instructor  in  Genito- 
urinary Surgery  at  the  New  York  Post  Graduate 
Medical  School.      Dr.   Ayres  is  a  member  of  tiie 


Bellevue  Alumni  Association,  of  the  New  York 
County  Medical  Society  and  of  the  New  York 
Genito-Urinary  Society,  and  the  esteem  in  which 
he  is  held  by  his  professional  associates  is  attested 
by  his  election  as  Mce-President  of  the  last-named 
organization  for  the  term  1900-1901.  Dr.  Ayres 
was  married  in  1896  to  Lucie  L.  Prudhomme. 

w.  F.  J. 

LOEB,   Morris,   1863- 

Professor  Chemistry,  i8gi- 
Born  in  Cincinnati,  O.,  1863 ;  early  education  in 
private  schools,  New  York  City;  graduated  Harvard, 
1883;  Ph.D.  Univ.  of  Berlin,  1887;  with  Prof.  Wolcott 
Gibbs,  Newport,  R.  I.,  1888-89;  Docent  in  Physical 
Chem.  Clark  Univ.,  Worcester,  Mass.,  1889-91 ;  Prof. 
Chem.  N.  Y.  Univ.  since  1891. 

MORRIS  LOEB.  Ph.D.,  was  born  in  Cin- 
cinnati, Ohio,  May  23,  1863.  His  father, 
Solomon  Loeb,  son  of  Leopold,  a  merchant  of 
Worms  on  the  Rhine,  came  to  America  in  1849 
and  established  himself  as  a  merchant  in  Cincin- 
nati, moving  to  New  York  in  1865,  as  one  of  the 
founders  of  the  well  known  banking  firm  of  Kuhn, 
Loeb  it  Company.  His  mother,  Betty  (Gallen- 
berg)  Loeb,  was  born  in  Mannheim,  the  daughter 
of  Simon  Gallenberg,  first  violin  in  the  court 
orchestra.  Their  son  Morris  was  educated  at 
the  private  school  of  Dr.  David  J.  Hull,  and 
later  at  that  of  Dr.  Julius  Sachs  in  New  York 
City.  His  early  inclination  ran  to  languages, 
four  of  which  he  is  able  to  speak  fluently,  while 
familiar  with  five  or  six  others  ;  gradually,  how- 
ever, his  taste  for  natural  science  became  more 
marked,  rtnd  finding  himself  prepared  to  enter 
the  Columbia  School  of  Mines  in  1878,  he  pas.sed 
the  examination,  but  was  not  admitted  on  account 
of  his  youth.  He  spent  one  year  as  special 
student  at  the  New  York  College  of  Pliarmacy, 
and  entered  Harvard  in  the  Class  of  1883, 
credited  with  advanced  standing  in  modern  and 
ancient  languages ;  received  Second-year  Honors 
in  the  Classics,  and  was  elected  a  member  of  the 
Phi  Beta  Kappa  Society  in  the  first  eight  of  his 
class.  At  graduation  he  received  his  degree 
tiiagna  cum  laiidc  and  delivered  a  Commencement 
Dissertation  on  the  History  of  Chemistry  in  the 
Eighteenth  Century.  While  at  College  his  atten- 
tion was  chiefly  devoted  to  the  subjects  of 
Chemistr}',  Physics  and  Music;  his  Chemical 
studies  were  mainly  influenced  by  Professors 
H.   B.   Hill,   Wolcott  Gibbs  and  L.   P.   Kinnicutt. 


UNll  EKSrriES    ./Nl)    TIII'.IR    SONS 


1 13 


While  at  College  he  was  much  interested  in  the 
luusital  societies,  and  was  President  of  the  IMerian 
Sodality  in  his  Senior  year.  Innnediately  after 
receivin<r  iiis  Bachelor's  degree,  he  entered  Berlin 
University  and  was  admitted  to  the  Laboratory 
of  Professor  A.  VV.  Hofmann  —  at  first  with 
the  intention  of  fitting  himself  for  the  Aniline 
industry.  Becoming  interested  in  tiie  purely 
scientific  aspects  of  tiie  subjects  he  soon,  however, 
resolved  to  devote  himself  to  an  Academic  career. 
He  is  indebted  to  Hofmann  for  three  years  of 
the  most  inspiriting  teaching,  and  the  noble 
e.vample  of  a  man  to  whom  every  new  discovery 
was  a  source  of  delight,  quite  irrespective  of  its 
practical  or  even  theoretical  importance  and  for 
whom  there  was  no  higher  ideal  than  that  of 
placing  his  pupils  in  a  position  to  appreciate 
the  beauties  of  the  laws  of  nature.  After  three 
years  of  work  in  Hofmann's  laboratory,  Morris 
Loeb  completed  his  research  upon  the  "  Deriva- 
tives of  Phosgene  Gas  "  and  received  the  degree 
of  Doctor  of  Philosophy  /:u>n  laude  on  April   13, 

1887.  After  a  summer's  vacation  at  home  he 
entered  Heidelberg  University,  to  study  Chemical 
Theory  under  Hermann  Kopp  and  Analytical 
work  under  Robert  Bunsen ;  thence  he  went  to 
Ostwald  in  Leipzig  and  pursued  several  inves- 
tigations  in   Physical   Chemistry.     In  the    fall    of 

1888,  he  accepted  the  invitation  of  his  former 
teacher.  Professor  Wolcott  Gibbs,  to  become  his 
assistant  in  his  private  laboratory  at  Newport, 
Rhode  Island,  and  remained  with  him  for  nearly 
a  year,  thereupon  accepting  the  position  of 
Docent  in  Physical  Chemistry  at  the  newly 
established  Clark  LTniversity  of  Worcester,  Massa- 
chusetts. This  institution  was  founded  with 
prospects  that  have  not  by  any  means  been 
attained,  and  after  two  years  it  became  evident 
tliat  in  Chemistry,  at  least,  little  would  be  accom- 
plished under  the  conditions  then  existing.  He 
consequently  resigned  and  returned  to  New  York, 
where  he  was  soon  ottered  the  acting  Professor- 
ship of  General  Chemistry  at  New  York  Uni- 
versity, with  rather  nominal  duties  at  the  outset. 
Accepting  this  offer  he  was  later  elected  Professor 
of  Chemistry  and  Director  of  the  Chemical 
Laboratory.  The  conditions  in  the  old  Univer- 
sity building  on  Washington  Square  were  most 
unsatisfactory,  and  there  was  hardly  work  enough 
for  the  two  Professors  of  Chemistry.  Whatever 
the   Chemical   Department   may  have  represented 


in  the  time  of  tiic  elder  Drai)er,  it  had  certainly 
been  completely  outdistanced,  in  facilities,  by  the 
laboratories  of  even  I  lie  smallest  country  Colleges. 
Instruction  began  in  the  second  third  of  the 
Junior  year  with  a  course  of  (me  hundred  lectures, 
and  was  continued  in  the  Senior  year  as  an 
elective,  with  about  ten  students  working  five 
hours  a  week  for  two  terms  upon  qualitative 
analysis ;  quantitative  analysis  was  a  graduate 
course.  'l"he  laboratory  was  confined  to  a  few 
small  rooms  on  the  southwest  corner  of  the  ground 
floor,  and  the  lecture  room  had  recently  been 
constructed    out    of    a    portion  of    the    cellar   and 


MORRIS    LOEB 

a  back  hall.  Gradually  improvements  in  the 
course  of  study  were  introduced  by  moving  the 
beginning  of  the  subject  forward,  one  term  at  a 
time,  until  now  the  lectures  which  were  formerly 
given  to  Juniors  are  begun  in  the  second  half  of 
the  P'reshman  year.  ^^'hen  it  was  decided  in 
1894  to  move  the  College  to  University  Heights, 
Professor  Loeb  was  instrumental  in  hastening  the 
erection  of  the  new  Chemical  Laboratory,  and 
planned  its  details  in  all  particulars,  e.xcepting  the 
actual  construction.  Although  by  no  means  a 
large  laboratory  nor  luxurious  in  its  equipment,  it 
is  considered  to  be  very  complete  and  well  adapted 
to  the  present  wants  of    the  University.     One  of 


114 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR   SONS 


its  merits  is  the  possibilit}'  of  expansion  without 
disarrangement  of  the  present  construction.  The 
popularity  of  the  Chemical  courses  has  naturally 
been  advanced  with  the  improvement  of  the  facili- 
ties, and  Professor  Loeb  and  his  colleague,  Pro- 
fessor Hall,  are  now  giving  as  many  courses  of 
instruction  each  term  as  there  were  students  in  the 
Laboratory  in  i8gi.  Professor  Loeb  married  Eda. 
daughter  of  the  late  Samuel  and  Regina  Kuhn  of 
Cincinnati,  Ohio,  on  April  3,  1895.  He  is  a 
member  of  various  scientific  societies ;  has  been 
at  one  time  Secretary  of  the  New  York  Section 
of  the  American  Chemical  Society  and  also 
Secretary  of  the  Chemical  Section  of  the  American 
Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Science. 
Being  considerably  interested  in  charitable  matters, 
he  has  held  various  positions  on  the  boards,  es- 
pecially of  Jewish  charitable  institutions,  and  is 
at  present  Vice-President  of  the  Hebrew  Tech- 
nical Institute  and  President  of  the  Hebrew 
Charities  Building  Corporation.  He  has  written  a 
number  of  essays  on  charitable  topics. 

E.  G.  s. 

SHAW,    Edward   Richard,  1855- 

Prof .  Institutes  of  Pedagogy  1892,  Dean  of  School  of  Pedagogy  1895- 

Born  in  Yonkers,  N.  Y.,  1855;  taught  schools  on 
Long  Island ;  Ph.B.  Lafayette  College,  1881  ;  Prin. 
Greenport,  L.  I.,  Union  School  to  1883,  of  Yonkers, 
N.  Y.,  High  School,  1883  92;  Ph.D.  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1890; 
Lee.  on  Educational  Classics  and  Systems  of  Education 
N.  Y.  Univ.,  1890  92  ;  Prof.  Institutes  of  Pedagogy  since 
1892;  Dean  of  School  of  Pedagogy  since  1895  ;  author 
of  several  works. 

EDWARD  RICHARD  SHAW,  Ph.D.,  was 
born  at  Bellport,  Long  Island,  January  13, 
1855,  son  of  Joseph  Merritt  and  Caroline  Amanda 
(Gerard)  Shaw.  He  began  teaching  early,  holding 
positions  in  schools  in  Brookhavenlown  and  at 
Blue  Point  and  Sayville,  Long  Island.  While 
teaching  he  made  his  preparation  for  College.  He 
was  graduated  from  Delaware  College  in  1878  with 
the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Literature,  taught  for  a 
time,  then  resumed  study  and  was  graduated  from 
Lafayette  College  in  1881,  with  the  degree  of 
Bachelor  of  Philosophy.  After  graduation  he 
taught  at  Greenport,  Long  Island,  and  in  1883 
was  called  to  assume  charge  of  the  Central  School 
at  Yonkers,  which  in  the  second  year  of  his  Prin- 
cipalship  was  advanced  into  a  High  School.  In 
1887  while  Principal  of  the  Yonkers  High  School, 
he  entered  upon  post-graduate  work  in  New  York 


L^niversity,  and  after  three  years  of  study  received 
in  1890  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Philosophy.  In 
the  fall  after  receiving  this  degree  he  was  made 
Lecturer  in  the  School  of  Pedagogy  on  Educa- 
tional Classics  and  Systems  of  Education.  In 
1892  he  was  called  to  the  Chair  of  the  Institutes 
of  Pedagogy,  which  position  he  has  since  retained. 
He  also  served  for  three  years  as  Secretary  of  the 
Faculty.  In  1895  he  was  made  Dean  of  the 
School  of  Pedagog).  He  has  visited  Europe  sev- 
eral times  to  study  schools,  school  systems  and 
pedagogical  training  in  Universities.  Professor 
Shaw  has  published  the    following   works  :   Selec- 


EDWAKI)    K.    SH.AW 

tions  for  Written  Reproduction,  (New  York,  1889)  ; 
Inventional  Geometry,  (in  Popular  Science  Month- 
ly, January  1889);  School  Devices,  (in  collabora- 
tion) (New  York,  1891);  Physics  by  Experiment, 
(New  York,  1892);  English  Composition  by  Prac- 
tice, (New  York,  1892);  Legends  of  Fire  Lsland 
Beach  and  the  South  Side,  (New  York,  1895) ;  The 
Employment  of  the  Motor  Activities  in  Teaching, 
(in  Popular  Science  Monthly,  November  1896); 
Some  Observations  upon  Teaching  Children  to 
Write,  (in  Child  Study  Monthly,  February  1896); 
A  Comparative  Study  on  Children's  Interests  (in 
Child  Study  Monthly,  July  1896):  Two  Years  Be- 
fore the  Mast,  with  introduction   and   notes,  (New 


UNll^ERSITIES   AND    TUh'.lR    SONS 


"5 


York,  1897);  Robinson  Crusoe,  witli  introduction 
and  notes,  (New  York,  1897);  Black  Beauty,  with 
introduction  and  notes,  (New  York,  1898);  Fairy 
Tales  for  the  Second  School  Year,  (New  York, 
1899);  The  Peasant  and  the  Prince,  with  intro- 
duction and  notes,  (New  York,  1899);  Three 
Studies  in  Education,  (New  York,  1899)  ;  Interest 
in  Relation  to  Pedaj;()j;^y,  a  translation  of  William 
Osterman's  Das  Interesse,  (New  York,  1899)  ;  Big 
People  and  Little  People  of  Other  Lands,  (New 
York,  1900);  Discoverers  and  Explorers,  (New 
York,  1900).  E.  G.  s. 

SNOW,    Charles   Henry,  1863- 

Prof.  Engineering  1894-,  Dean  Engineering   Faculty  1897-,  Dean 
School  Applied  Science  1899  . 

Born  in  N.  Y.  City,  1863  ;  graduated  Dr.  Chapin's 
Collegiate  School,  1880;  C.E.  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1886;  Sc.D. 
Univ.  Western  Pa.,  1898;  Practicing  Engineer  1886  to 
date  ;  Asso.  Prof.  Engineering  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1891  ;  Prof, 
and  Vice-Dean  Engineering  Faculty  1894;  Dean  since 
1897  ;  a  founder  of  Univ.  Heights. 

CII.VRLES  HENRY  SNOW,  Sc.D.,  was 
born  in  New  York  City  in  1863,  from  old 
New  England  ancestry  on  his  father's  side  and 
equally  old  New  York  City  ancestry  on  his 
mother's  side.  He  graduated  from  Dr.  Chapin's 
Collegiate  School  in  New  York  City  in  1880, 
standing  first  in  his  class  and  completed  pro- 
fessional studies  in  New  York  L^niversity  in  1886, 
receiving  the  degree  Civil  Engineer.  He  first 
acted  as  rodman  on  a  western  railroad,  now  part 
of  the  Canadian  Pacific  system,  resigning  to 
become  Engineer  and  later  Assistant  Manager 
of  an  iron  mining  company  on  Lake  Superior. 
Later  he  undertook  the  work  of  organization  at  a 
group  of  zinc  mines  in  the  Mississippi  Valley  and 
at  another  group  in  New  Mexico.  He  has  con- 
ducted engineering  enterprises  in  many  portions 
of  the  country,  including  New  York,  Michigan, 
Wisconsin,  Iowa,  Arkansas,  Missouri,  New  Mexico, 
Oregon,  etc.  His  connection  with  New  York 
University  dates  from  1891,  when  he  became  asso- 
ciated with  Professor  Brush  in  the  work  of  instruc- 
tion, later  forming  plans  for  the  re-organization  of 
the  Engineering  School  into  the  present  School 
of  Applied  Science.  He  was  appointed  Vice- 
Dean  in  1894  and  became  Dean  upon  the  death 
of  Professor  Brush,  in  1897.  Dean  Snow  is  one 
of  the  "  founders  "  of  University  Heights.  He  is 
a  member  of  the  American  Society  of  Civil  Engi- 
neers and  of   the  American    Institute   of    Mining 


Engineers,  as  well  as  of  the  Society  for  the  J'ro- 
motion  of  Engineering  Education,  the  National 
(Geographical  Society,  the  American  Forestry  Asso- 
ciation, etc.  A  paper  on  Marine  Wood  J5orers 
was  read  at  the  1898  Convention  of  the  American 
Society  of  Civil  Engineers,  and  another  on  the 
Equipment  of  Camps  and  I'-xpeditions  at  the  1899 
annual  meeting  of  the  American  Institute  of 
Mining  Engineers,  lie  has  also  published  nume- 
rous papers  and  magazine  articles.  In  1898  he 
married  Alice  Northrop,  a  niece  of  the  late  Jay 
Could.  He  has  one  daughter  and  one  son. 
Probably  no  one  of  the    Departments  of  the  Uni- 


CHAS.    H.    SNOW 

versity  has  made  greater  strides  within  the  past 
few  years  than  the  School  of  Applied  Science. 
This  division  of  LIniversity  instruction  was  begun 
in  1855  when  engineering  was  made  a  substitute 
for  certain  subjects  in  the  scientific  course.  No 
engineering  degrees  were  given,  but  students  were 
graduated  as  Bachelors  of  Science.  Further 
developments  took  place  and  the  degree  Civil 
Engineer  was  given  for  the  first  time  in  1862. 
During  all  of  the  years  before  and  after  this  date 
until  the  move  to  LIniversity  Heights,  the  classes 
were  small  and  equipment  meagre.  Notwithstand- 
ing this  fact,  some  of  the  most  noted  engineers  of 
the  period  received  their  instruction  at  this  school. 


ii6 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


Within  the  past  five  years  the  attendance  has 
increased  many  fold.  A  quarter  of  a  million 
dollars  in  endowment  and  equipment  have  been 
added.  The  entrance  requirements  have  been 
raised,  an  entirely  new  curriculum  has  been  pro- 
vided for  the  course  in  Civil  Engineering,  and 
new  courses  in  Naval,  Mechanical,  and  Chemical 
Engineering  have  been  opened.  The  buildings 
now  specially  devoted  to  this  Department  are  as 
follows:  (i)  The  power  house,  with  wooden  exten- 
sions, in  all  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  in 
length,  for  the  ofiice  of  the  Dean,  the  Mechanical 
Laboratory  and  the  Drawing  Room.  (2)  The 
Havemeyer  Laboratory  for  Chemistry.  (3)  The 
Charles   Butler  Hall  for  Physics  and   Mechanics. 

(4)  The  Mathematical  Rooms  in  Language  Hall. 

(5)  The  three  south  rooms  of  the  Museum  for 
Geological  and  Mineralogical  Laboratory,  Lecture 
Room  and  Museum.  (6)  The  north  room  of  the 
museum  for  engineering  collections.  (7)  The 
Work  Shops.  Mr.  Douglass  was  the  first  Pro- 
fessor of  Civil  Engineering,  Professor  Bull  suc- 
ceeded him,  but  not  directly.  Professor  Brush 
came  next,  to  be  in  turn  followed  by  Dean  Snow. 
Dean  Snow's  bibliography  includes :  Turquoise  in 
Southwestern  New  Mexico  (Am.  Jour.  Sci.  Vol. 
xli.) ;  Copper  Crystallizations  at  The  Copper  Glance 
and  Potosi  Mine,  New  Mexico  (Transactions  .\m. 
Inst.  Mining  Engineers,  Vol.  xxxvi.) ;  Railroad 
Location  (Discussion),  Transactions  American  So- 
ciety Civil  Engineers,  etc.,  etc.  e.  g.  s. 


SIHLER,   Ernest  G.,  1853- 

Professor  Latin,  1892- 
Born  in  Fort  Wayne,  Ind.,  1853;  graduated  Con- 
cordia College,  Fort  Wayne,  1869;  studied  at  Lutheran 
Divinity  School,  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  1869-72 ;  attended 
Berlin  and  Leipzig,  1872-75  ;  Fellow  in  Greek  Johns 
Hopkins  Univ.,  1876-78  ;  Fellow  in  Greek  Hist.,  1878-79  ; 
Classical  Instr.,  1879-91;  Ph.D.  Johns  Hopkins,  1878; 
Prof.  Classics  Concordia  College,  1891-92;  Prof.  Latin 
N.  Y.  Univ.  since  1892;  author  of  Hist,  of  N.  Y,  Univ. 

ERNEST  G.  SIHLER,  Ph.D.,  Historian  of 
the  I'niversity,  was  born  in  Fort  ^^'ayne, 
Indiana,  January  2,  1853,  the  second  son  and  one 
of  nine  children,  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  William  Sihier, 
Pastor  of  St.  Paul's  Lutheran  Church,  the  oldest 
church  of  this  denomination  in  the  state  of  Indiana 
Professor  Sihler's  paternal  grandfather,  born  in 
1753,  was  honorably  discharged  from  the  Prussian 
army    shortly    before    the    Napoleonic   wars    with 


Prussia,  as  a  Captain  of  cavalry  in  the  White 
Hussars  of  Silesia,  when  he  received  a  civil 
appointment  as  Royal  Controller  for  the  sale  of 
salt  in  the  internal  revenue  district  of  Breslau. 
His  youngest  son,  William,  born  1801,  after 
having  completed  his  classical  education  in  the 
gymnasium  of  Schweidnitz,  entered  the  army  and 
after  a  few  years  attained  a  Lieutenantcy.  Dr. 
William  Sihier  recalled  Marshal  Bliicher,  and  his 
immediate  superior  at  first  was  Major  Keller  who 
captured  Napoleon's  carriage  in  the  rout  after 
Waterloo.     In  that  campaign    a  paternal  uncle  of 


E.    G.   SIHLER 

Professor  Sihier  perished  as  a  Prussian  officer. 
Professor  Sihler's  father  in  the  earlier  years  ot 
the  twenties,  being  then  a  Lieutenant  in  the 
Twenty-second  Infantry,  was  ordered  to  attend 
the  Royal  Kriegsacademie  at  Berlin  when  Moltke 
and  Roon  attended  the  same  work  as  young  Lieu- 
tenants. After  completing  this  course,  however, 
Lieutenant  Sihier  resigned  his  commission  and 
entered  the  University  of  Berlin  where  he  was 
particularly  devoted  to  Schleiermacher's  work  in 
philosophy  and  Karl  von  Ritter's  in  geography. 
In  1829  William  Sihier  published  at  Berlin  a 
volume  entitled  Symbolik  des  Antlitzes,  a  nota- 
ble contribution  in  the  domain  of  empirical  psy- 
chology for  which  the  University  of  Jena  gave  him 


UNIFERSITIKS   AND    THEIR    SONS 


117 


the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Philosophy.  During  the 
tliirlies  he  was  a  member  of  the  FacuUy  of  the 
Bloclimann  Institut  (now  a  governmental  gymna- 
sium) in  Dresden,  and  later  was  domestic  tutor  in 
the  establishment  of  several  Lutheran  noblemen 
in  the  Baltic  provinces  of  Russia.  Early  in  1843 
he  resolved  to  go  to  America  to  work  in  the 
Lutheran  Church  west  of  the  Alleghanies.  After 
having  had  charge  of  a  Lutheran  Church  in  Pome- 
roy,  Ohio,  he  in  1845  became  Pastor  of  St.  Paul's 
in  Fort  Wayne,  which  charge  he  held  for  forty 
years,  to  his  death  in  1885.  He  established  in 
Fort  Wayne  a  'I'lieological  Seminary,  now  flourish- 
ing in  Springfield,  Illinois,  and  was  from  1861  to 
1872  President  of  Concordia  College,  Fort  Wayne. 
Here  Ernest  G.  Sihler  received  his  classical  train- 
ing, and  was  reared  with  Spartan  simplicity  and 
rigor.  The  Maumee  afforded  bathing  in  summer 
and  skating  in  winter.  Professor  Sihler  being  so 
much  devoted  to  the  former  that  he  later  swam  the 
Mississippi,  the  Rhine  and  the  Tiber.  The 
thorough  mastery  of  Madvig's  Latin  Syntax  in 
his  boyhood  presented  to  his  mind  the  idea  of 
subduing  large  units  of  classical  work.  His 
instructors  at  Concordia  as  well  as  later  at  the 
Lutheran  Divinity  School  in  St.  Louis,  now  the 
largest  and  most  important  in  the  Lutheran 
church,  were  with  few  exceptions  men  of  accu- 
rate German  University  training,  graduates  of 
Berlin,  Erlangen,  Konigsberg  and  Leipzig.  The 
example  of  his  father,  who  consecrated  uncommon 
gifts  of  mind  and  willpower  to  spiritual  ends  and 
the  ser\ice  of  others,  presented  to  the  boy  a  lofty 
ideal  of  devotion  and  fidelity  to  high  aims,  and 
the  silent  selfsacrifice  of  his  revered  mother  was  a 
mute  condemnation  of  selfishness  and  worldliness. 
The  lad's  mind  was  firmly  set  at  eighteen  on 
classical  scholarship ;  the  idea  of  close  and  fami- 
liar contact  with  the  most  imperishable  utterances 
of  the  greatest  minds  of  ancient  history  filled  the 
youth's  mind  with  rapture,  and  he  gave  himself  no 
concern  as  to  how  he  would  live  or  what  profes- 
sional advantages  would  accrue  to  him  from  such 
pursuits.  In  the  fall  of  1872  he  was  sent  to 
Berlin  whither  his  older  brother  Christian,  pur- 
suing medical  studies  at  the  University,  had  pre- 
ceded him.  The  vast  erudition  in  Greek  literature 
of  Adolph  Kirchhoff,  successor  of  August  Boeckh, 
at  once  presented  a  lofty  ideal  of  power  and  attain- 
ment, while  the  helpfulness  of  Professor  Emil 
Hiibner  on  the  Latin  side  was  gratefully  enjoyed 


by  the  young  student.  In  Iliibner's  Sc7iniiar 
Professor  Sihler  was  immediately  enrolled  an 
active  member  and  held  this  post  during  his  three 
semesters  in  Berlin.  The  greatest  AristoteKan  of 
the  last  generation,  Hermann  Bonitz,  introduced 
him  to  Greek  philosophy.  The  superb  critical 
faculty  of  Moritz  Ilaupt  in  Classical  Exegesis,  of 
Theodor  Mommsen  in  Roman  Constitutional  Law, 
and  of  Heinrich  Kiepert  in  Classic  Geography  and 
Etiinology  proved  splendid  incentives  ;  it  was  clear 
to  Sihler's  mind  however  that  not  in  the  mere 
iteration  of  these  eminent  men's  results,  but  in 
direct  contact  and  first  hand  mastery  of  the  entire 
literary  tradition  of  antiquity  (as  far  as  his  powers 
permitted)  was  to  be  the  work  of  his  own  life. 
From  spring  1874  to  spring  1875  Sihler  spent  his 
time  at  Leipzig  (where  his  room-mate  was  Charles 
Forster  Smith,  now  Professor  of  (}reek  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  Wisconsin)  taking  from  Berlin  a  per- 
sonal note  to  the  eminent  PViedrich  Ritschl  of 
Leipzig,  then  suffering  from  bodily  ailment  but 
still  indomitably  active.  He  (foremost  latinist  of 
the  nineteenth  century),  with  Georg  Curtius  in 
Greek  Grammar,  Ludwig  Lange,  Lipsius,  Schuster 
and  others  were  his  academic  teachers  at  Leipzig 
where  he  worked  particular!}-  in  Attic  Comedy,  in 
Plato  and  in  writing  Latin,  in  which  domain  he 
completed  a  written  version  of  Lessing's  Laocoon, 
1874.  In  1875  Sihler  returned  to  Fort  \\'ayne  and 
in  1876  sent  in  a  Greek  paper  on  Attic  Comedy 
for  which  he  received  a  Fellowship  in  (]reek  at  the 
newly  established  Johns  Hopkins  University,  to 
which  in  1877  his  brother  Christian  followed  him. 
gaining  a  scientific  Fellowship  for  original  work  in 
histology.  The  incentive  of  almost  daily  confer- 
ences with  the  great  Hellenist  Basil  Lanneau 
Gildersleeve  for  full  three  years  was  a  personal 
and  professional  privilege  of  rare  importance  to 
Sihler,  as  was  the  kindly  interest  and  hospitality  of 
Charles  D.  Morris,  a  late  fellow  of  Oriel,  Oxford. 
Among  those  who  held  fellowships  at  the  same 
time  were  Hering,  now  of  New  York  University, 
Hastings  of  Yale,  Hart  of  Lafayette,  Lanman,  now 
Professor  of  Sanscrit  at  Harvard,  Royce  of  Har- 
vard, Bevier,  now  of  Rutgers,  Halsted  of  Texas 
University,  Marquand,  now  at  Princeton,  Allinson, 
now  of  Brown,  Hall  of  Harvard,  Hall  of  Haver- 
ford,  being  distinguished  in  academic  language  by 
their  darker  and  lighter  complexion  as  White  Hall 
and  Black  Hall.  "  You  must  light  your  own 
torch,''  said  President  Gilman  to  the  twenty  young 


ii8 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


men  in  October  1876.  In  June  1878,  Professor 
Sihler  received  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Philosophy 
at  Johns  Hopkins  for  his  dissertation  on  Metaphor 
and  Comparison  in  Plato,  having  previously  sus- 
tained an  examination  of  about  two  hours  in 
ancient  philosophy,  before  the  Faculty,  and  in 
Greek  literature,  with  written  work  in  Greek. 
This  was  the  first  bestowal  of  the  degree  at  Johns 
Hopkins.  At  the  same  time  the  degree  was 
received  by  Henry  C.  Adams,  now  of  Ann  Arbor, 
Thomas  Craig,  late  of  Johns  Hopkins,  and  Josiah 
Royce,  now  of  Harvard.  For  twelve  years,  1879- 
189 1,  Professor  Sihler  had  to  be  content  with 
doing  preparatory  work  in  classics  in  the  City  of 
New  York,  persevering,  however,  with  his  pen  in 
writing  several  books  and  contributing  papers  to 
the  American  Philological  Association  in  1880, 
1881,  1885,  1887  and  1891.  In  1891  he  was 
called  to  the  Concordia  College  at  Milwaukee, 
and  in  the  next  year,  1892,  was  called  to  the 
Latin  chair  at  New  York  University,  aiding  in 
the  reorganization  of  the  Latin  work  in  the  elec- 
tive courses  at  University  Heights,  and  in  the 
upbuilding  of  the  Graduate  School.  In  the  latter 
he  has  worked  particularly  in  histoiy  of  Roman 
literature,  in  Lucretius  (to  which  one  of  his  stu- 
dents, Dr.  George  P.  Eckmann,  has  contributed 
a  substantial  study  entitled  The  Controversial 
Elements  in  Lucretius,  120  pp.  1899),  in  Roman 
Constitutional  Law.  in  Plautus,  in  Aristophanes, 
and  in  the  Mytholog)'  of  Homer.  Several  further 
studies  of  his  graduate  students  are  now  prepar- 
ing for  publication.  Professor  Sihler  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Greek  Club  of  New  York  for  many 
years,  being  invited  to  join  this  association  of 
active  reading  scholars  in  1879  by  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Howard  Crosby  and  by  Professor  Henry  Drisler 
of  Columbia  College,  gentlemen  to  whose  acti\'e 
goodwill  he  owes  more  than  he  has  space  to  relate 
here.  Professor  Sihler  was  married  in  1881  to 
Emily  Johanna,  daughter  of  Henry  Birkner.  Esq., 
of  Brooklyn,  and  has  two  sons  living,  Henr}-,  born 
1883,  and  Howard,  born  1890.  In  1899  the 
American  Piiilological  Association  held  its  annual 
meeting  at  University  Heights  when  Professor 
Sihler  served  as  Chairman  of  the  Local  Com- 
mittee. A  list  of  Professor  Sihler's  publications 
is  subjoined.  On  the  Greek  side :  The  Protago- 
ras of  Plato,  with  critical  and  explanatory  notes 
and  an  introduction.  Harper's,  N.  Y.  1881,  and 
1892  ;  The  Historical  Aspect  of  Old  Attic  Comedy, 


American  Philosophical  Association  Proceedings, 
1876  ;  Aeschylus  and  Herodotus,  and  their  ac- 
count of  the  battle  of  Salamis,  American  Phil- 
osophical Association  Transactions,  1877  ;  The 
Technical  Vocabulary  of  the  Rhetorical  Writings 
of  Dionysius  of  Halicarnassus,  ibid.  Proceedings, 
1879.  The  Verbal  Nouns  in  -o-is  in  Thucydides, 
ibiii.  Transactions,  188 1  ;  a  Study  of  Dinarchus, 
iliiii.,  1885  ;  Aristotle's  Criticism  of  Spartan  Insti- 
tutions, ibid.  Proceedings,  1892,  and  in  Classical 
Review,  1893-1894;  a  Review  of  Choeroboscus's 
Scholia  on  Greek  Grammar,  with  a  study  of 
Alexandrine  and  Byzantine  Grammar,  Classical 
Review,  1895  ;  on  the  Essay  on  the  Sublime, 
a  technical  and  rhetorical  treatise.  Am.  Philol. 
Assoc.  Proceedings,  1899;  on  a  certain  matter 
in  the  earlier  literary  historj'  of  Aristophanes, 
ibid.,  1900  ;  De  Parodiis  quae  inveniuHtur  apud 
Scriptores  Comicos  Atticos  Antiquos,  1875.  On 
the  Latin  side  :  The  Character  and  Career  of 
Tiberius,  Penn  Monthly,  Philadelphia,  March 
1 880  ;  Virgil  and  Plato,  Am.  Philol.  Association, 
1880  ;  The  Tradition  of  Caesar's  Gallic  Wars, 
from  C'icero  to  Orosius,  ibid.,  1887  ;  the  Census- 
lists  in  Livy,  ibid.,  1891  ;  a  Study  of  Velleius 
Paterculus,  ibid.,  1894  ;  St.  Paul  and  the  Lex 
Julia  de  Vi,  ibid.,  1894;  Cicero  and  Lucretius, 
ibid.,  1897  ;  Lucretius  and  Epicurus  de  Meteoris, 
//'/(/.,  1898,  published  in  full  by  the  New  York 
Academy  of  Sciences,  1898;  on  Latin  ae  and  ai. 
Diphthong  or  Monophthong,  Am.  Philol.  Ass., 
1898;  a  Complete  Lexicon  of  the  Latinity  of 
Cajsar's  de  Bello  Gallico,  1891  ;  Studies  in 
Caisar,  Classical  Review,  1890.  Professor  Sihler 
is  at  the  present  time  preparing  an  edition  of 
Cicero's  Second  Philippic  for  the  University  Pub- 
lishing Company.  Besides  the  names  of  Emil 
Hiibner,  Friedrich  Ritschl,  B.  L.  Gildersleeve, 
C.  D.  Morris,  H.  Crosby,  and  H.  Drisler,  Professor 
Sihler  desires  to  record  here  with  thankfulness 
those  of  Francis  A.  March  of  Lafayette,  and 
W.  \\.  (ioodwin  of  Harvard  University. 

E.  o.  s. 

PRINCE,  John   Dyneley,  1868- 

Prof.  Semitic  Languages  1892- ,  Dean  Graduate  School  1895- 
Born  in  New  York  City,  1868  ;  early  education  in 
private  schools  and  under  tutors  ;  graduated  Columbia, 
1888  ;  Asst.  to  Director  of  Expedition  to  So.  Babylonia, 
1888-89 ;  studied  in  Semitic  Dept.  Johns  Hopkins 
Univ.,  1890-92;  Ph.D.  Johns  Hopkins,  1892;  Acting 
Prof.  Semitic  Languages  N.   Y.   Univ.,   1892-94;  Prof. 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


119 


Semitic  Languages  and  Comparative  Philology  since 
1884;  Dean  of  Graduate  School  since  1895;  author  of 
many  writings. 

JOHN  I)YNELB:V  prince,  Ph.D.,  son  of 
John  Dyneley  and  Anne  Maria  (Morris) 
Prince,  of  Enjjlish  race  on  hotli  sides,  was  born  in 
New  Yori<  City,  on  April  17,  1868,  being  through 
his  mother  a  great-grandson  of  Reverdy  Johnson, 
the  eminent  statesman  and  jurist  of  Maryland. 
Professor  Prince  was  educated  first  at  pri\ate 
schools,  notably  that  of  the  late  Dr.  Calliscn.  and 
afterwards  by  means  of  English  and  (ierman 
tutors.  Of  these  the  late  Cecil  de  Wilton  Grey 
was  a  most  important  factor  in  developing  his  taste 


J.     DYNELEY    PRINXE 

for  the  classics  and  especially  for  Classical  Philol- 
ogy, while  Herr  Eduard  Schindelmeisser,  for 
many  years  a  well  known  instructor  in  Cerman 
in  New  York,  may  be  said  to  ha\e  been  the  first 
who  led  the  young  student  to  the  fascinating  study 
of  Comparative  Philology.  To  these  two  men 
Professor  Prince  owes  the  basis  of  his  technical 
education  and  is  particularly  indebted  to  them  for 
their  care  in  forming  in  him  the  habit  of  consecu- 
tive application  to  one  subject,  so  indispensable  to 
the  student  of  every  branch  of  knowledge.  Pro- 
fessor Prince  entered  Columbia  (Arts  Department) 
in  the  autumn  of   1SS4.  having  at  that  time  fully 


determined  to  take  orders  in  due  course  in  the 
American  Episcopal  Ciuirch,  a  line  of  life  to  which 
he  felt  himself  e.specially  inclined  owing  to  the 
thorough  religious  training  which  he  had  received 
both  from  his  father,  then  recently  deceased,  but 
most  of  all  from  iiis  mother.  Having  this  ol)ject 
in  view,  he  naturally  elected,  so  far  as  possible, 
those  courses  which  would  be  best  calculated  to 
train  him  for  his  subseciuent  calling.  In  this  way 
he  was  brougiit  under  the  influence  of  Dr.  Richard 
Cotlheil,  the  Profes.sor  of  Semitic  Languages  at 
the  College,  to  whose  thorough  foundation-work  in 
Hebrew  and  Aramaic  he  owes  much  of  his  later 
zeal  for  the  study  of  those  languages.  Having 
laid  the  basis  with  Professor  Gottheil  of  all  his 
later  work  in  Semitic,  he  was  appointed  in  1888, 
when  he  graduated  with  the  degree  of  bachelor  of 
Arts  from  Columbia,  as  the  Assistant  to  the 
Director  of  the  Expedition  to  Southern  Babylonia 
which  sailed  that  June  under  the  auspices  of  the 
University  of  Pennsylvania.  The  Trustees  of 
Columbia  appointed  him  at  the  same  time  as  the 
official  representative  of  that  University  on  the 
expedition.  This  marks  an  important  turning 
point  in  Professor  Prince's  life.  Sailing  with  Dr. 
John  P.  Peters,  the  Director  of  the  expedition,  and 
with  Dr.  Robert  Harper,  then  of  Yale,  he  pro- 
ceeded first  to  London  where  he  spent  se\eral 
months  in  the  study  of  Hebrew  and  in  the  exami- 
nation of  the  Assyrian  antiquities  in  the  British 
Museum.  After  a  few  weeks  in  Dresden  and 
South  Germany  Dr.  Peters  and  Professor  Prince 
went  at  once  to  Constantinople,  where  they  re- 
mained three  full  months,  awaiting  the  granting 
of  the  Eirman  from  the  Sultan  which  should  permit 
the  party  to  proceed  to  its  destination  and  under- 
take excavations  in  Southern  Babylonia.  During 
this  period  spent  at  Constantinople,  Professor 
Prince  devoted  himself  with  assiduity  to  the  study 
of  Turkish  and  of  the  peculiar  conditions  existing 
in  the  Turkish  Empire,  in  which  he  has  always 
felt  a  deep  interest.  Finally,  the  long  awaited 
Firman  arrived  and  Dr.  Peters  and  Professor 
Prince  went  at  once  to  Aleppo,  where  they  met  the 
other  members  of  the  party,  viz.,  Drs.  Kobert 
Harper  and  Hilprecht  of  the  University  of  Penn- 
sylvania, Mr.  P.  Field  of  Brooklyn,  who  acted  as 
the  engineering  and  architectural  expert,  and  Mr. 
Daniel  Zad  Noorian,  a  cultivated  Armenian  from 
Asia  Minor,  who  was  the  interpreter  and  dragoman 
for    the    expedition.     The    whole    party    then    set 


I  20 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


out  on  a  twenty-four  daj-s'  ride,  accompanied  by  a 
large  caravan  of  mules  and  pack-horses,  from 
Aleppo  to  Bagdad,  following  the  course  of  the 
Euphrates.  This  journey  proved  of  great  interest 
and  value,  as  the  members  of  the  expedition 
passing  through  the  territory  of  Kurdish  and  Arab 
tribes,  were  able  to  understand  practically  the 
conditions  of  nati\e  life  in  the  desert.  On  arrival 
at  Bagdad,  however.  Professor  Prince  was  danger- 
ously ill  as  the  result  of  the  bad  food  and  water  of 
the  country,  and  was  compelled  to  claim  the 
protection  of  the  British  Consular  Resident,  then 
Mr.  (now  Sir)  Adalbert  Cecil  Talbot,  under  whose 
kind  care  he  was  soon  nursed  back  to  health.  In 
the  mean  time  the  expedition  had  gone  on  to  the 
ruin  site  of  Niffer  in  Southern  Babylonia,  where  it 
was  not  possible  for  Professor  Prince  to  follow 
them,  owing  to  the  bad  sanitary  conditions  and 
climate  there  prevailing.  He  accordingly  left 
Bagdad  in  January  1889  and  sailed  for  Karachi 
and  Bombay  on  a  British  India  steamer  plying 
from  Basra  at  the  head  of  the  Persian  Gulf.  This 
voyage  and  the  subsequent  ones  from  Bombay  to 
Hong  Kong  and  from  Hong  Kong  to  Kobe  in 
Japan  completely  restored  him  physically,  and  at 
the  same  time  enabled  him  to  make  an  important 
friendship  with  Colonel  Willoughby  Hooper,  of 
the  Madras  Presidency,  who  was  returning  home 
to  England  on  a  pension.  This  gentleman  proved 
a  weighty  factor  in  forming  the  young  man's 
character  and  developing  in  him  the  faculty  of 
observation.  Professor  Prince  made  a  fortnight's 
trip  through  Japan  with  Colonel  Hooper,  seeing 
just  enough  of  that  charming  country  to  enable 
him  to  form  a  superficial  idea  of  the  national 
character.  He  sailed  for  San  Francisco  from 
Yokohama  in  April  1889.  It  will  be  seen  that  all 
the  influences  of  Professor  Prince's  life  had  been 
leading  him  to  a  study  of  the  Orient  and  its 
lantruajres,  and  when  he  returned  to  New  York  he 
decided  to  make  Orientalia  his  life-work.  In  the 
autumn  of  1889  he  married  Adeline,  daughter 
of  Dr.  Alfred  L.  Loomis,  since  deceased,  who 
had  married  Professor  Prince's  mother.  To  Dr. 
Loomis  Professor  Prince  owes  the  most  important 
moral  influence  of  his  life.  It  would  be  impossible 
to  pay  too  high  a  tribute  to  the  life  and  work  of 
this  great  man  who  stood  ever  before  him  as  a 
model  of  true  manhood.  Acting  on  Dr.  Loomis's 
advice.  Professor  Prince  and  his  wife  went  at 
once    to    the    University  of    Berlin,   where    under 


Professors  Schrader,  Sachau,  Dillman,  Hoflforj'' 
and  others  the  young  student  followed  still  further 
his  Oriental  bent,  and  there  decided  on  making 
Assyriolog)'  his  specialty.  In  1890  he  returned 
to  America  and  entered  as  a  student  the  Semitic 
Department  of  Johns  Hopkins  University  under 
the  direction  of  Professor  Paul  Haupt.  Professor 
Haupt  was  the  crowning  influence  from  the  scho- 
lastic point  of  view  in  Professor  Prince's  life- 
training.  From  him  he  learned  the  true  method 
of  Philological  study,  as  well  as  the  proper  point 
of  view  from  which  to  approach  the  investiga- 
tion of  the  intricacies  of  Assyrian,  Hebrew  and 
Arabic.  To  Professor  Haupt's  zeal  as  a  scholar 
and  personal  friend  Professor  Prince  owes  his 
ability  to  pass  the  extremely  rigorous  examinations 
required  by  the  Johns  Hopkins  authorities  for 
the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Philosophy  which  he 
completed  in  June  1892,  having  as  major  subject 
Assyriology,  and  as  first  and  second  minors 
Hebrew  and  Germanic  Philolog}-.  His  Thesis  for 
the  Doctorate  was  entitled  Mene  Mene  Tekel 
Upharsin,  a  study  of  the  Fifth  C'hapter  of  Daniel. 
Professor  Prince  held  the  Fellowship  in  Semitic  in 
the  Johns  Hopkins  University  in  1890-189 1  and 
was  afterwards  "  Fellow  by  Courtesy"  until  1892. 
In  the  autumn  of  that  year  he  was  appointed 
Acting  Professor  of  Oriental  Languages  in  New 
York  University  which  title  was  changed  almost 
directly  to  that  of  Acting  Professor  of  the  Semitic 
Language.  He  taught  in  this  capacity  until  1894, 
when  he  was  made  full  Professor  with  the  title 
Professor  of  Semitic  Languages  and  Comparative 
Philology,  which  he  still  holds.  In  1895  he  was 
elected  by  the  Council  of  the  University  Dean  of 
the  then  newly  re-organized  Graduate  School. 
Since  his  appointment  to  a  Professorship  in  New 
York  University  Professor  Prince  has  endeavored 
to  divide  his  energies  between  the  duties  of  teach- 
ing and  of  writing  articles  etc.  on  his  special 
subjects,  a  partial  list  of  which  includes :  Notes 
on  the  Language  of  the  Eastern  Algonkin  Tribes, 
(American  Journal  Philolog}-,  1888,  Vol.  ix.  pp. 
310-316);  Archaeolog}-  in  Turkey,  (The  Inde- 
pendent, December  6,  1888);  Political  "Leader," 
(The  Nation,  May  30,  1890),  on  the  Austrian- 
Czech  crisis;  The  Linguistic  Position  of  Osmanli 
Turkish,  (Johns  Hopkins  University  Circular, 
April  1891);  Mene  Mene  Tekel  Upharsin,  (Johns 
Hopkins  University  Circular,  No.  98,  pp.  94) ; 
On    the     \^'riting    on    the    Wall    at    Belshazzar's 


UNIFERSrriliS   AND    TllElli    SONS 


I  2  I 


Feast,  (Proct'cdinj^s  American  Oriental  Society, 
April  1892);  The  Book  of  I'salms,  (J.  Wellhausen, 
in  Ilaupt's  Polychrome  Bible,  English  translation 
of  Wellhausen's  notes  on  the  text,  1895)  ;  The 
Passamaciuoddy  Wampum  Records,  (Proceedings 
American  Philosophical  Society,  xxxvi.  pp.  479- 
495,  1897);  Old  Testament  Notes,  (Journal  Biblical 
Literature,  xvi.  pp.  175-6,  1897);  Some  Passama- 
quoddy  Documents,  (New  York  Academy  Science 
Annals,  xi.  pp.  369-377,  1898);  A  Critical  Com- 
mentary on  the  liook  of  Daniel,  designed  especially 
for  Students  of  the  English  Bible,  (Leipzig,  1899, 
J.  C.  Hinrichs'sche  Buchhandlung).  e.  g.  s. 

ASHLEY,    Clarence   DeGrand,  1851- 

Professor  Law  1895- ,  Dean  of  Law  Dept.  1896 

Born  in  Boston,  Mass.,  1851  ;  early  education  at 
Phillips  Academy,  Andover,  Mass.  ;  graduated  Yale, 
1873  ;  studied  in  Germany  ;  graduated  in  law  at 
Columbia,  1880;  admitted  to  Bar,  1879;  helped  to 
organize  Metropolis  Law  School ;  Prof.  Law  N.  Y. 
Univ.  since  1895;  Dean  of  the  Law  Dept.  since  1896; 
LL.D.  Miami  Univ.,  1898;  Non-Resident  Lecturer  of 
Law  at  Bryn-Mawr  College  since  1899. 

CLARENCE  DkGRAND  ASHLEY,  LL.D., 
was  born  in  Boston,  Massachusetts, 
July  4,  1 85 1.  He  comes  of  New  England  ances- 
try, his  forefathers  having  taken  an  active  part  in 
Colonial  affairs  and  served  during  the  Revolu- 
tionary War.  His  parents  are  Ossian  Doolittle 
and  Harriet  Amelia  (Nash)  Ashley.  His  father 
has  been  a  financial  writer  for  fifty  years  past, 
conducted  a  banking  business  for  many  years  and 
since  1886  has  been  President  of  the  Wabash 
Railway  Company.  In  1858  the  family  moved  to 
New  York  City  where  the  subject  of  this  sketch 
has  resided  ever  since.  He  was  educated  in  pri- 
vate city  schools  until  1866,  when  he  went  to  Phil- 
lips Academy  at  Andover,  Massachusetts,  and  was 
graduated  from  there  in  1869.  He  at  once  entered 
Yale  University  and  was  graduated  from  there 
with  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts  in  the  Class  of 
1873.  The  two  years  following  graduation  he 
spent  in  a  banker's  office,  gaining  business  experi- 
ence, and  during  the  same  period  gave  private 
tuition,  successfully  preparing  students  for  the  en- 
trance examinations  at  Columbia  and  Williams. 
In  August  1875  he  went  to  Berlin,  Germany,  and 
devoted  himself  to  the  study  of  German.  In 
April  1876  he  matriculated  at  Berlin  University, 
and  studied  there  for  the  two  following  years  tak- 


ing courses  on  Roman  Law  under  Professors 
J5runs,  Berner  and  Gneist  and  on  International 
Law  under  Professors  Dambach  and  Heffler.  He 
returned  to  New  York  in  July  1878,  having  trav- 
eled through  the  principal  countries  of  Europe 
during  his  vacations.  On  August  12,  1880,  at 
(Jeneva,  Switzerland,  he  was  married  to  Isabella 
Heyward  Ripley,  a  native  of  New  York  City,  and 
a  descendant  from  the  Trumbulls  of  Connecticut. 
In  the  fall  of  1878  he  entered  the  Law  School  of 
Columbia  University,  and  during  his  Law  course 
was  in  the  ofifice  of  Scudder  &  Charter.  In  1879 
he  was  admitted  to  the  New  York  Bar,  and  in  May 


CL.ARF.NCE    D.    ASHLEY 

1S80,  was  graduated  from  Columbia  with  the  de- 
gree of  Bachelor  of  Laws.  He  at  once  entered 
active  practice  and  has  been  engaged  in  many 
prominent  litigations,  repre.senting  well  known 
clients  and  estates,  among  the  former  being  the 
venerable  Pennsylvania  statesman,  Galusha  A. 
Grow,  and  the  Hon.  Andrew  H.  Green,  while 
among  the  latter  were  the  estates  of  William  B. 
Ogden,  Samuel  J.  Tilden  and  Cortlandt  Palmer. 
Dr.  Ashley  is  now  senior  member  of  the  law  firm 
of  Kennison,  Grain,  Emley  &  Rubino.  In  1891 
in  co-operation  with  Abner  C.  Thomas,  LL.D., 
since  Surrogate  of  New  York  county,  he  organized 
the  Metropolis  Law  School,  becoming  a  member 


I  22 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


of  the  Faculty  and  one  of  its  Board  of  Trustees. 
In  1895  the  MetropoHs  Law  School  became  con- 
solidated with  the  Law  Department  of  New  York 
University  and  Mr.  Ashley  was  appointed  Professor 
of  Law  therein,  and  Vice-Dean  of  the  Faculty  in 
charge  of  the  Evening  Division.  In  1895  he 
received  the  honorary  degree  of  Master  of  Laws 
from  New  York  University.  In  1896  upon  the 
death  of  Austin  Abbott,  LL.D.,  he  succeeded  to 
the  office  of  Dean  of  the  Law  Department 
of  New  York  University,  which  position  he  still 
occupies.  In  1898  Miami  University  conferred 
upon  him  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws.  In  1899 
Dr.  Ashley  was  appointed  Non-Resident  Lecturer 
on  Law  in  Bryn-Mawr  College,  which  appointment 
he  still  holds.  e.  g.  s. 

BALLARD,    Addison,  1822- 

Professor  Logic,  1893- 
Born  in  Framingham,  Mass.,  1822  ;  graduated 
Williams,  1842;  Prin.  Hopkins  Acad.  Hadley,  Mass., 
1842-43;  Tutor  at  Williams,  1843-44;  teacher  Grand 
Rapids,  Mich.,  1845-46;  Prof.  Latin  and  Math.  Ohio 
Univ.,  1847-54;  Prof.  Rhetoric  Williams,  1854-55  ;  Prof. 
Astronomy,  Math,  and  Nat.  Phil.  Marietta  College, 
Ohio,  1855-57;  'n  ministerial  work,  1857-72;  Prof. 
Christian  Greek  and  Latin  Lafayette  College,  1874-79  ; 
of  Moral  Phil,  and  Rhetoric  in  same,  1879-94;  Prof. 
Logic  N.  Y.  Univ.  since  1893;  D.D.  Williams,  1867. 

ADDISON  BALLARD,  D.D.,  was  born  in 
Framingham,  Massachusetts,  October  18, 
1822,  son  of  John  and  Pamelia  (Bennett)  Ballard. 
He  was  graduated  from  Williams  in  1842,  the  first 
honor  man  of  his  class,  received  the  degree  of 
Master  of  Arts  in  course,  and  in  1867  that  of 
Doctor  of  Divinity  as  an  honorary  title  from  his 
Alma  Mater.  Inunediately  after  graduation,  he 
became  Principal  of  Hopkins  Academy  in  Hadley, 
Massachusetts,  returning  to  Williams  as  Tutor  in 
1843,  and  remaining  during  one  College  year.  In 
1845  he  taught  in  Grand  Rapids,  Michigan,  and 
the  following  year  did  missionary  service  in  the 
Grand  River  Valley.  For  seven  years,  1847-1854, 
he  was  Professor  of  Latin  and  Mathematics  at 
Ohio  University,  and  then  returned  to  Williams 
for  one  year  of  service  in  the  Chair  of  Rhetoric. 
From  1855  to  1857  he  was  Professor  of  Astronomy, 
Mathematics  and  Natural  Philosophy  at  Marietta 
College  in  Marietta,  Ohio.  The  next  eight  years 
of  Professor  Ballard's  life  were  spent  in  the  Pas- 
torate of  the  First  Congregational  Church  in 
Williamstown,  Massachusetts,  and  for  six  years, 
from    1866    he    occupied    a    similar    position    in 


Detroit,  Michigan.  In  1874  he  was  appointed 
Professor  of  Christian  Greek  and  Latin  in  Lafay- 
ette, serving  in  that  Chair  until  1879,  when  at  his 
own  request  he  was  transferred  to  the  Professor- 
ship of  Moral  Philosophy  and  Rhetoric.  The 
latest  change  in  a  singularly  varied  career,  came 
in  1893  when  he  was  appointed  to  the  Professor- 
ship of  Logic  in  New  York  University  —  his 
present  position.  During  the  former  part  of  this 
period  of  service  in  the  University,  Professor 
Ballard  gave  instruction  also  in  Psychology,  Moral 


ADDISON    HALL.ARD 

Philosophy,  P^thics  and  Christian  Evidences.  His 
wife,  whom  he  married  August  7,  185 1,  was  Julia 
Perkins  Pratt,  a  woman  of  rare  character  and 
accomplishments  —  as  an  author,  best  known, 
perhaps,  by  her  last  book,  Among  the  Moths 
and  Butterflies,  which  has  done  much  to  popular- 
ize and  extend  the  study  of  Entomology.  Besides 
frequent  contributions  to  secular  and  religious 
periodicals  Professor  Ballard  is  the  author  of  a 
book   entitled  Arrows ;    or  Teaching  a   Fine  Art. 


ERWIN,    Frank   Alexander,  1860- 

Professor  Law,  1893- 
Born  in  ^Vest  Point,  N.  Y. ,  i860;  prepared  for  Col- 
lege in  N.  Y.  schools  ;  graduated  Williams,  1882;  A.M., 
Williams,  1885;  LL.B.  N.  Y.  Univ.,  189 1 ;  LL.M.  1895; 


UNIFERSITIES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


123 


Head  Master  Peekskill  Mil.  Acad.  1882  ;  Instr.  Eng.  Lit. 
Dr.  Sachs's  Collegiate  Inst.,  N.  Y.  City,  1886;  Instr. 
Legal  Hist.  N.  Y.  Univ.  Law  School,  1891  ;  Prof.  Law 
since  1893;  Sec.  to  Justice  of  N.  Y.  Supreme  Court; 
practicing  lawyer. 

FRANK  ALEXANDER  ERWIN,  .son  of 
William  aiul  l-;iizabetli  (Stuart)  Erwin,  was 
born  in  West  Toint,  New  ^'oik,  January  9,  i860. 
His  early  education  was  obtained  chiefly  at  three 
schools  of  New  \ork  State:  Donald's  Institute  in 
Highland  I'alls  ;  the  Peekskill  Military  Academy 
and  Si<;lar"s  Preparatory  School  in  Newburgh. 
Erom  the  last  named   institution   he  entered  Wil- 


Junior  year  and  the  first  prize  for  the  best  written 
examination  in  his  Senior  year  ;  he  was  one  of  the 
Commencement  speakers.  Besides  his  profes- 
sional practice,  Professor  Erwin  has  had  a  notable 
experience  as  an  educator.  Erom  1882  to  1885 
he  was  Head  Master  of  the  Peekskill  Military 
Academy  and  later  became  an  Instructor  in  Eng- 
lish Literature  at  Dr.  Sachs's  Collegiate  Institute 
in  New  York  City.  In  1892  he  was  appointed 
In.structor  in  Legal  History  in  the  Law  School 
of  the  University,  and  from  that  position  was 
advanced  to  a  Law  Professorship  in  1893.     Pro- 


Hams  and  tiiere  graduated  with  the  degree  Bachelor      fes.sor  Erwin  also  delivers  lectures  on  the  Evolution 

of  Law  before  the  Hartford  School  of  Sociology. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  Chi  Psi  and  Phi  Delta 
Phi  fraternities,  the  Williams  Alumni  of  New  York, 
the  Phi  Beta  Kappa  Alumni  of  New  York,  the 
New  York  University  Law  School  Alumni,  the 
New  York  Junior  Law  School  Alumni,  the  Bar 
Association  of  the  City  of  New  York  and  the 
American  Bar  Association.  His  writings  include  : 
Cases  on  Sales,  a  Summary  of  Torts  and  Cases  on 
Torts.  * 


LADUE,    Pomeroy,  1868- 

Acting  Professor  Mathematics  1894-98,  Professor  1898- 
Born  in  Detroit,  Mich.,  1868;  early  education  in 
public  schools  ;  graduated  B.S.  Univ.  of  Mich.,  1890; 
connected  with  U.  S.  Weather  Bureau,  Detroit,  1892-93  ; 
Instr.  Math.  Univ.  of  Mich.,  1893-94 ;  Acting  Prof. 
Math.  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1894  98 ;  Prof,  since  1898;  Sec. 
Faculty  of  Graduate  School,  1894  ;  Sec.  Faculty  of 
School  of  Applied  Science,  1898- 

POMEROY  LADUE  was  born  in  Detroit, 
Michigan.  October  23,  1868.  On  his 
father's  side  his  ancestry  includes  the  first  Ameri- 
can of  the  name  Ladue,  one  of  the  Huguenot 
settlers  of  New  Rochelle,  New  York.  On  his 
mother's  side  his  ancestry  is  nearly  pure  English. 
His  grandfather  coming  to  Detroit  in  the  late  for- 
ties from  New  York,  when  the  city  had  but  fifteen 
thousand  inhabitants,  became  actively  interested 
in  the  city  and  state  of  his  adoption,  ser^'ing  just 
before  his  death  in  1854  as  Mayor  of  the  city. 
His  father  associated  with  his  father's  brothers 
continued  the  business  which  was  that  of  tanners, 
dealers  in  wool,  cattle,  etc.  Pomeroy  Ladue,  at- 
tending the  public  schools  from  the  beginning  of 
his  school  life  through  the  successive  steps  of 
primar}-,    grammar,    high    schools  and    the  State 


FR.'VNK    A.    ERWIN 

of  Arts  in  1882  ;  receiving  the  Master's  degree  in 
1885.  At  Williams,  Professor  Erwin  was  one  of 
the  first  men  of  his  class,  winning  various  honors 
distinctive  of  the  prominent  scholar.  He  was 
elected  to  the  learned  body  of  the  Phi  Beta  Kappa 
Society  in  his  Junior  year ;  took  the  German 
prize  ;  occupied  the  Editorship  of  The  Athenaeum, 
and  at  Commencement  delivered  the  Philosophical 
Oration.  His  professional  study  was  performed 
at  the  Law  School  of  New  York  University  where 
he  received  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Laws  in 
1891,  and  that  of  Master  of  Laws  in  1895.  Here 
again  he  gained  the  rewards  of  high  scholarship, 
being  awarded  the  Eirst  Eaculty  Scholarship  in  his 


I'niversity  at  Ann  Arbor,  is  a  product  of  that  ad- 
mirably organized  system  of    free  schools    which 


124 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


has  had  so  much  to  do  with  the  development  of 
the  Middle  West.  At  the  University  of  Michigan 
he  spent  in  all  six  and  a  half  years,  devoting  a 
large  part  of  his  time  from  the  beginning  of  his 
College  course  to  specialization  in  Mathematics 
and  allied  sciences.  The  elective  system  which 
there  has  free  scope  encourages  such  specializa- 
tion, so  that  in  the  undergraduate  course  he  was 
able  to  devote  more  than  one  third  of  his  time  to 
pure  mathematics,  thus  securing  a  good  founda- 
tion for  further  study.  In  College  he  was  active 
in  various  student  organizations.  He  joined  a 
Greek  letter  fraternity,  was  active  in  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  Mathematical  Club  and  the  Astro- 
nomical Club,  and  interested  also  in  College  jour- 
nalism, holding  positions  on  the  chief  weekly  papers 
from  solicitor  for  advertisements  to  managing  edi- 
tor. In  the  study  of  Mathematics  he  was  asso- 
ciated with  Professor  Richard  Oiney,  a  most 
inspiring  teacher,  Professor  W.  \\'.  Bcman,  now 
the  head  of  the  Mathematical  Department  at  the 
University  of  Michigan,  Professor  F.  N.  Cole, 
who  brought  to  the  University  the  enthusiasm 
resulting  from  recent  contact  with  German  mathe- 
maticians (he  was  one  of  Klein's  first  American 
students)  now  Professor  of  Mathematics  at  Colum- 
bia University,  Professor  Alexander  Ziwet  and  a 
number  of  younger  workers.  The  two  years  and 
a  half  from  June  1890  to  February  1893  following 
graduation  were  devoted  to  experimenting  in  sev- 
eral fields  of  labor.  Tempted  by  the  allurements 
of  the  life  of  a  successful  lawyer  he  studied  law  for 
a  year  at  Ann  Arbor  in  the  Law  Department  of 
the  University,  followed  by  office  work  with  some 
court  room  experience  in  Detroit.  This  not  prov- 
ing congenial  he  accepted  a  position  as  Observer 
in  the  United  States  Weather  Bureau  stationed 
at  Detroit.  In  February  1893  he  accepted  the 
appointment  as  Instructor  of  Mathematics  at  his 
Alma  Mater.  Upon  returning  to  Ann  Arbor  he 
continued  his  study  along  advanced  lines  in  asso- 
ciation with  the  other  members  of  the  corps  of 
Instructors,  taking  some  work  in  class  with  the 
students  in  the  Graduate  School  and  meeting  fre- 
quently for  seminar  work  his  fellow  Mathematical 
Instructors.  During  this  period  he  continued  his 
study  along  the  lines  of  Applied  Mathematics,  Pro- 
jective Geometry,  Theory  of  Functions,  including 
some  special  work  in  the  application  of  differential 
equations  to  surfaces.  In  May  1894  he  was  ap- 
pointed Acting  Professor  of  Mathematics  at  New 


York  University,  changed  to  full  Professor  in 
1898.  Upon  coming  to  New  York,  closer  associ- 
ation with  the  work  of  the  American  Mathematical 
Society,  whose  meetings  are  held  in  New  York 
City,  became  possible.  In  1895  he  was  elected 
Librarian  and  as  such  a  member  of  the  Council  of 
the  Society,  offices  to  which  he  has  been  reelected 
each  j-ear  since  1895.  Coming  to  New  York 
University  when  the  uptown  movement  was  an 
accomplished  fact  he  has  been  actively  identified 
with  the  various  lines  of  growth  resulting  from  that 
movement.  Of  the  Faculty  of  the  Graduate  School 
Professor  Ladue  in  1894  became  Secretary.  Upon 
the  establishment  of  the  School  of  Applied  Sci- 
ences in  1898  he  was  appointed  Secretary  of  its 
Faculty.  He  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Sum- 
mer School,  started  in  1895,  and  he  continues  to 
offer  courses  each  summer.  Since  1894  the  en- 
trance requirements  in  Mathematics  have  been  in- 
creased so  that  they  now  compare  very  favorably 
with  those  of  other  Colleges  of  recognized  stand- 
ing. In  line  with  this  general  growth,  the  courses 
of  study  in  the  College  the  School  of  Applied  Sci- 
ence, and  the  Graduate  School  have  been  changed 
under  his  direction  to  meet  changed  conditions. 

E.    G.    s. 

BROWN,    Marshall   Stewart,   1870- 

Professor  History  and  Political  Science,  1894- 

Born  in  Keene.  N.  H.,  1870;  graduated  Brown,  1892; 
A.M.,  1893  ;  Instr.  Hist.  Univ.  of  Mich.,  1893  94  ;  Acting 
Prof,  and  Prof.  Hist,  and  Political  Science  N.  Y.  Univ. 
since  1894. 

MARSHALL  STEWART  BROWN  was 
born  in  Keene,  New  Hampshire,  in 
1870,  the  second  of  six  children.  His  earliest 
American  ance.stor  was  Thomas  Brown,  who  came 
to  Massachusetts  Bay  Colony  about  1630.  He  was 
one  of  the  original  grantees  of  Sudbury,  Massa- 
chusetts, and  one  of  the  original  settlers  of 
Concord,  Massachusetts.  The  family  lived  in 
Concord,  Massachusetts,  until  about  the  middle 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  when  an  ancestor  moved 
to  New  Ipswich,  New  Hampshire.  Professor 
Brown's  ancestor.  Captain  Josiah  Brown,  an 
officer  in  the  Revolutionary  War,  was  in  com- 
mand of  a  New  Hampshire  troop  at  the  Battle 
of  Bunker  Hill  and  had  the  distinction  of  being 
the  last  officer  to  leave  the  hill  in  the  retreat  from 
that  famous  field.  He  was  later  in  command 
of  a  New  Hampshire  contingent  that  fought  with 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    TH^IR    SONS 


125 


Stark  in  the  Bennington  campaign.  Professor 
Brown's  grandfather  moved  from  New  Ipswich  to 
Keene,  New  Hampshire,  where  his  father,  George 
A.  Brown,  was  born.  The  hitter  married  Ida  I,., 
daughter  of  Reuben  Stewart,  General  Manager 
of  the  Cheshire  Railroad  and  twice  Mayor  of 
the  City  of  Keene.  Marshall  S.  Brown,  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch,  spent  his  early  life  (with  the 
exception  of  a  few  years  in  Boston)  in  his  native 
place,  being  educated  in  a  private  school,  and 
then  in  the  connnon  and  High  School  of  his 
native  city,  and  in  Brown  University  wiiere  he  was 
graduated  in  1892.     While  in  College   he  became 


MARSHALL    S.    BROWN 

a  member  of  the  Zeta  Psi  Fraternity,  and  at  the 
end  of  his  Junior  year  was  chosen  at  the  first 
election  a  member  of  the  Phi  Beta  Kappa  Fra- 
ternity. He  spent  the  year  following  upon 
graduation  as  a  graduate  student  and  Fellow  in 
History  and  Political  Science,  receiving  the  degree 
of  Master  of  Arts,  vm^iia  cum  laiide  in  1893. 
He  was  appointed  Instructor  in  History  in  the 
spring  of  1893  at  the  University  of  Michigan  in 
Ann  Arbor,  and  spent  the  year  1893- 1894  as 
the  incumbent  of  that  Instructorship.  He  came 
to  New  York  Uni\ersity  in  September  1894  as 
Acting  Professor  of  History  and  Political  Science, 
was  later  promoted  to  the  full  Professorship  and 


has  been  in  charge  of  the  Department  of  History 
and  Political  Science  since  1894.  Professor 
Brown  has  twice  been  abroad  for  tiie  purposes  of 
study  and  travel;  studying  in  neidell)erg  in  1893 
and  1894  under  I'rofessors  Erdmannsdorffer, 
WinkcJmann,  licydeck  and  (ieorge  Meyer.  He 
has  been  Registrar  of  the  College  Faculty  for 
four  years,  and  ('hairman  of  the  Standing  C!om- 
mittee  on  Scliolarship  for  about  the  same  length 
of  time.  He  has  been  Secretary  of  the  New  York 
University  Summer  Courses  for  two  years  1899- 
1900.  He  was  C'iiairnian  of  the  Conimittee  on 
Athletic  and  Social  Organizations  for  two  years 
and  is  Recording  Secretary  of  the  New  York 
Chapter  of  the  Phi  Beta  Kappa  Fraternity. 
Professor  Brown  is  a  member  of  the  American 
Historical  Association  and  of  the  American 
Academy  of  Political  and  Social  Science.  He 
married,  June  12,  1900,  Margaret,  daughter  of 
Professor  Heniy  M.  Baird,  D.I).,  LL.D.,  Professor 
of  Greek  in  New  York  I'niversity.  k.  o.  s. 


BRISTOL,   Charles  Lawrence,    1859- 

Professor  Biology,  1894- 
Born  in  Ballston  Spa,  N.  Y.,  1859;  graduated  N.  Y. 
Univ.,  1883;  taught  at  Riverview  Acad.  Poughkeepsie, 
N.  Y.,  1883-88;  Prof.  Zoology  State  Univ.  of  Dakota, 
i888-gi  ;  Fellow  in  Zoology  Clark  Univ.  Worcester, 
Mass.,  1891-92  ;  at  Univ.  of  Chicago,  1892-94  ;  Prof. 
Biology  N.  Y.  Univ.  since  1894;  Ph.D.  Univ.  of 
Chicago,  1896. 

CHARLES  LAWRENCE  BRISTOL,  Ph.D., 
the  son  of  Lawrence  W.  and  Caroline  (Haw- 
kins) Bristol,  was  born  in  Ballston  Spa,  Saratoga 
county.  New  York.  He  was  educated  in  the  pub- 
lic schools  of  that  place,  and  while  yet  a  lad, 
exhibited  marked  interest  in  mechanical  and 
scientific  subjects.  He  entered  New  York  Uni- 
versity in  1879  and  was  graduated  in  1883,  having 
won  a  Commencement  oration  and  election  to  the 
Phi  Beta  Kappa  Society.  In  his  Sophomore  year 
he  won  the  Second  Butler  Essay  Prize,  and  in  his 
Junior  year  the  Finst  Butler  E.ssay  Prize.  During 
his  College  life  he  was  influenced  especially  by 
Professors  Benjamin  N.  Martin  and  John  W. 
Draper.  The  gentleness  and  culture  of  the  former, 
his  generous  sympathy  with  the  impulses  of  young 
men,  his  wide  range  of  knowledge,  and  his  keen 
sense  of  humor  left  their  impress  upon  the  subject 
of  this  sketch.  Dr.  John  W.  Draper,  on  the  other 
hand,  stimulated  his  latent  scientific  impulses. 
Draper's    lectures  aroused    his    curiosity  and   led 


126 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


him  to  read  and  study  to  supplement  them.  At 
the  close  of  a  quiz  in  which  Mr.  Bristol  had  suc- 
cessfully described  what  was  then  considered  a 
complex  electrometer  and  its  operations,  Professor 
Draper  asked  him  to  remain  ;  and  then  began  an 
intercourse  between  Professor  and  student  that 
was  ended  only  by  the  Professor's  death.  The 
conversations  were  not  confined  to  science  —  the 
author  of  the  Intellectual  Development  of  Europe 
had  too  vast  a  store  of  information  to  be  con- 
fined to  a  single  branch  of  learning  —  and  gave 
freely  of  his  knowledge  to  an  eager  listener  in 
these  out-of-hours  meetings.  He  was  an  Editor 
of  the  University  Quarterly  during  his  Junior  and 
Senior  years,  and  this,  together  with  an  active 
participation  in  the  meetings  of  the  Eucleian 
Literary  Society  contributed  not  a  little  to  the 
ordinary  advantages  of  College  life.  After  gradua- 
tion he  taught  Chemistry  and  Physics  in  Riverview 
Academy  in  Poughkeepsie,  New  York,  until  1888. 
During  this  period  an  early  liking  for  the  study  of 
plants  and  animals  re-asserted  itself  and  found 
opportunity  for  development.  He  joined  the 
Vassar  Brothers'  Institute,  a  scientific  and  literary 
society  in  Poughkeepsie,  was  soon  made  Secretary 
of  the  Institute  and  afterward  Chairman  of  the 
Scientific  Section.  Here  he  met  Professors  Dwight 
and  Cooley  of  Vassar  College  and  enjoyed  their 
friendship.  In  1888  he  was  called  to  the  Chair  of 
Zoology  in  the  State  University  of  Dakota  at  Ver- 
million, now  in  South  Dakota.  There  he  remained 
until  1 89 1  when  he  resigned  to  accept  a  Fellowship 
in  Zoology  at  Clark  University  in  Worcester, 
Massachusetts,  ofifered  to  him  at  the  instance  of 
Professor  Charles  O.  Whitman,  then  Profes.sor 
of  Zoolog)'  in  that  institution.  At  the  end  of  the 
year,  all  the  instructors  and  fellows  in  the  zoologi- 
cal subjects  resigned  their  positions  in  Clark 
University  to  take  similar  places  in  the  University 
of  Chicago  at  its  opening  session  in  1892.  Mr. 
Bristol  continued  his  investigations  in  Chicago  for 
two  years  when  he  was  called  back  to  his  Alma 
Mater  to  inaugurate  the  new  Department  of  Biology 
and  to  become  Professor  of  Biology  before  he  had 
completed  his  investigations.  These  were  after- 
wards completed  at  the  Marine  Biological  Labora- 
tory, Woods  Hole,  Massachusetts,  and  he  received 
the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Philosophy  from  the  Uni- 
versity of  Chicago  in  1896.  This  work  at  Woods 
Hole  was  done  in  conjunction  with  the  work  at 
Clark  University  and  at  Chicago,  and  there  during 


several  summers  beginning  in  1889  Professor 
Bristol  formed  acquaintances  among  and  came 
into  touch  with  men  from  all  over  the  United 
States  who  stand  foremost  among  the  biologists 
of  this  country.  No  influence,  perhaps,  has  been 
so  stimulating  as  these  summer  gatherings  at  the 
seashore  in  which,  free  from  all  the  conventionali- 
ties attaching  to  formal  instruction,  the  masters 
discussed  the  burning  questions  of  the  science,  or 
gave  to  their  fellow-students  the  ripe  results  of 
their  experience.  Here  he  met  Brooks  of  Johns 
Hopkins,  Ryder  of  Pennsylvania,  Minot  of  Har- 
vard, Morse  of  Salem,  Kingsley  of  Tufts,  and  a 
great  group  of  other  men,  all  earnest  workers  in 
Biolog}^  In  the  summer  of  1897  at  the  suggestion 
of  Professor  Stevenson  and  by  the  aid  of  a  number 
of  the  alumni  of  the  University  Professor  Bristol 
made  the  first  of  a  series  of  zoological  expeditions 
to  Bermuda,  and  his  reconnaissances  have  led  him 
to  seek  to  establish  there  a  permanent  biological 
station  under  the  auspices  of  the  University.  Pro- 
fessor Bristol  was  married  in  1890  to  Ellen, 
daughter  of  the  Hon.  N.  S.  Gallup  of  Ledyard, 
Connecticut.  They  have  three  children  :  Charles 
L.,  Jr.,  Elizabeth  and  Robert  Gallup  Bristol.      * 


BOSTWICK,  Charles  Francis,  1866- 

Professor  Law,  1894- 
Born  in  Tuckahoe,  N.  Y.,  1866;  educated  in  public 
schools;  Ph.B.  Columbia,  1886;  LL.B.  (cum  laude), 
1886;  admitted  to  N.  Y.  Bar,  1887;  Lecturer  in  N.  Y. 
Univ.  Law  School,  1893-94;  Prof.  Law  with  subjects 
of  Corporations  and  Special  Statutory  Procedure  since 
1894;  LL.M.  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1894;  practicing  lawyer  in 
N.  Y.  City;  member  of  Seventh  Regiment  N.  G.  N.  Y. 
for  thirteen  years. 

CHARLES  FRANCIS  BOSTWICK  was 
born  in  Tuckahoe,  Westchester  count}^, 
New  York,  October  lo,  1866,  son  of  Charles  Coffin 
and  Mary  Frances  (Goodwin)  Bostwick.  He  is 
descended  from  one  of  the  oldest  New  England 
families  which  settled  in  Connecticut  in  1640.  He 
was  educated  in  the  public  schools  of  his  native 
place,  and  entered  Columbia,  taking  the  degree  of 
Bachelor  of  Philosophy  and  his  first  law  degree 
from  Columbia  Law  School,  cum  laude,  in  1886. 
He  was  admitted  to  the  New  York  Bar  in  1887, 
and  immediately  began  the  practice  in  which  he 
has  since  achieved  such  marked  distinction.  He 
is  at  present  a  member  of  the  firm  of  Bostwick, 
Morrell  &  Bates.  In  1893,  on  the  invitation  of 
Dean  Austin  Abbott,  a  personal  friend,  he  lectured 


UNIFERSITIES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


I  27 


in  the  New  York  University  Law  School  on  Special 
Statutory  Procedure,  and  in  the  following  year 
received  the  honorary  degree  of  Master  of  Laws, 
and  was  made  fifth  member  of  the  Law  Faculty  as 
Professor  of  Corporations  and  Special  Statutory 
Procedure,  which  position  he  still  holds.  Professor 
Postwick  was  Prosecuting  Attorney  for  the  New 
York  City  Bar  Association  in  1893,  and  is  now 
Editor-in-Chief  of  The  Brief,  the  official  organ  of 
the  Phi  Delta  Phi  Fraternity.  He  has  contributed 
to  various  law  and  medical  journals  as  follows :  Is 
the  Common  Law  Superior  to  the  Civil  Law,  an 
answer  to  Judge  Bermudez  of  Louisiana  ;  also  the 


CHAKI.KS     F.     BOSTWICK 

following  articles  in  the  University  Law  Review  : 
Post-graduate  Study  ;  Forms  for  Physical  Kxamina- 
tion  Before  Trial ;  \\'hat  Liabilities  may  be  pro- 
vided for  in  an  Assignment  for  the  Benefit  of 
Creditors ;  Husband's  Rights  in  \Yife's  Property  ; 
A  New  Tax  Liiportant  to  Corporations  ;  Corporate 
By-laws  affecting  Members'  Shares  and  Interests ; 
The  New  Lien  Law ;  and  in  the  New  York  Medi- 
cal Journal:  The  New  Insanity  Law,  Part  III. 
Cobb's  Notes  on  the  Code,  1897.  Professor 
Bostwick  delivered  an  address  on  Legislative 
Competition  for  Corporate  Capital  before  the 
New  York  State  Bar  Association  (1899)  which 
was  published  in  The  American  Lawyer.     He  has 


also  published  a  Minute  Book  of  New  York  Cor- 
porations, and  a  Manual  of  Corporation  Minutes. 
He  served  for  thirteen  years  in  the  Seventh  Regi- 
ment of  the  National  Guard  of  the  State  of  New 
York.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Piii  Delta  Piii 
Fraternity  and  the  New  York  Bar  Association,  and 
is  an  active  Republican  in  politics.  Professor 
Bostwick  married,  January  20,  1898,  Laura, 
daughter  of  Charles  B.  Bostwick  of  New  York 
City.  They  have  one  son,  Charles  I'"rancis  Bost- 
wick, Jr.  * 

McLOUTH,   Lawrence  A.,  1863- 

Professor  German,  1895- 
Born  in  Ontonagon,  Mich.,  1863;  attended  Mich. 
State  Normal  School;  graduated  Univ.  of  Mich.,  1887; 
Prin.  High  School,  Danville,  111.,  1887-91  ;  studied  in 
Germany,  1891-93;  Instr.  Univ.  of  Mich.,  1893-95; 
Prof.  German  Lang,  and  Lit.  N.  Y.  Univ.  since  1895. 

LAWRENCE  A.  McLOUTH,  son  of  Dr. 
Lewis  and  Sarah  (Doty)  McLouth,  was 
born  January  19,  1863,  in  Ontonagon,  Michigan,  in 
the  Lake  Superior  region,  where  his  father  was 
Principal  of  the  Public  Schools.  After  spending  the 
earlier  years  of  his  childhood  in  Monroe  and  Battle 
Creek,  he  removed  with  his  parents  to  Ypsilanti, 
Michigan,  where  his  father  had  been  elected  Profes- 
sor of  Physics  and  Chemistry  in  the  State  Normal 
School.  He  first  attended  a  private  school  and  then 
entered  the  model  school  connected  with  the  Normal. 
When  fourteen  years  of  age  he  was  admitted  to  the 
scientific  course  in  the  Normal.  He  made  so  good 
progress  that  at  seventeen  years  of  age  he  became 
pupil-assistant  in  Mathematics  under  that  Nestor 
of  teachers  of  Mathematics  in  Michigan,  Professor 
C.  F.  R.  Bellows.  Later  under  the  ad\ice  of  his 
father  he  began  the  study  of  German  under  Pro- 
fessor August  Lodeman,  Professor  of  Modern 
Languages  in  the  Normal.  Becoming  thus  inter- 
ested in  language  study,  he  began  Latin  by  himself, 
catching  up  with  the  regular  class  in  Ca,'sar  during 
the  first  year.  Then  he  changed  from  the  scien- 
tific to  the  classical  course,  and  followed  the 
regular  College  preparatory  work  under  the  able 
and  enthusiastic  teacher,  Professor  Joseph  Esta- 
brook,  meantime  acquiring  by  himself  a  fair 
reading  knowledge  of  Italian  and  Spanish.  During 
his  Senior  year  in  the  Normal  he  was  pupil-assistant 
to  the  Professor  of  Latin  and  Greek,  and  also 
taught  for  a  time  to  fill  a  vacancy  in  the  High 
School  in  Dexter,  Michigan.  During  his  entire 
preparatory  course   he  took  an  active   interest   in 


128 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


the  literary  societies  and  did  considerable  repor- 
torial  work  for  Ypsilanti  and  Detroit  papers.  At 
close  of  his  preparatory  course  he  had  an  oppor- 
tunity to  enter  the  United  States  Naval  Academy 
at  Annapolis,  but  feeling  that  his  tastes  led  him 
rather  to  literary  and  linguistic  studies  he  decided 
to  go  to  the  University  of  Michigan,  his  father's 
Alma  Mater,  which  he  entered  in  the  autumn  of 
1882.  In  the  middle  of  his  freshman  year  he  was 
obliged  to  give  up  his  studies  on  account  of  trouble 
with  his  eyes.  Early  in  the  following  spring  he 
was  called  to  Cassopolis,  Michigan,  to  finish  the 
year  as  Principal  of  the  High  School.     The  follow- 


I.AWKKNCK    A.     M<  LOUTH 

ing  summer  was  spent  in  newspaper  work  in  Os- 
coda, Michigan.  Late  in  August  he  was  offered  the 
Principalship  of  the  High  School  at  Mt.  Pleasant, 
Michigan,  which  he  accepted  and  successfully 
filled  for  two  years.  Returning  to  the  University 
of  Michigan  in  October  1885,  he  resumed  his 
College  work,  paying  particular  attention  to  Latin 
and  Greek.  During  these  last  years  of  his  under- 
graduate course  he  came  under  the  active  influence 
of  such  men  as  Professors  Frieze,  D'Ooge,  Patten- 
gill,  Walter  and  Payne,  whose  accurate  scholarship 
and  friendly  interest  inspired  him  to  careful  and 
continued  work.  He  graduated  with  the  degree  of 
Bachelor  of  Arts  in  June  1887.     The  summer  was 


spent  as  instructor  in  state  teachers'  institutes. 
In  September  he  took  up  his  duties  as  Principal  of 
the  High  School  at  Danville,  Illinois.  After  four 
years  of  successful  work  he  resigned  and  went  to 
Europe.  He  entered  the  University  at  Leipzig, 
Germany,  and  choosing  German  as  a  major  took 
up  work  under  such  men  as  Hildebrand,  von 
Bahder,  Brugmann,  Elster  and  Witkowski.  The 
following  year  he  went  to  Heidelberg  to  enjoy  the 
instruction  of  Braune,  Osthofif  and  Wunderlich. 
In  Germany  he  took  an  active  part  in  the  semi- 
naries and  became  a  member  of  the  Verein  fur  die 
Neueren  Sprachen.  He  was  then  offered  an 
mstructorship  at  his  Alma  Mater,  which  he 
accepted.  Besides  doing  his  regular  work  of 
teaching  he  took  an  active  interest  in  the  Philo- 
logical Association  and  in  the  general  literary 
affairs  of  the  University.  In  May  1895,  he  was 
elected  Professor  of  the  German  language  and 
literature  in  New  York  University.  He  at  once 
took  an  active  participaticm  in  the  Modern 
Language  Association,  the  American  Philological 
Society,  the  Academy  of  Sciences,  the  (iesellig-wiss- 
enschaftlicher  Verein,  the  Nationaler  Deutsch- 
Amerikanischer  Lehrerbund  and  in  other  scientific 
and  social  organizations,  presenting  papers  to 
several.  In  1897  he  succeeded  in  interesting  a 
prominent  German-.Vmerican  of  culture,  wealth  and 
generosity,  the  late  Oswald  Ottendorfer,  LL.D.,  in 
founding  for  the  University  what  promises  to  be  the 
best  Germanic  library  in  America.  Also  through 
his  eft'orts  funds  for  a  Fellowship  in  Germanic 
Philology  are  being  collected.  If  he  has  been  at 
all  successful  in  teaching  and  in  study  in  his 
chosen  field  of  labor,  it  is  largely  due  to  the  strong 
influence  toward  accurate,  independent  scholarship 
e.xerted  upon  him  by  his  father,  by  Professor  A.  H. 
Pattengill,  University  of  Michigan,  and  by  Profes- 
sor Wilhelm  Braune,  of  the  University  of  Heidel- 
berg, Germany.  K.  G.  s. 


WEIR,    Samuel,    1860- 

Professor  History  of  Education  and  Ethics,  1895-1901. 
Born  in  London,  Ont.,  i860;  attended  Provincial 
Normal  School  Toronto;  Prin.  Pub.  Schools,  Tingal, 
Ont. ;  First  Asst.  Central  School,  Port  Hope,  Ont. ; 
Pastor,  Bay  City,  Mich.,  1882  84;  A.B.  Northwestern 
Univ.,  111.,  1S89;  B.D.  Garrett  Biblical  Institute,  111., 
1887;  Prof.  Greek  and  Latin,  Southwest  Kansas  Col- 
lege, 1889-90 ;  Pastor  St.  Paul's  M.  E.  Church, 
Wichita,  Kan.,  1890;  First  M.  E.  Church,  Cheyenne, 


UNiyERSITIES   AND    TIIEIK    SONS 


I  29 


Wy.,  1891  ;  Ph.D.  111.  Wesleyan  Univ.,  1891  ;  Instructor 
Math.  Northwestern  Univ.,  1892;  Ph.D.  Univ.  of  Jena, 
1895;  Prof.  Hist,  of  Education  and  of  Ethics  N.  Y. 
Univ.,  1895   1901. 

S.\MrKL  WKIR.  I'li.l).,  was  born  in  the 
township  of  London,  County  of  Middlesex, 
Ontario,  April  15,  i860.  He  spent  his  early  years 
on  a  farm  where  he  learned  to  endure  some  of  the 
hardships  of  country  life,  for  the  family  was  large 
and  the  luxuries  were  few.  His  early  education 
was  obtained  in  the  connnon  school  situated  near 
his  home,  which  at  that  time  enjoyed  an  enviable 
reputation  for  efficiency.  At  the  age  of  sixteen  he 
began  life  as  a  teacher  in  a  neighboring  district 
school.  After  two  years  employed  in  teaching 
and  private  study  he  attended  the  Provincial 
Normal  School  in  Toronto.  Having  completed 
the  prescribed  course  of  study  and  obtained  a 
Provincial  Teacher's  Certificate  of  the  first  class, 
he  was  appointed  to  the  position  of  Principal  of 
the  Public  Schools  of  Fingal,  Ontario,  and  later  he 
served  as  First  Assistant  in  the  Central  School  of 
Port  Hope,  Ontario.  Having  been  invited  in 
1882  to  become  Pastor  of  a  church  in  Bay  City, 
Michigan,  he  accepted  the  invitation  and  removed 
to  the  United  States.  The  same  year  he  joined 
the  Detroit  Conference  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  and  settled  down,  as  he  supposed,  to  his 
life  work.  But  it  was  not  long  before  he  felt  the 
need  of  a  more  extensive  course  of  training,  and  con- 
sequently he  repaired  in  the  year  1884  to  Evanston, 
Illinois,  where  he  spent  five  years,  during  which 
period  he  completed  the  Classical  course  in  North- 
western University,  and  also  the  Theological  course 
in  the  Garret  Biblical  Institute  and  obtained  the 
degrees  Bachelor  of  Arts  and  Bachelor  of  Divinity. 
While  pursuing  his  studies  at  Evanston,  Professor 
Weir  earned  his  support  by  acting  as  Pastor  of  small 
churches  in  the  vicinity  of  Chicago.  Having 
immediately  after  graduation  received  a  call  to  the 
Professorship  of  Greek  and  Latin  in  the  Southwest 
Kansas  College,  Professor  Weir  removed  to  Win- 
field,  Kansas,  and  took  up  the  arduous  duties  of 
instructor  in  a  new  and  struggling  \\'estern  College. 
The  situation  not  proving  satisfactory  owing  to  the 
financial  straits  and  limitations  of  the  in.stitution,  he 
resigned  after  one  year  and  re-entered  the  ministr)-, 
as  Pastor  of  St.  Paul's  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
Wichita,  Kansas.  A  year  and  a  half  later,  having 
received  a  call  to  the  Pastorate  of  the  First 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  of  Cheyenne,  Wyom- 


ing, he  removed  to  this  new  charge.  But  within  a 
short  time  illness  in  his  family  compelled  him  to 
remove  to  a  lower  altitude.  A  temporary  opening 
having  occurred  in  the  Department  of  Mathematics 
of  Northwestern  University,  Professor  Weir,  who 
had  meantime  obtained  the  degree  of  Doctor  of 
Philosophy  from  the  Illinois  Wesleyan  University 
by  private  study  and  examination,  was  appcjinted 
to  the  vacant  place.  On  the  completion  of  this 
engagement  he  repaired  to  Boston,  and  engaged 
in  the  study  of  Philo.sophy  under  the  direction  of 
Professor  Borden  P.  Bowne.  In  the  following 
spring  he  went  to  Germany  where  he  spent  a  year 
and  a  half  as  a  student  in  the  Universities  of  Jena 
and  Leipzig.  From  the  University  of  Jena  he 
obtained  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Philosophy, 
siDiuna  cn»t  laitdc.  On  his  return  to  America,  in 
1895,  he  was  appointed  Professor  of  the  History 
of  Education  and  of  Ethics,  in  New  York  Uni- 
versity, the  position  which  he  occupied  to  1901. 
He  has  published :  Historical  Preparation  for 
Chri-stianity,  Methodist  Review,  November  1892  ; 
Christianity  in  Civilization,  Cincinnati,  1892  ; 
Der  Monismus  mit  besonder  Riicksicht  auf  die 
Kosmische  Theorie  Herbert  Spencers,  Jena,  1895  ; 
Hebrew  Education,  Educational  Foundations, 
November  1897  ;  The  Place  of  the  Ideal  in 
Education,  New  York  Teacher's  Quarterly,  April 
1898;  The  Key  to  Rousseau's  Emile,  Educational 
Review,  June   1898.  e.  g.  s. 


JACKSON,    Samuel    Macauley,    1851- 

Professor  Church  History,  1895- 
Born  in  New  York  City,  1851  ;  graduated  College  of 
City  of  N.  Y.,  1870;  studied  at  Princeton  Theol. 
Sem.,  1870-71  ;  graduated  Union  Theol.  Sem.,  1873  ; 
abroad,  1873-75;  Pastor  Presbyterian  Church,  Nor- 
wood, N.  J.,  1876-80;  engaged  in  literary  work,  chiefly 
editorial,  1880-95  ;  Prof.  Church  Hist.  N.  Y.  Univ. 
since  1895  ;  LL.D.  \A^ashington  and  Lee,  1892  ;  D.D. 
N.  Y.  Univ.,  1893. 

SAMUEL  MACAULEY  JACKSON.  D.D., 
LL.D.,  was  born  in  New  York  City,  June 
19,  185 1.  His  father,  George  T.  Jackson,  was  a 
merchant ;  and  the  latter's  father,  a  member  of  the 
Church  of  Ireland,  at  one  time  a  prosperous  linen 
manufacturer  in  Dublin,  Ireland,  and  a  prominent 
citizen.  His  mother,  Letitia  Jane  Aiken  ( Macauley) 
Jackson,  was  the  daughter  of  Samuel  Macauley, 
M.D.,  of  New  York  City,  where  she  was  born. 
Mr.  Jackson's  father  was  born  in  Dublin,  and  as 


I  ^o 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR   SONS 


his  maternal  grandfather  came  to  this  country  in 
1798  or  thereabouts  from  Coleraine  in  the  North 
of  Ireland,  being  a  member  of  the  Associate 
Reformed  Presbyterian  Church,  Mr.  Jackson's 
roots  in  the  United  States  do  not  go  back  very 
far.  He  was  educated  in  a  private  school  in  New 
York  City  between  the  ages  of  seven  and  twelve, 
then  entered  the  Public  Schools  (Ward  School 
No.  35),  passed  in  1865  to  the  Introductory 
Class  of  the  Free  Academy,  which  institution  the 
next  year  became  the  College  of  the  City  of  New 
York,  whence  he  was  graduated  in  1870.  One 
year  (1870-187  i)  he  was  in  Princeton  Theological 


SAMUEL    MACAULEV    JACKSON 

Seminary  and  the  next  two  in  Union  Theological 
Seminary  and  graduated  thence  in  1873.  From 
1873  to  1875  he  was  in  Europe  and  the  East, 
traveling  most  of  the  time.  In  1876  he  became 
Pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  Norwood, 
Bergen  county.  New  Jersey,  and  left  the  Pastorate 
never  to  resume  it,  probably,  in  1880.  He  was 
Assistant  Editor  of  Schaff's  Bible  Dictionary,  1878 
-1880  (American  Sunday  School  Union) ;  Asso- 
ciate Editor  of  Schaff-Herzog's  Religious  Encyclo- 
pedia, 1880-1884;  Associate  Editor  Schaff  and 
Jackson's  Encyclopx-dia  of  Living  Divines  (Funk 
.S:  Wagnalls),  1885-1887  ;  Editor-in-Chief  of  the 
Concise  Dictionary  of  Religious  Knowledge  (May- 


nard,  Merrill  &  Company),  1888-1891;  Asso- 
ciate Editor  of  the  Standard  Dictionary,  1893 
-1895  (Funk  &  Wagnalls)  and  the  same  of 
Johnson's  Universal  Cyclopeedia  (Appletons),  1892 
-1895,  in  the  former  in  charge  of  church  terms, 
in  the  latter  of  the  church  history  and  biblical 
literature  department.  Since  1895  he  has  been 
Professor  of  Church  History  in  the  New  York 
University.  In  1884- 1885  he  worked  on  the 
elaborate  chapter  upon  the  Greek  and  Latin 
Christian  Literature  from  the  Sixth  to  the  Eleventh 
Century  in  Volume  IV  of  Dr.  Schaff's  Church 
History  (Scribner's).  In  1890  he  brought  out  the 
most  elaborate  bibliography  of  foreign  missions 
ever  produced.  It  is  in  Volume  I  of  Funk  & 
Wagnalls'  f^ncyclopaidia  of  Missions.  In  1896  he 
began  the  composition  of  a  biography  of  Huldreich 
Zwingli,  the  Reformer  of  German  Switzerland,  for 
the  series  of  Heroes  of  the  Reformation,  which 
was  Mr.  Jackson's  own  scheme,  and  is  published 
by  G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons.  Of  the  ten  volumes  pro- 
jected his  will  be  the  fifth  in  order  of  appearance, 
the  preceding  one  being  Professor  Henry  Martyn 
Baird's  Theodore  Beza.  In  1899  he  began  the 
issue  of  a  series  of  twelve  small  volumes:  Hand- 
book for  Practical  Workers  in  Church  and  Phi- 
lanthropy, whose  writers  he  secured  and  which 
he  edited.  The  series  will  probably  be  finished 
in  1901,  and  is  published  by  Lentilhon  &  Com- 
ixiny.  Mr.  Jackson  was  Secretary  of  the  American 
Society  of  Church  History  from  its  foundation  in 
1888  to  its  amalgamation  in  1896  with  the  Ameri- 
can Historical  Association  wherein  he  then  be- 
came and  still  is  Secretary  of  the  Church  History 
section.  He  is  on  the  Executive  Committee  of 
the  Charity  Organization  Society  of  the  Prison 
Association  and  of  the  Huguenot  Society.  For 
the  latter  he  edited  the  elaborate  volume  com- 
memorative of  the  Third  Centennial  of  the  Edict 
of  Nantes  published  by  the  society  in  1900.  He 
belongs  to  the  C'entury  Association  and  to  the 
National  Arts,  Reform  and  Bookbuilders  clubs. 
He  received  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws  from 
Washington  and  Lee  in  1892  and  that  of  Doctor 
of  Divinity  from  New  York  University  in  1893. 

E.  G.  s. 

ALDEN,   Carlos  Coolidge,   1866- 

Professor  Law,  1898- 
Born  in  \A^ilmington,  111.,  1866;  prepared  for  College 
in  Bangor,  Me. ;  graduated  in  Law  at  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1892 ; 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THKIK    SONS 


13' 


LL.M.,   1893;  Assoc.   Prof.   Law,   1895-98;   Prof,  since 
iSgS. 

CARLOS  COOLIDCK  ALDKN.  LL.M.,  wa.s 
l)orn  June  4,  1866,  in  Wilmington,  Illinoi.s. 
He  was  prepared  in  liangor,  Maine,  for  adniis.sion 
to  Harvard,  but  tiiiaiuial  considerations  prevented 
completion  of  his  educational  plans.  Professor 
Alden  entered  the  New  York  University  Law 
School  in  October  1890,  receiving  in  1892  the  de- 
gree of  Bachelor  of  Laws  and  in  1893  that  of 
Master  of  Laws.  He  secured  the  Faculty  Scholar- 
ship at   the  close  of   the  Junior  year  and  tlic  prize 


John  Alden  of  the  Puritans.  His  paternal  grand- 
father was  Hiram  ().  Alden  <(f  Helfasl,  Maine,  for 
many  years  one  of  the  most  prominent  attorneys  of 
that  state,  promoter  and  President  of  the  first  tele- 
graph company  in  tlie  United  States.  1;.  <;.  s. 


CARLOS    C.    ALDEN 

for  oral  examination  at  the  close  of  the  Senior  year. 
He  served  in  the  following  capacities :  He  was 
Quiz-master  during  1893- 1894  and  1894-1895  ; 
in  1895  he  was  made  A.ssociate  Professor  of  Law; 
in  1898  he  was  made  Professor  of  Law  (Oraduate 
Division).  He  was  admitted  to  the  Bar  of  New 
York  State  in  1892.  He  is  a  member  of  the  New 
York  State  and  ^Vestchester  County  Bar  Associa- 
tions. In  his  personal  business  relations  he  is  a 
member  of  the  firm  of  Alden  &  Carpenter.  He 
was  associated  with  Dr.  .Austin  Abbott  in  prepar- 
ing and  publishing  Select  Cases  in  Evidence  and 
Select  Cases  in  Code  Pleading,  and  completed 
for  publication  after  Dr.  Abbott's  death  Abbott's 
Forms  of  Pleading.    Mr.  Alden  is  a  descendant  of 


SAYRE,  Lewis    Albert,  1820   1900. 

Prof.  Orthopedic  and  Clinical  Surgery,  1861-igoo. 

Born  in  Bottle  Hill  (Madison),  N.  J.,  1820;  gradu- 
ated Transylvania  Univ.,  Ky.,  1839;  M.D.  N.  V.  Col- 
lege Phys.  and  Surg.,  1842  ;  Prosector  to  Dr.  Willard 
Parker,  Prof.  Surgery,  College  Phys.  and  Surg.  1842- 
44,  and  Emeritus  Prosector,  1844;  Health  Officer  New 
York  City,  1866;  Surg.  Bellevue  Hosp.,  1853-89;  Con- 
sulting Surg.,  1884  1900;  Surg.  Charity  Hosp.,  1855- 
73;  Consulting  Surg.,  1873  1900;  Prof,  Orthopedic  and 
Clinical  Surgery  Bellevue  Hosp.  Med.  College,  1861  98; 
Emeritus  Prof.  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1898  1900;  died  1900. 

LKWIS  ALBFRT  SAYRK.  ISLD.,  was  born 
^  in  Bottle  Hill  (now  JNLidi.son),  Morris  county, 
New  Jersey,  Fel^ruary  29,  1820.  His  mother  was 
Martha  Sayre  of  Orange  county.  New  York, 
descended  from  a  French  Huguenot  family.  On 
the  paternal  side  he  traced  relationship  to  Revo- 
lutionary soldiers,  his  grandfather,  a  Quarter- 
master, having  placed  his  house  at  the  disposal 
of  (jcneral  \\'ashington  for  use  as  headquarters 
previous  to  the  battle  of  Springfield.  Dr.  Sayre  had 
early  education  in  the  schools  of  his  native  town 
and  in  the  Wantage  Seminary  in  Deckertovvn. 
New  Jersey.  When  ten  years  old  he  was  sent 
to  live  with  his  uncle,  David  Sayre,  a  banker 
of  Lexington,  Kentucky,  and  there  received  a 
thorough  education,  graduating  at  Transylvania 
Urniversity  in  1839.  He  then  removed  to  New 
York  City  to  take  up  the  study  of  medicine,  toward 
which  he  had  for  some  time  looked  with  great 
interest  and  enthusiasm,  in  sj^ite  of  the  opposing 
wishes  of  his  family.  Studying  at  first  in  the 
office  of  Dr.  David  Creen,  where  he  had  most 
fortunate  opportunity  to  see  the  practical  side  of 
the  subject,  he  later  entered  the  College  of  Physi- 
cians and  Surgeons  and  there  took  the  Doctor's 
degree  in  1842.  Li  the  same  year  he  became 
Prosector  to  Dr.  Willard  Parker,  the  eminent 
Profe.ssor  of  Surgery  at  the  College  of  Physicians 
and  Surgeons,  and  continued  in  that  position  until 
the  increasing  demands  of  a  rapidly  extending 
practice  obliged  him  to  resign  in  1844.  He  was 
then  appointed  Prosector  Emeritus  by  the  College. 
It  was  during  his  term  of  assistance  to  Dr.  Parker, 


132 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


and  indeed  due  to  that  service,  that  Dr.  Sayre 
resolved  to  make  surgery  the  special  feature  of 
his  professional  work.  In  this  he  made  rapid 
strides,  in  1853  becoming  Surgeon  to  the  Bellevue 
Hospital  and  in  1855  Surgeon  to  the  Charit}^ 
Hospital.  His  most  notable  work  was  in  opera- 
tions for  spinal  and  hip  diseases,  and  in  these 
specialties  his  successes  became  so  widely  dis- 
cussed that  he  was  called  to  England  in  187  i  to  lec- 
ture before  the  Medical  schools,  and  again  in 
1877,  while  acting  as  delegate  of  the  American 
Medical  Association  to  the  British  Medical  Asso- 
ciation,   he    was    invited     to     lecture     before    the 


LEWIS    A.    SAYRE 

English  hospitals  on  his  methods  of  treating 
spinal  diseases.  Dr.  Sayre  was  one  of  the  original 
organizers  of  the  Bellevue  Hospital  Medical 
College,  and  was  chosen  to  occupy  the  Chair  of 
Orthopedic  Surgery,  later  becoming  Professor 
also  of  Clinical  Surgery.  When  the  Bellevue 
College  was  united  with  the  University  Medical 
School  in  1898,  Dr.  Sayre  retained  his  position 
and  was  Emeritus  Professor  of  Orthopedic  and 
Clinical  Surgery  until  his  death.  He  was  one 
of  the  founders  of  the  New  York  Pathological 
Society  and  of  the  New  York  Academy  of  Medicine. 
He  contributed  to  medical  science  many  new 
instruments  and  methods  of  operation,  notably  the 


uvulmatome,  the  scrotal  clamp,  the  club-foot  shoe 
and  an  improved  tracheotomy  tube.  He  was  also 
the  first  to  use  plaster  of  paris  in  treatment  of 
spinal  diseases.  His  numerous  writings  contrib- 
uted to  the  medical  press  comprise  valuable  dis- 
cussions of  many  important  subjects.  Some  of 
the  most  notable  are :  Chorea  Induced  by  Mental 
Anxiety  ;  Cases  of  Chronic  Abscess  in  the  Cellular 
Tissue  of  the  Peritoneum ;  Spina  Befida  Tumor 
Removed  by  Ligature.  His  reports  to  the  Board 
of  Health  while  serving  as  Health  Officer  of  New 
York  City  and  his  graduating  thesis  on  Spinal 
Irritation  have  been  widely  read.  His  Manual 
of  the  Treatment  of  Club  Foot,  his  Spinal  Disease, 
and  Spinal  Curvature,  and  his  Lectures  on 
Orthopedic  Surgery  have  been  translated  into 
French,  German  and  Spanish.  In  1872  he  was 
decorated  with  the  Order  of  Wasa  by  Charles  IV  of 
Sweden  and  Norway  in  grateful  recognition  of  his 
advice  in  the  treatment  of  one  of  the  royal  family ; 
at  the  same  time  he  was  elected  an  honorary  member 
of  the  Medical  Society  of  Norway.  He  was  also 
an  honorary  member  of  the  Surgical  Society  of  St. 
Petersburg,  and  of  the  British  Medical  Association. 
In  1880  he  was  made  President  of  the  American 
Medical  Association,  and  it  was  owing  to  his  ad- 
dress in  this  year  that  the  Journal  of  the  Associ- 
ation was  established.  Dr.  Sayre  was  married  in 
1849  to  Eliza  A.  Hall,  and  had  three  sons  and  a 
daughter.  He  died  in  New  York  City,  September 
21,  1900.  * 


ROBINSON,  Beverley,  1844- 

Clinical  Professor  Medicine,  1878 
Born  in  Philadelphia,  1884;  graduated  College  Dept. 
Univ.   of   Pa.,    1862;    M.D.    Univ.    of   Paris,    1872;    in 
practice  in  N.  Y.  City  ;  Clinical  Prof.   Medicine  N.  Y. 
Univ.  since  1897. 

BEVERLEY  ROBINSON,  M.D.,  was  born 
in  Philadelphia,  March  22,  1844;  his 
father,  Moncure  Robinson,  being  at  the  time  a 
prominent  civil  engineer  of  that  city.  His 
mother,  Charlotte  (Taylor)  Robinson,  was  a 
granddaughter  of  Edmund  Randolph  of  A'irginia, 
Attorney-General  under  Washington.  Beverley 
Robinson  graduated  at  the  University  of  Penn- 
sylvania in  1862,  and  served  in  the  Old  Gray 
Reserves  State  Volunteers  as  private,  for  emer- 
gency in  1863.  He  acquired  the  degree  of 
Doctor  of  Medicine  in  Paris,  France,  in  1872 
and  served  for  a  while  as  Interne  in    Paris    Hos- 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    TllElIi    SONS 


'33 


pitals.  lie  is  at  the  present  time  Clinical  Pro- 
fessor of  Medicine  at  the  University  and  Kellevue 
Medical  College,  Attending  Physician  at  St.  Luke's 


BEVERLEY    ROBINSON 


Hospital    and    Consulting    Physician    at    the    City 
Hospital.  E.  G.  s. 


TOMPKINS,    Leslie  Jay,    1867- 

Libr.  and  Asst.  Treas.   1892-  ,  Registrar  1895-  ,  Prof.  Law  1899- 

Born  in  Salem,  Minn.,  1867;  educated  in  public 
schools  and  Cazenovia  Sem.,  N.  Y. ;  taught  school 
1883-86;  graduated,  B.S.  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1890;  M.S., 
1894;  attended  Columbia  Law  School,  1890-91;  grad- 
uated N.  Y.  Univ.  Law  School,  1892;  LL.M.,  1896; 
admitted  to  Bar,  1892;  Librarian  and  Asst.  Treas. 
N.  Y.  Univ.,  1892  to  date;  Registrar  since  1895;  Prof. 
Law  since   1899. 

LESLIE  JAY  TOMPKINS  was  born  in  Salem, 
Olmstead  coimty,  Minnesota,  May  2,  1867. 
His  father,  Moses  J.  Tompkins,  a  native  of  Scho- 
harie county.  New  York,  and  his  mother,  Kate  M. 
(Travers)  Tompkins  of  Albany,  New  York,  were 
married  September  20,  1865,  and  immediately 
left  for  Minnesota  and  settled  at  the  above  place. 
Because  of  the  ill  health  of  the  mother,  they  re- 
turned to  New  York  State  in  1869  where  they 
have  since  resided.      The  son  attended  the  public 


schools  of  the  state  until  he  was  fifteen,  when  he 
went  to  Cazenovia  Seminary  and  remained  there 
during  the  years  1882  and  1883,  and  from  there 
went  to  Michigan  where  he  engaged  in  teaching 
school  in  Clarksville,  Ionia  county.  The  next 
year  he  taught  in  Plymouth,  Indiana.  He  moved 
to  New  York  in  June  1886,  and  in  September 
entered  the  Ihiiversity,  where  he  remained  four 
years,  receiving  in  1890  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of 
Science.  In  his  class  work  he  maintained  a  high 
standard,  and  as  a  consequence  was  awarded  an 
oration  at  Cominencement  and  was  elected  to  the 
Phi  Beta  Kappa  Society.  During  all  of  this  time 
and  from  a  very  early  age,  Mr.  Tompkins  was 
thrown  on  his  own  resources  and  while  pursuing 
his  studies  in  College  and  even  in  the  public 
schools  was  engaged  in  various  kinds  of  business, 
from  which  he  gained  valuable  experience  that 
was  to  stand  him  in  good  stead  in  later  years. 
The  manner  in  which  his  various  tasks  were  per- 
formed attracted  the  attention  of  the  authorities  of 
the  University,  and  were  influential  in  determining 
them  to  appoint  Mr.  Tompkins  a  University  offi- 
cial, which  they  did  in  1892.  After  graduating 
from  the  College,  Mr.  Tompkins  entered  Columbia 
Law  School  and  remained  there  for  one  year. 
This  was  the  last  year  of  Professor  Dwight's 
active  teaching.  In  the  fall  of  i8gi  he  entered 
the  Senior  Class  of  the  University  Law  School, 
and  graduated  in  June  1892,  in  the  first  class  that 
was  graduated  under  Dr.  Austin  Abbott,  who  had 
assumed  the  Dean's  Chair  under  the  reorganized 
Faculty  which  took  charge  of  the  Law  School  in 
1 89 1.  In  May  1892,  previous  to  his  graduation, 
Mr.  Tompkins  was  admitted  to  the  Bar  of  the 
State  of  New  York.  At  this  time  it  was  his  inten- 
tion to  go  West  and  enter  into  the  practice  of  the 
law,  but  without  any  solicitation  or  even  knowledge 
of  the  position,  he  was  asked  to  accept  the  post  of 
Librarian  and  Assistant-Treasurer  of  the  Univer- 
sity, which  he  accepted,  beginning  his  active  duties 
in  September  1892.  From  that  time  to  this  he 
has  been  with  the  University.  The  duties  of  his 
positions  have  grown  commensurately  with  the 
growth  of  the  University,  as  has  also  his  indefati- 
gable zeal.  In  1895  he  was  invested  with  the 
title  of  Registrar,  the  duties  of  that  office  includ- 
ing all  those  heretofore  performed  by  the  Assistant- 
Treasurer.  The  Librarianship  remained  to  him 
and  is  still  one  of  the  offices  filled  by  him.  Dur- 
ing this  time  he  has   continued   true   to  his  early 


'34 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


training  and  desire  for  stud\-,  and  in  1894  he 
received  the  Master's  degree  from  tlie  Graduate 
School  and  in  1896  the  Master's  degree  in  Law. 
He  had  not  lost  his  desire  for  his  chosen  profes- 
sion, and  while  his  numerous  duties  would  not 
allow  him  to  enter  actively  into  the  practice  of  the 
law,  he  pursued  the  work  of  the  Law  School  in 
1895,  and  in  1898  was  requested  by  Dean  Ashley 
to  take  charge  of  the  instruction  of  the  subject  of 
Corporations  in  the  School,  and  in  1899  of  Bills 
and  Notes.  As  Registrar  and  Assistant-Treas- 
urer, Mr.  Tompkins  has  taken  the  business  affairs 
of  the    L'ni\ersitv  from    thtir    crude  and   scattered 


y.KSI.IK    J.    TOMPKINS 

methods  in  1892  and  has  worked  out  effective 
results.  In  1897  Chancellor  MacCracken  said  of 
him  in  his  report  to  the  C'ouncil  :  '''The  organiza- 
tion of  the  Registrar's  Office,  with  Mr.  Leslie  J. 
Tompkins  as  Registrar,  in  charge  of  the  collection 
of  fees,  the  supervision  of  grounds  and  buildings, 
and  other  important  business,  has  tended  largely 
to  thorough  svstem  and  effective  work.  Mr.  Tomp- 
kins has  been  unremittingly  faithful,  and  has 
accomplished  most  valuable  results.  His  helpful- 
ness, especially  in  the  installation  of  the  various 
schools  in  their  new  homes,  deserves  the  thanks 
of  the  Council."     When  asked  where  his  key  to 


success  in  the  management  of  his  duties  lay,  Mr. 
Tompkins  has  said :  "  In  the  proper  selection  of 
good  men  as  subordinates,  i.e.,  superintendents, 
engineers,  etc.,  and  the  holding  of  them  responsi- 
ble for  the  work  and  the  conduct  of  the  men  under 
them.  Hold  a  good  man  responsible  for  the  work 
entrusted  to  him,  and  give  him  absolute  power 
over  the  men  under  him,  and  results  are  bound  to 
prove  satisfactory."  Mr.  Tompkins  has  also  been 
a  successful  Librarian.  When  he  took  charge  in 
1892  there  were  less  than  twenty  thousand  vol- 
umes in  all  the  libraries,  with  no  library  economies 
of  any  kind  in  use,  and  a  crude  card-catalogue 
which  was  of  little  value.  Knowing  nothing  of  a 
Librarian's  work,  he  went  at  his  duties  in  a  stu- 
dious manner.  Modern  library  methods  as  to 
accession  work,  classification  and  cataloguing  were 
introduced,  and  to-day  the  methods  and  the  work 
of  the  I'niversity's  libraries  will  compare  favorably 
with  those  of  any  library  in  the  state.  In  several 
departments  the  University  Library  system  is  an 
actual  and  \  ital  force,  working  in  connection  with 
the  l-'acullies  of  the  University  to  the  advance- 
ment and  enhancement  of  our  educational  system. 
Meantime  the  nimiber  of  volumes  has  increased 
almost  threefold,  making  Mr.  Tompkins' labors  the 
more  difficult  and  the  more  important.  'I'he  Law 
Library  is  particularly  indebted  to  him  and  it  is 
due  to  his  constant  care  and  thought  that  the  Law 
School  is  so  strongly  ecjuipped  in  this  important 
branch.  .As  a  law  instructor  Mr.  Tompkins  has 
made  a  marked  success,  and  has  steadily  gained 
the  confidence  and  respect  of  his  classes.     £.  g.  s. 


PIFFARD,   Henry  Granger,   1842- 

Professor  Dermatology  1875-98,  Emeritus  1899 

Born  in  Piffard,  N.  Y.,  1842 ;  studied  Churchill's 
School,  Sing  Sing,  N.  Y.  ;  graduated  A.B.  N.  Y.  Univ., 
1862;  M.D.  Coll.  Phys.  and  Surg.,  1864;  A.M.  N.  Y. 
Univ.,  1865;  practicing  physician  since  1864;  Interne 
Bellevue  and  City  Hospitals,  1864-65  ;  Surg,  and  Brevet 
Major  71st  Regt.  N.  G.  S.  N.  Y.,  1867-68;  Lect.  Urinary 
Analysis  N.  Y.  Univ.  Med.  Coll.,  1873  ;  Prof.  Dermatol- 
ogy N.  Y.  Univ.  Med.  Coll.,  1875-98  ;  Surg.  City  Hosp. 
since  1871 ;  author  various  professional  works  ;  Emeritus 
Prof.  Dermatology  N.  Y.  Univ.  and  Bellevue  Hosp. 
Med.  Coll.  since  1899;  LL.D.  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1899. 

HENRY  GRANGER  PIFEARD,  M.D., 
LL.D.,  was  born  in  Piffard,  New  York, 
on  September  10,  1842,  the  son  of  David  and 
Ann  Matilda  (Haight)  Piffard,  and  the  descendant 


UNii^KRsrrii'.s  .INI)  ■nii'AR  sons 


135 


of  l'"rencli,  En<;lisli  and  Dntcli  ancestors.  His 
early  education  was  ac<iuiii(l  in  ('inirciiiU's  Sciuiol, 
at  Sing  Sing,  New  NOri^;,  whence  he  entered  the 
University  of  the  City  of  New  N'ork,  now  New 
\'ork  University,  in  185S.  IK-  was  graduated 
with  the  degree  of  Hachelor  of  Arts  in  1862,  and 
three  years  later  received  from  his  Alma  Mater 
the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts.  Ow  leaving  the 
rnixersity  he  entered  the  C"ollege  of  I'hysicians 
and  Surgeons,  tiie  Medical  Department  of  Colum- 
bia College,  and  was  there  graduated  with  the 
degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine  in  1864.  Since  that 
date  he  has  practiced  his  profession  with  marked 
success,  and  has  devoted  much  attention  also  to 
instruction.  Dr.  I'itfard  was  an  Interne  in  Belle- 
vue  and  the  Charity  (^now  City)  hospitals  in 
1864-1865  ;  and  in  1867-1868  was  Surgeon  to 
the  Seventy-fust  Regiment  of  the  New  York 
National  (luard,  with  rank  of  Major.  His  career 
as  an  instructor  began  in  1873,  when  he  became 
a  Lecturer  on  Urinary  Analysis  in  the  New  York 
University  Medical  College.  Two  years  later,  in 
1875,  he  became  Professor  of  Dermatology  in  that 
institution,  and  had  a  noteworthy  career  in  that 
place,  holding  it  until  after  the  consolidation  of 
the  University  and  Hellevue  Hospital  Medical 
schools,  and  then  becoming  Emeritus  Professor  of 
Dermatolog)'  in  tiie  united  College.  He  has  been 
a  Surgeon  to  the  Ciiarit)',  or  City,  Hospital  since 
1871.  He  was  an  active  member  of  the  Zeta  Psi 
Fraternity.  He  is  now  a  member  of  the  Medical 
Society  of  the  County  of  New  York,  honorary 
member  of  the  New  York  Dermatological  Society, 
and  is  a  fellow  of  the  New  York  Academy  cjf 
Medicine.  He  received  the  degree  of  Doctor  of 
Laws  from  New  York  University  in  1899.  He 
was  married  on  June  17,  1868,  to  Helen  Hart 
Strong,  and  has  had  four  children  :  Henry,  Helen, 
Charles  and  Susan  Piffard,  of  whom  the  first 
named  is  now  deceased.  Dr.  I'it^ard's  bibliog- 
raphy includes  (luide  to  Urinary  Analysis,  1873; 
an  Elementary  'I'reatise  on  Diseases  of  the  Skin, 
1876;  Cutaneous  Memoranda,  1877;  Materia  Med- 
ica  and  Therapeutics  of  the  Skin,  1881  ;  and  Prac- 
tical Treatise  on  Diseases  of  the  Skin,  1891. 

w.  F.  J. 

DUNHAM,  Edward    Kellogg,  i860- 

Prof.  General  Pathology,  Bacteriology  and  Hygiene,  1892- 

Born   in   Newburg,   N.  Y.,   i860;    early  education  at 
home  ;  graduated    Ph.B.   Columbia   School   of    Mines, 


1881  ;  M.D.  Harvard,  1886;  studied  in  Europe,  1886-87; 
Bacteriologist  to  Mass.  Board  Health,  1887-88;  Instr. 
in  Histology  Bellevue  Hosp.  Med.  College,  1888;  Prof. 
General  Pathology,  Bacteriology  and  Hygiene,  N.  Y. 
Univ.  since  1892. 

E1)\\.\RD  KELEOG(;  DUNHAM,  M.D., 
was  born  September  1,  i860,  in  Newburg, 
New  \()rk.  His  father,  Carroll  Dunham,  M.D., 
was  youngest  son  of  Edward  Wood  Dunham, 
merchant,  and  later  President  of  the  Corn  Ex- 
change Hank  of  New  York  City.  His  early 
education  was  given  him  by  his  mother  Harriet 
Elvira  Kellogg,  youngest  daughter  of  Edward 
Kellogg  a  merchant  of  New  York.  From  his 
father  Dr.  Dunham  derived  his  earliest  ideas  of 
Chemistry  and  Physics.  After  learning  to  read  he 
derived  most  pleasure  and  information  from  books 
like  Wagner's  Chemical  Technology.  Lardner's 
Natural  Philosophy,  a  life  of  Robert  Stephen.son, 
("hambers's  Miscellanies  and  tiie  British  Essayists. 
When  Dr.  Dunham  was  about  thirteen  years  of 
age  his  parents  built  a  small  workshop  on  their 
place  where  his  younger  brother  and  he  had  a 
jMinting  press,  a  carpenter's  bench  and  laboratory 
(including  a  charcoal  furnace)  in  which  chemical 
and  physical  experiments  could  be  made.  Within 
a  few  years  they  had  become  familiar  with  the 
properties  of  the  common  chemical  elements  and 
many  of  their  compounds ;  they  had  also  gained 
some  dexterity  in  the  use  of  apparatus  and  had 
done  considerable  reading  in  connection  with  the.se 
occupations,  good  books  being  placed  within  their 
reach,  but  nearly  all  of  their  experimenting  was 
of  their  own  chfiice,  there  being  no  fixed  lessons 
or  formal  instruction.  During  this  time  a  small 
closet  was  given  to  the  lad  for  a  den.  In  this, 
with  a  drawing  board  and  a  few  simple  instruments 
and  the  help  of  Haswell,  the  rudiments  of  (Geometry 
were  acquired.  At  fifteen  Exlward  and  his  brothers 
had  a  tutor  who  taught  them  a  little  Latin  and 
Mathematics,  (ierman,  Edward  could  talk  and 
read  as  the  result  of  having  had  German  nurses 
and  governesses  until  he  was  about  seven  years 
old.  In  1877  he  entered  the  School  of  Mines. 
Columbia,  without  conditions,  and  chose  the  course 
in  Chemistry,  taking  all  the  Mathematics  he  could 
without  a  conflict  of  hours.  Although  belonging 
to  the  class  in  Chemistry  he  was  unanimously 
elected  President  of  the  Undergraduate  Engineer- 
ing Society,  and  obtained  a  prize  for  the  most 
original  mathematical  article  of  the  vear  —  a  short 


136 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


study  of  the  curves  resulting  from  the  projection 
of  the  Hnes  of  intersection  of  surfaces  of  revolution 
upon  planes.  He  graduated  at  the  head  of  his 
Class  in  1881  ;  being  selected  by  the  Faculty  to 
give  an  oration  at  Commencement,  the  theme  of 
which  touched  upon  the  mutual  aid  of  kindred 
sciences,  the  title  being  Correlation  of  Sciences. 
Having  always  felt  a  desire  to  study  medicine  he 
entered  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  in 
1 88 1,  where  he  studied  for  one  year.  During  this 
time  he  became  dissatisfied  with  the  teaching 
which  was  almost  entirely  didactic,  with  very  large 
classes,  he  therefore  determined  to  see  if  the 
methods  of  Harvard  were  better.  A  visit  of  a  few 
days  to  Boston  decided  him  to  go  there,  and  in  the 
autumn  of  1882  he  entered  the  Second  Year  Class 
of  the  Harvard  Medical  School,  choosing  the  four 
years'  course  which  at  that  time  was  optional. 
During  his  third  year  he  taught  Histology  to  the 
students  of  the  Veterinary  School  of  Harvard,  and 
also  became  interested  in  the  study  of  malignant 
disease,  spending  much  of  his  time  in  the  Patho- 
logical Laboratory  of  the  Medical  School.  This 
work  occupied  him  during  the  next  year  also, 
little  time  being  devoted  by  him  to  the  courses  in 
the  regular  curriculum  of  the  school.  In  1886  he 
received  a  degree  cum  laude  and  his  thesis  on  a 
peculiar  tumor  of  the  breast  was  honorably  men- 
tioned. In  August  of  that  year  Dr.  Dunham  went 
to  Europe  and  spent  a  year  in  Berlin  studying  in 
the  Pathological  Department  of  the  University, 
spending,  however,  most  of  his  time  in  the 
Hygienic  Institute  where  he  took  an  elementary 
course  of  instruction  in  Bacteriology.  After  the 
completion  of  that  course  Professor  Koch  permitted 
Dr.  Dunham  to  work  in  the  laboratory,  assigning 
certain  investigations  in  cholera  to  him.  Dr. 
Dunham  worked  upon  this  subject  for  eight 
months,  publishing  a  short  article  on  Indol  Pro- 
duction by  the  Cholera  15acillus,  and  in  August 
1887  accepted  the  position  of  Bacteriologist  to  the 
Massachusetts  State  Board  of  Health,  which  was 
then  enlarging  its  work  on  the  Purification  of 
Water  and  Sewage.  Dining  that  year  Dr.  Dunham 
was  also  Pathologist  to  one  of  the  smaller  hospitals 
in  Boston.  In  1888  he  moved  to  New  York  and 
was  appointed  Instructor  in  Histolog}'  in  the 
Bellevue  Hospital  Medical  College.  Subsequently 
he  was  made  Professor  of  General  Pathology, 
Bacteriology'  and  Hygiene,  retaining  that  chair 
when  the  College  was  merged  with  the  New  York 


University.  No  one  seems  to  have  influenced  his 
career  by  direct  advice,  but  the  men  to  whose 
teaching  he  owes  most  and  who  have  indirectly 
influenced  him  by  their  examples  are  Professor 
Van  Amringe  of  Columbia,  Professor  Goodale  of 
Harvard  and  Robert  Koch  of  Berlin.  Dr.  Dunham 
also  learned  much  in  1 890-1 891  when  he  spent  a 
year  in  Gottingen  and  \'ienna.  e.  g.  s. 


ISAACS,  Abram  Samuel,   1852- 

Professor  German  Literature,  1895- 

Born  in  New  York,  1852 ;  graduated  N.  Y.  Univ. 
A.B.,  1871 ;  post-graduate  courses  Univ.  of  Breslau, 
and  Jewish  Seminary,  Breslau,  1874-77 1  Prof. 
Hebrew  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1886-94;  Prof.  German  N.  Y. 
Univ.,  1889-95;  Prof.  German  Lit.  Graduate  Sem. 
N.  Y.  Univ.,  since  1895;  Editor  of  The  Jewish  Mes- 
senger ;  Rabbi,  Barnert  Memorial  Temple,  Pater- 
son,  N.  J.,  1896- 

ABRAM    SAMUEL    ISAACS    was    born    in 
New  York  City,  August  3,  1852,  the  son  of 
Samuel    Myer    and  Jane  (Symmons)   Isaacs.      In 


ABRAM    S.    ISAACS 


early  boyhood  he  was  a  student  in  the  then  cele 
brated  Collegiate  School  of  Dr.  Quackenbos,  in 
New  York  City,  whence  he  proceeded  to  the 
University  of   the   City  of    New  York,  now  New 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


17 


York  University.  From  the  latter  lie  was  duly 
fjraduated  in  June  1S71,  after  which  he  went 
abroad  for  further  studies,  in  theology  and  in 
general  literature.  lie  spent  three  years  chiefly 
at  Breslau,  in  the  University  of  that  city  and  also 
in  the  well-known  Jewish  Seminary  there.  On 
returning  to  the  United  States  he  quickly  won 
wide  recognition  for  his  scholarly  attainments,  and 
in  1878  became  Editor  of  The  Jewish  Messenger, 
founded  by  his  father  in  1857,  one  of  the  foremost 
Jewish  periodicals,  which  place  he  still  hlls.  In 
1896  he  became  Rabbi  of  the  Barnert  Memorial 
Temple,  in  Paterson,  New  Jersey,  and  retains 
that  place  at  the  present  time.  Dr.  Isaacs  (he 
received  his  degree  of  Doctor  of  Philosophy  from 
the  University  of  New  York)  resumed  his  active 
connection  with  his  Alma  Mater  in  1886  as  Pro- 
fessor of  Hebrew  in  the  University  College,  which 
chair  he  occupied  until  1894.  Meantime  he  was 
also  appointed  to  the  Chair  of  (ierman  in  the 
same  institution,  in  1889,  and  occupied  it  until 
1895.  In  the  last-named  year  he  was  appointed 
to  the  Chair  of  German  Literature  in  the  Graduate 
Seminary  of  New  York  University,  where  he  still 
remains.  He  was  married  on  April  23,  1890,  to 
Lily  Lee  Harby,  and  has  two  children  :  Arthur  S. 
and  Cyril  A.  Isaacs.  His  bibliography  comprises  : 
Stories  from  the  Rabbis,  1894;  A  Modern  Hebrew 
Poet,  1878;  and  numerous  magazine  and  review 
articles  on  literary  and  educational  topics,   w.  v.  j. 


JANEWAY,   Edward   G.,   1841- 

Professor  of  Medicine  and  Dean  of  Medical  Faculty. 

Born  in  New  Jersey,  1841  ;  A.B.  Rutgers  Coll., 
i860;  M.D.  Coll.  Phys.  and  Surg.,  1864;  acting 
medical  cadet,  U.  S.  Army  Hosp.,  1862-63  !  Interne 
Blackwell's  Island  Hosps.,  1864,  and  Bellevue  Hosp., 
1864-66;  medical  practitioner  in  N.  Y.  smce  1866; 
Visiting  Physician  Charity  Hosp.,  1868-71,  to  Hosp. 
for  Epileptics  and  Paralytics,  1870-74,  Bellevue  Hosp., 
1871-91  ;  and  later  Mt.  Sinai  Hosp. ;  Consulting  Phy- 
sician to  Hosp.  for  Emigrants,  and  to  French  Hosp.; 
at  present  Consulting  Physician  to  Bellevue,  Presby- 
terian, Mt.  Sinai,  St.  Vincent's,  J.  Hood  Wright 
Memorial,  Manhattan  State,  and  Skin  and  Cancer 
hospitals.  New  York  State  Hosp.  for  Women,  and 
Hosp.  for  the  Ruptured  and  Crippled;  Lect.  Path- 
ological Anatomy,  N.  Y.  Univ.  Med.  School,  1872; 
Prof.  Materia  Medica  and  Therapeutics  Bellevue  Hosp. 
Med.  Coll.,  1873-76  ;  Prof.  Pathological  Anatomy,  etc. 
Bellevue,  1876-81 ;  Asso.  Prof.  Principles  and  Practice 
of  Medicine  Bellevue,  1881-84,  and  full  Prof.,  1884-91  ; 
Pres.  Faculty  Bellevue,  1897;  Dean  Med.  Faculty  and 


Prof.  Medicine,  N.  Y.  Univ.  and  Bellevue  Hosp. 
Med.  Coll.  since  1898;  Commis.  of  Health  N.  Y.  City, 
1875-81;  LL.D.,  Rutgers  Coll. 

EDWARD  G.  JANEWAY,  M.D.,  LL.D.,  was 
born  near  the  old  city  of  New  Brunswick, 
New  Jersey,  on  August  31,  1841.  His  academic 
education  was  acquired  at  Rutgers  College,  New 
Brunswick,  where  he  was  graduated  in  i860  with 
the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts.  Then,  deciding 
to  pursue  the  medical  profession,  he  entered  the 
College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  the  Medical 
Department  of  Columbia  College,  New  York,  and 
was  graduated  with  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medi- 


EDWARD    G.     JANEWAY 

cine  in  1864.  Meantime,  in  1862-1863,  he  served 
as  acting  medical  cadet  in  the  United  States  Army 
Hospital  at  Newark,  New  Jersey.  On  receiving 
his  degree.  Dr.  Janeway  became  an  Interne  in  the 
public  hospitals  on  Blackwell's  Lsland,  New  York, 
in  1864,  and  in  Bellevue  Hospital  in  1864- 1866. 
Thus  qualified,  he  began  in  1866  the  practice  of 
medicine  in  New  York  City,  which  he  has  main- 
tained with  noteworthy  success  ever  since.  His 
private  practice  did  not,  however,  put  a  stop  to  his 
hospital  work.  On  the  contrary,  he  has  for  more 
than  a  third  of  a  century  been  one  of  the  most 
active   hospital   practitioners   in    New   York.     He 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR    SONS 


filled  the  place  of  Visiting  Physician  to  the  Charity 
(now  City)  Hospital  in  1868-187  i,  to  the  Hospi- 
tal for  Epileptics  and  Paralytics,  conjointly  with 
the  late  Dr.  E.  C.  Seguin.  in  1870-1874,  to  Belle- 
vue  Hospital  in  1871-1891,  and  also  to  the  Mount 
Sinai  Hospital.  For  some  years  he  was  Consult- 
ing Physician  to  the  Hospital  for  Emigrants,  on 
Ward's  Island,  and  to  the  French  Hospital.  He 
was  also  Curator  and  Pathologist  to  Bellevuc 
Hospital  for  a  number  of  years  from  1867.  At 
the  present  time  Dr.  Janeway  is  Consulting  Physi- 
cian to  Bellevue.  the  Presbyterian,  the  Mount 
Sinai,  St.  Vincent's,  the  J.  Hood  \\'right  Memorial, 
the  Manhattan  State,  and  the  Skin  and  Cancer 
hospitals,  the  New  \drk  Hospital  for  Women,  and 
the  Hospital  for  the  Ruptured  and  Crippled.  His 
exceptional  acti\ity  as  a  practitioner  of  medicine 
has  not  pre\ented  Dr.  Janewa\"  from  pursuing  also 
an  efficient  and  distinguished  career  as  an  instruc- 
tor in  the  same  jirofession.  'iliis  career  was  begun 
in  the  Medical  Department  of  the  I'niversity  of 
the  City  of  New  Vork,  now  New  Vork  University. 
During  the  next  three  years,  1873-1876,  he  held 
the  Professorship  of  Materia  Medica  and  Thera- 
peutics in  the  Bellevue  Hospital  Medical  College, 
and  then  became,  in  the  same  institution.  Profes- 
sor of  Pathological  Anatomy,  of  Diseases  of  the 
Nervous  System,  and  of  Clinical  Medicine.  In 
1881,  still  at  Bellevue,  he  became  also  an  Associ- 
ate of  the  Chair  of  Principles  and  Practice  of 
Medicine,  with  the  late  Dr.  Austin  Flint,  and  at 
the  latter's  death  in  1884  was  ai)pointed  to  the 
full  chair,  which  he  filled  until  1S91.  In  the  last- 
named  year  Dr.  Janeway  resigned  his  College 
connection,  but  resumed  it  again  in  1897  as  Presi- 
dent of  the  Faculty  and  Clinical  Lecturer  upon 
Medicine  in  the  Bellevue  Hospital  Medical  Col- 
lege. In  the  following  year,  1898,  that  institution 
was  consolidated  with  the  New  "\'ork  University 
Medical  College,  and  Dr.  janeway  thereujion  be- 
came Dean  of  the  combined  schools  and  Professor 
of  Medicine,  which  places  he  continues  to  fill  with 
eminent  success.  It  should  be  added,  to  complete 
the  record  of  his  professional  achievements  and 
services,  that  from  1875  to  1881  Dr.  Janeway  was 
Commissioner  of  Health  of  the  City  of  New  Vork, 
and  in  that  important  office  did  a  work  of  incalcu- 
lable value  for  sanitation  and  public  health.  Dr. 
Janeway  is  a  member  of  the  chief  medical  socie- 
ties of  New  York,  and  has  been  President  of  the 
Pathological  Society,  of  the  Academy  of  Medicine 


(1897-1898),  and  of  the  Association  of  American 
Physicians  (1900).  He  was  married  on  June  i, 
187 1,  to  Frances  S.,  daughter  of  the  late  Rev.  E.  P. 
Rogers,  D.D.,  and  has  three  children  :  Dr.  Theo- 
dore C.  Janeway,  a  Lecturer  in  the  University 
and  Bellevue  Hospital  Medical  College  ;  and  the 
Misses  Matilda  S.  and  Frances  R.  Janeway.  The 
degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws  was  fittingly  bestowed 
upon  Dr.  Janeway  a  few  years  ago  by  his  Alma 
Mater,  Rutgers  College.  w.  f.  j. 


BELL,  Roscoe  Rutherford,  1858- 

Professor  Materia  Medica,  etc.,  Veterinary  Coll. 

Born  in  Augusta  Co.,  Va.,  1858  ;  studied  Norwood 
Coll.,  Va.,  graduated  Amer.  Vet.  Coll.,  1887  ;  printer 
and  editor;  Vet.  Insp.  U.  S.  Dept.  of  Agri.,  1888-1892; 
Prof,  of  Materia  Medica  and  Therapeutics  Amer.  Vet. 
Coll.,  1888-99;  same  chair  N.  Y.-Amer.  Vet.  Coll.  of 
N.  Y.  Univ.,  since  1899  ;  D.V.S.,  Amer.  Vet.  Coll.,  1887  ; 
Editor  of  Amer.  Vet.  Review;  Author. 

ROSCOE  RUTHERFORD  BELL,  D.V.S., 
was  born  in  Augusta  county,  Virginia,  Sep- 
tember 16,  1858,  the  son  of  William  H.  and  Eveline 
(Shields)  Bell.      He  comes  of  old  Dominion  stock. 


ROSCOK    R.     KELT. 


his  grandparents  having  been  Samuel  Bell,  of 
Augusta  county,  and  Joseph  Shields  of  Rockbridge 
county,  A'irginia.     He  acquired  his  early  education 


UNIl^ERSrriES    .-IND    TIII'JK    SONS 


39 


in  public  and  private  schools  in  Richmond,  Virginia 
and  thence  went  to  Norwood  College,  in  the  same 
state.  Being  bereft  by  death  of  both  parents  at  an 
early  age,  he  was  thrown  upon  his  own  resources, 
and  turned  his  attention  to  printing  and  writing 
upon  the  press  of  Virginia,  studying  as  best  he 
could,  and  in  1880  came  to  New  York,  finally  be- 
coming a  member  of  the  staff  of  the  well-known 
New  York  paper,  The  Spirit  of  the  Times,  where 
he  continued  until  he  entered  the  American  Vet- 
erinary College,  in  New  York,  from  which  he 
graduated  with  honors  and  the  degree  of  Doctor  of 
\'elerinary  Surgery  in  1887.  He  at  once  entered 
upon  the  practice  of  his  profession,  as  a  veterinary 
surgeon,  and  has  continued  uninterruptedly  at  the 
same  location  (Seventh  Avenue  and  Union  Street, 
Brooklyn,  New  York)  ever  since,  with  gratifying 
success.  In  1888  his  abilities  were  recognized  in 
his  appointment  as  Veterinary  Inspector  in  the 
Bureau  of  Animal  Industry  of  the  United  States 
Department  of  Agriculture  in  its  work  of  eradicat- 
ing contagious  pleuro-pneumonia,  which  place  he 
filled  for  four  years  in  a  most  satisfactory  manner, 
when  the  last  case  of  that  loathsome  malady  had 
disappeared  from  America,  probably  never  to  re- 
turn. In  the  same  year,  1888,  Dr.  Bell  became  Pro- 
fessor of  Materia  Medica  and  Therapeutics  in  the 
American  Veterinary  College,  and  filled  that  chair 
in  that  institution  until  1899,  when  the  American 
and  New  York  Veterinary  Colleges  were  united  and 
made  a  Department  of  New  York  University.  In 
effecting  that  consolidation  Dr.  Bell  was  largely 
instrumental,  and  since  it  became  an  accomplished 
fact  he  has  retained  down  to  the  present  time  in 
the  University  the  same  chair  that  he  held  for 
eleven  years  in  the  College.  He  was  appointed 
Veterinarian  to  the  Police  Department  of  Brooklyn, 
New  York,  in  1894,  and  still  holds  that  place.  He 
has  not  lost  his  former  fondness  for  literary  work 
in  connection  with  his  chosen  profession,  and  is 
now  Co-Editor  with  Professor  Liautard  of  The 
American  Veterinary  Review.  He  is  the  author 
of  The  Veterinarian's  Call-Book,  and  of  numer- 
ous articles  upon  scientific  subjects  in  the  periodi- 
cal press.  His  office  in  Brooklyn,  New  York,  is 
recognized  as  an  important  centre  of  the  veterinary 
profession  in  that  city.  Dr.  Bell  is  a  member  of 
the  Alumni  Association  of  the  American  Veterinary 
College,  and  of  the  Veterinary  Department  of  New 
York  University  :  of  the  American  Veterinary  Med- 
ical Association,  of  which  he  was  Vice-President  in 


1896  ;  of  the  Veterinary  Medical  .Association  of 
New  York  County  ;  of  the  New  York  State  Veteri- 
nary Medical  Society,  of  which  he  is  President ; 
and  of  the  Long  Island  \'eterinary  .Association,  of 
which  also  he  is  President.  He  was  married  on 
November  29,  1888,  to  Rebecca  Moss,  and  has  two 
.sons  :   Bellmont  and  Hollingsworth  Bell.       w.  v.  j. 


COE,  Henry   Clark,  1856- 

Professor  Gynjecology,  1889- 
Born  in  Cincinnati,  O.,  1856;  graduated  Yale,  1878; 
graduated  Harvard  Med.  School,  1881  ;  M.A.  Yale, 
1881  ;  M.D.  N.  Y.  College  Phys.  and  Surg.,  1882  ;  studied 
in  Europe,  1883-84;  practicing  physician  in  New  York 
City  since  1884;  Prof.  Gynaecology  N.  Y.  Polyclinic, 
1889-97;  N-  Y.  Univ.  Bellevue  Hosp.  Med.  Coll.  since 
1897. 

HENRY  CLARK  COE,  M.D.,  was  born 
in  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  February  21,  1856, 
being  descended  on  both  sides  from  New  England 
ancestry,  viz.,  from  a  grand-daughter  of  John  and 
Priscilla  (MuUins)  .\lden  of  the   Mayflower.     His 


HENRY    C.    COE 

ancestors  served  on  land  and  sea  in  Colonial 
wars,  the  war  of  the  Revolution  and  that  of  1812. 
Since  1650  they  have  lived  in  Rhode  Island. 
Dr.  Coe's  preparatory  education  was  obtained  in 
a  private  academy  in  Cincinnati  whence  he  entered 


140 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR   SONS 


Yale  in  1874,  graduating  in  1878.  In  College  he 
won  several  literary  prizes  and  was  Class  Poet. 
He  was  particularly  interested  in  Biology  and 
received  impetus  in  studies  from  Professors 
Thacher  and  Smith  under  whom  he  worked. 
Biological  work  naturally  led  him  to  the  study 
of  medicine  for  which  he  had  had  a  strong  leaning 
since  boyhood.  He  graduated  from  the  Harvard 
Medical  School  in  188 1.  At  this  time  he  passed 
his  examination  in  modern  languages,  after  three 
years  of  study  in  advanced  French  and  German, 
and  received  the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts  from 
Yale.  In  the  fall  of  1881  he  matriculated  at 
Bellevue  Hospital  Medical  College,  where  he 
took  a  private  course  with  Professor  William  II. 
Welch  (now  of  Johns  Hopkins  University)  who 
aroused  his  interest  in  Pathology.  He  graduated 
from  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  in 
New  York  City  in  1882,  spent  a  year  in  foreign 
study,  principally  in  London  and  Vienna,  receiv- 
ing two  foreign  degrees  (M.R.C.S.  and  L.R.C'.P.). 
He  returned  to  New  York  in  1884  where  he  has 
since  been  engaged  in  active  practice,  during  the 
last  six  years  limited  to  obstetrics  and  diseases  of 
women.  He  was  for  eight  years  Professor  of 
GyntEcology  at  the  New  York  Polyclinic  and  was 
connected  with  the  Woman's.  Infant's,  Maternity 
and  Manhattan  hospitals.  He  is  at  the  present 
time  Professor  of  Gynajcoiogy  in  the  University 
and  Bellevue  Hospital  Medical  College  (succeeding 
Professor  Lusk  in  1897);  he  is  also  Gyna;cologist 
to  the  Bellevue  and  (General  Memorial  hospitals 
and  Consulting  Gynaecologist  to  the  Foundling 
Hospital.  He  has  been  connected  with  the  staff 
of  several  prominent  medical  journals,  and  has 
contributed  often  to  journals,  society  transactions, 
etc.  He  has  written  several  articles  for  systems 
of  Medicine  and  edited  a  work  on  Clinical  (Jyna;- 
cology.  He  belongs  to  the  University,  New  York 
Athletic,  Yale  and  Harvard  clubs,  the  Society  of 
Colonial  Wars,  the  Sons  of  the  Revolution,  the 
Mayflower  Descendants,  the  Order  of  Foreign 
Wars,  the  Order  of  Founders  and  Patriots,  the 
Society  of  the  War  of  18 12,  the  New  York  County 
Medical  Society,  the  Clinical  Society,  the  Obstet- 
rical Society,  the  Harvard  Medical  Society,  the 
Academy  of  Medicine  and  the  American  Gynajco- 
logical  Society.  He  was  married  in  1882  to  Sara 
Livingston  Werden  of  Pittsfield,  Massachusetts, 
and  has  three  sons,  aged  eleven,  eight  and  tiiree 
years.  E.  g.  s. 


FISHER,  Edward  Dix,  1856- 

Professor  Diseases  of  the  Nervous  System,  1890- 

Born,  1856;  educated  in  public  schools,  N.  Y.  City, 
Coll.  of  City  of  N.  Y.,  Med.  Dept.  of  N.  Y.  Univ.,  and 
Universities  of  Vienna,  Berlin,  Strasburg  and  Lon- 
don; practicing  physician;  A.B.  Coll.  City  of  N.  Y., 
1875;  M.D.,  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1878;  Prof.  Diseases  of  the 
Nervous  System,  N.  Y.  Univ.  and  Bellevue  Hosp. 
Med.  Coll.  since  i8gc. 

EDWARD  DIX  FISHER,  M.D.,  was  born 
February  11,  1856,  the  son  of  Nathaniel 
Fisher,  of  Dedham,  Massachusetts,  and  Mary  Ann 
(\\'oodruff)  Fisher,  of  Newark,  New  Jersey.  His 
education  was  acquired,  up  to  the  date  of  beginning 
professional  studies,  in  the  public  schools  of  New 
York  City,  culminating  in  the  College  of  the  City 
of  New  York,  from  which  he  was  graduated  with 


EDWARD    I).    KISHER 

the  Baccalaureate  degree  in  1875.  He  then  turned 
his  attention  to  medical  studies,  and  entered  the 
Medical  School  of  New  York  University,  where  he 
pursued  the  regular  course,  and  was  graduated 
with  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine  in  1878. 
Subsequently  he  continued  his  studies  at  the 
LTniversities  of  Vienna,  Berlin,  Strasburg  and  Lon- 
don. On  returning  to  New  York  he  entered  upon 
the  practice  of  his  profession,  which  he  has  since 
maintained  with  marked  success.     In   1890  he  be- 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    TIIEIK    SONS 


141 


came  Professor  of  Diseases  of  the  Nervous  System 
in  the  New  York  University  and  Bellevue  Hospi- 
tal Medical  College,  which  chair  he  still  fills.  Dr. 
Fisher  has  been  President  of  the  New  York  C'ounty 
Medical  Society,  the  New  York  Neurological  So- 
ciety, and  tlie  .American  Neurological  Association, 
and  is  a  member  also  of  the  New  York  Academy 
of  Medicine,  the  New  York  Pathological  Society, 
and  the  New  York  State  Medical  Society.  He  is 
also  Consulting  Physician  to  the  Manhattan  State 
Hospital  for  tlie  Insane,  Neurologist  to  Hospital  for 
Nervous  Diseases,  City  Ho.spital ;  Con.sulting  Neu- 
rologist to  New  York  Skin  and  Cancer  Hospital, 
Beth  Israel  Hospital  and  Columbia  Hospital.  In 
College  he  was  a  member  of  the  Delta  Kappa 
Epsilon  Fraternity,  and  was  elected  an  honorary 
member  of  the  fraternity  of  Phi  Beta  Kappa. 
He  belongs  to  the  University  Club,  the  Union 
League  Club,  the  Knickerbocker  Athletic  Club, 
and  the  D.  K.  E.  Club  of  New  York,  the  New 
England  Society,  etc.  w.  v.  j. 


FORD,   Willis   Ellard,  1850- 

Professor  Electro-Therapeutics,  1893- 

Born  in  Belfast,  N.  Y.,  1850;  graduated  Med.  Dept. 
N.  Y.  University,  1872  ;  Interne  Charity  Hospital,  N.  Y. 
City,  1872-73;  on  staff  of  N.  Y.  State  Lunatic  Asylum, 
Utica,  1873;  in  practice  in  Utica;  Medical  Director  St. 
Luke's  Hosp.  since  1882;  Prof.  Electro-Therapeutics 
University  of  Buffalo,  1889;  Lecturer,  Med.  Dept.  N.  Y. 
Univ.,  1890-93  ;  Prof,  since  1893. 

WH.LIS  ELLARD  FORD,  M.D.,  was  born 
in  Belfast,  New  York,  in  1850,  and  was 
educated  in  the  Genesee  Valley  Seminary  at  that 
place.  On  his  father's  side  he  was  descended  from 
one  of  Cromwell's  troopers  \vho  settled  in  Rhode 
Island  after  the  Restoration  of  Charles  II.  He  is 
of  Scotch  descent  on  his  mother's  side.  For  moral 
ideals  he  is  particularly  beholden  to  the  influence 
of  a  wise,  religious,  liberal-minded  father.  Lewis 
Ford  was  one  who  seldom  talked  religion  but  taught 
by  example.  From  his  mother  he  inherited  the 
strength,  indomitable  energy  and  persistency  of 
purpose,  which  are  so  peculiarly  characteristic  to 
the  Scotch,  as  well  as  the  high  religious  principle 
which  is  so  characteristic  of  this  people.  In  his 
professional  career  he  was  aided  more  by  the  late 
Dr.  Darling,  Professor  of  Anatomy  at  the  Univer- 
sity, than  by  any  other  man.  Dr.  Ford  was  a 
good  Greek  scholar  as  a  boy,  and  it  was  for  this 


reason  among  many  others  that  Dr.  Darling  took 
the  interest  in  him  which  lasted  during  his  life- 
time. He  was  fitted  for  College  at  the  age  of 
seventeen  but  did  not  enter,  deciding  it  best  to 
pursue  his  studies  at  the  Seminary  for  two  years 
and  then  begin  his  course  in  medicine.  He 
graduated  from  the  Medical  Department  of  the 
University  of  the  City  of  New  York  with  high 
honors,  in  1872.  He  was  employed  for  a  time  in 
demonstrating  Anatomy  there,  after  which  by 
competitive  examination  he  won  a  place  on  the 
Medical  Staff  of  Charity  Hospital,  New  York, 
serving  the  regular  time  as   Interne.     Just  before 


WILLIS    E.    FORD 

the  completion  of  his  term  of  service  in  Charity 
Hospital  he  was  summoned  to  Utica  to  see  Dr. 
Gray,  then  the  distinguished  Superintendent  of 
the  New  York  State  Lunatic  .\sylum  at  that  place. 
The  attention  of  Dr.  Gray  had  been  called  to  the 
unusual  ability  which  Dr.  Ford  had  displayed  in 
Charity  Hospital,  and  he  appointed  him  to  fill 
the  vacancy  on  his  staff.  Thus  began  a  warm 
friendship  which  was  terminated  only  by  the 
untimely  death  of  Dr.  Gray.  After  five  years  and 
more  of  service  at  the  Asylum,  Dr.  Ford  began  a 
private  practice  in  Utica.  At  the  time  he  left  the 
service  at  the  Asylum,  December  26,  1878,  he 
married     Mary    Ledyard,    daughter   of     the     late 


142 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


John  F.  Seymour  of  Utica.  In  private  practice 
his  success  was  phenomenal.  He  was  favorably 
known  to  all  of  the  leading  physicians  in  the  state 
and  was  sought  for,  not  only  by  sick  people,  but 
by  physicians  who  desired  him  in  council  because 
of  his  unusual  ability  as  a  diagnostician.  In  1882 
he  was  made  Medical  Director  of  St.  Luke's 
Hospital,  an  office  which  he  now  holds.  After 
four  years  of  service  there  the  institution  had  so 
grown  in  importance  that  a  new  hospital  building 
was  needed.  Dr.  Ford  was  active  and  largely 
instrumental  in  securing  the  necessary  subscrip- 
tions and  in  the  building  of  the  hospital,  which  as 
it  now  stands,  is  a  source  of  pride  to  the  city.  He 
instituted,  in  1888,  the  St.  Luke's  School  of 
Instruction  for  Nurses,  which  is  one  of  the  most 
popular  institutions  in  Utica  to-day.  For  some 
years  he  has  given  much  attention  to  Gynaecolog)-, 
and  his  success  in  using  electricity  in  this  field 
caused  his  appointment  in  1889  as  Professor  of 
Electro-Therapeutics  in  the  Medical  Department 
of  the  University  of  Buffalo,  and  the  following 
year  was  made  lecturer  on  the  same  topic  in  the 
Medical  Department  of  the  University  of  the  Citj- 
of  New  York.  From  the  latter  position  he  was 
in  1893  advanced  to  his  present  rank  of  Professor. 
In  1884  the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts  was  con- 
ferred upon  him  by  Madison  University.  He  has 
contributed  very  largely  to  the  current  medical 
literature  of  the  day.  Dr.  Ford,  besides  being 
a  member  of  various  local  medical  organizations, 
is  a  fellow  of  the  American  Gynajcological 
Society,  a  member  and  in  the  year  1892  Presi- 
dent of  the  American  Climatological  Society, 
a  fellow  of  the  New  York  Academy  of  Medicine, 
a  permanent  member  of  the  Medical  Society  of 
the  State  of  New  York,  and  a  member  and  in 
the  year  1891  President  of  the  Alumni  Associ- 
ation of  the  Medical  Department  of  New  York 
University.  e.  g.  s. 

NORTHRUP,  'William   Perry,  1851- 

Professor  Pediatrics,  1894- 
Born  in  Peterboro,  N.  Y.,  1851  ;  graduated  Hamilton 
College,  1872;  M.A.  in  course;  Instr.  Greek  Knox 
College,  111.,  1872-76;  graduated  N.  Y.  College  Phys. 
and  Surgeons,  1878;  Interne  Roosevelt  Hosp.,  1878-80; 
commenced  practice  in  New  York  City,  1880;  Prof. 
Pediatrics  N.  Y.  Univ.  since  1894. 

WILLIAM   PERRY   NORTHRUP,    M.D., 
was  born  in  Peterboro,  New  York,  Jan- 
uary II,  1 85 1,  of  English  and  \Velsh  ancestry  ;    his 


father  was  born  in  Framingham,  Massachusetts, 
and  his  mother  in  Watervale,  New  York.  He 
graduated,  Bachelor  of  Arts,  at  Hamilton  College 
in  1872,  receiving  later  on  the  Master  of  Arts 
degree  from  his  Alma  Mater.  From  1872  to  1876 
he  served  in  Knox  College,  Galesburg,  Illinois,  as 
Instructor  in  Greek,  Declamation  and  Composition. 
He  studied  Medicine  at  the  College  of  Physicians 
and  Surgeons  in  New  York  City  from  1876  to 
1878,  and  served  as  Interne  in  Roosevelt  Hospital, 
New  York  Citj-,  from  1878  to  1880.  In  1880  he 
began  practice.  He  was  connected  with  the  New 
York     Foundling    Hospital    as     Pathologist    and 


W.    p.    NORTHRUP 

Attending  Physician  from  1882  to  the  present 
time.  He  is,  moreover,  now  Attending  Physician 
at  the  Presbyterian  Foundling  and  Willard  Parker 
hospitals ;  Consulting  Physician  to  the  New  York 
Infant  Asylum  and  Babies'  Hospital  of  Newark  ; 
and  Professor  of  Pediatrics  at  the  University 
and  Eellevue  Hospital  Medical  College.  He  is 
a  member  of  the  Association  of  American  Phy- 
sicians and  the  New  York  Academy  of  Medi- 
cine ;  ex-President  of  the  New  York  Pathological 
Society ;  ex-President  of  the  American  Pediatric 
Society ;  and  Associate  Editor  of  Ashley,  Wright 
and  Northrup's  work  on  Diseases  of  Children, 
published  by  Longmans,  Green  &  Company.     In 


UNIFERSiriES   JND    THEIR   SONS 


H3 


general  literature  he  has  written  two  pieces  for 
Scribner's  Magazine  :  In  the  Steamer's  Track,  a 
Pilot-Boat  Story,  May  1888,  and  The  Pardon  of 
Sainte  Anne  d'Auray,  a  Story  of  Breton  Life, 
December  1889;  an  article  in  the  Forum  for 
September  1896,  Antitoxin  Treatment  of  Diph- 
theria a  Pronounced  Success ;  and  in  the  Medical 
Record  for  August  1896,  An  Incident  in  Summer 
Practice  (Aunt  ]5etsy  Hawkins).  e.  c.  s. 


COLBY,   Frank   Moore,    1865- 

Prof.  Economics  1895-1900,  Assoc.  Prof.  Polit.  Sci.  1896-1900. 

Born  in  Washington,  D.  C,  1865;  early  education 
in  Detroit,  Mich. ;  studied  at  Columbian  Univ.  Wash- 
ington, D.  C.  ;  engaged  in  business,  1882-85;  taught 
schools  in  Indiana  and  on  Staten  Island,  1885-88 ; 
graduated  Columbia  School  of  Polit.  Sci.,  1888  ;  engaged 
in  study  and  tutoring,  1888-90;  Acting  Prof.  History, 
Amherst,  1890-91  ;  Lect.  in  Hist,  at  Columbia  and  Instr. 
Hist,  and  Polit.  Econ.  at  Barnard  College,  1891  95; 
Prof.  Economics  at  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1895  1900 ;  Assoc. 
Prof.  Pol.  Science,  1896-1900;  author  and  editor. 

FRANK  MOORE  COLBY  was  born  in  Wash- 
ington. District  of  Columbia,  February  10, 
1865,  his  father,  the  Hon.  Stoddard  Benham  Colby 
being  at  that  time  Register  of  the  United  States 
Treasury.  His  parents  were  both  residents  of 
Vermont,  though  his  mother,  Ellen  Cornelia  Colby 
(nee  Hunt),  had  passed  the  earlier  years  of  her 
life  in  New  Hampshire.  He  was  educated  in  the 
schools  of  Newbury,  Vermont ;  Washington,  Dis- 
trict of  Columbia;  and  Detroit,  Michigan.  He 
graduated  from  the  Detroit  High  School  in  1880, 
and  three  years  later  entered  the  Sophomore  Class 
of  Columbian  University,  \\'ashington.  District  of 
Columbia,  to  which  city  he  had  removed  in  1882 
on  receiving  an  appointment  as  paymaster's  clerk 
in  the  United  States  Army.  The  Paymaster  under 
whom  he  served  was  ordered  away  in  1885,  and 
Mr.  Colby  returned  to  Detroit  where  he  obtained 
a  position  as  corresponding  clerk  in  a  business 
house,  but  gave  it  up  after  a  few  months  for  a 
place  in  a  small  private  school  in  Lima.  Indiana. 
He  taught  there  for  a  year  and  a  half,  and  after  a 
short  interval,  during  which  he  worked  in  a  New- 
York  publishing  house,  he  succeeded  in  finding 
another  position  as  a  teacher  in  St.  Austin's  School 
on  Staten  Island.  His  object  had  been  to  carr\' 
on  his  work  as  a  teacher  in  the  vicinity  of  some 
large  College  in  order  that  he  might  qualify  for 
the     Bachelor's     degree.       The    position    at    St. 


.Austin's  School  enabled  him  to  do  this,  and  with 
the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  .Arts  he  graduated  at 
the  School  of  Political  Science  of  Columbia  in 
1888.  The  next  two  years  were  spent  in  private 
tutoring  and  in  studying  at  the  School  of  Political 
Science,  after  which  he  was  appointed  Acting 
Professor  of  History  at  Amherst  College  in  place 
of  Professor  Morse  who  was  on  sick  leave  for  a 
year.  At  the  end  of  the  year  Mr.  Colby  became 
Lecturer  in  History  in  Columbia  and  Instructor  in 
History  and  Political  Economy  in  Barnard  College, 
which  positions  he  held  for  four  years.  He  then 
received  the  appointment  as  Professor  of  Econo- 
mics in  the  New  York  University  CJraduate  Semi- 
nary, and  a  year  later  became  Associate  Professor 
of  Political  Science  in  the  University  College.  He 
resigned  these  positions  in  the  summer  of  1900  to 
undertake  the  publication  of  a  large  cyclopedic 
work  and  become  an  editorial  writer  for  one  of 
the  New  York  newspapers.  Apart  from  teaching 
Mr.  Colby  has  been  engaged  in  editorial  work  and 
in  writing  for  cyclopedias  and  periodicals.  He 
was  a  contributor  to  the  International  Cyclopedia 
in  1890  and  1891  ;  was  on  the  editorial  stafT  of 
Johnson's  Cyclopedia,  1893- 1895  ;  took  charge  of 
the  1898  revision  of  the  International  Cyclopedia, 
and  planned  and  edited  the  annual  publication 
known  as  the  International  Year  Book,  whose  first 
volume  appeared  in  1898.  He  is  also  the  author 
of  a  small  historical  text-book  entitled  Outlines  of 
Genera!  History  (1898).  e.  g.  s. 


MILLER,   George   Alfred,    1853- 

Professor  Law,  1895- 
Born  in  New  York  City,  1853;  educated  in  New 
York  Schools;  graduated  Columbia  Law  School,  1873; 
admitted  to  Bar,  1874;  entered  practice  in  New  York 
City  with  Scudder  &  Carter  (Carter  &  Ledyardi  ;  Instr. 
and  Prof.  Metropolis  Law  School,  1891  ;  Prof.  Law  at 
the  University  since  1895. 

GEORGE  ALFRED  MILLER  was  born  in 
New  York  City,  August  30,  1853,  son  of 
Levi  and  Marianne  Adeline  (Demarest)  Miller. 
The  Miller  family  has  been  among  the  yeomanry 
of  Westchester  county  since  the  beginning  of  the 
eighteenth  century.  George  A.  Miller's  great- 
great-grandfather  on  his  father's  side,  who  was  an 
old  man  at  the  beginning  of  the  American  Revolu- 
tion, was  killed  in  one  of  the  many  small  skirmishes 
between  the  Patriot  and  Tory  bands  in  Westchester 
county.     His  son,  Samuel  Miller  (great-grandfather 


144 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


of  George  A.  Miller),  served  as  a  soldier  in  the 
Revolutionary  Army  for  about  a  year,  as  appears 
from  the  records  of  the  War  Department.  On  his 
mother's  side  George  A.  Miller's  descent  is  directly 
traced  from  David  des  Marest,  a  I^rench  Huguenot 
who  settled  in  this  country  in  1663.  Professor 
Miller's  general  education  was  had  in  public 
schools  of  New  York  until  he  was  about  fifteen 
years  old.  At  that  age  he  was  obliged  to  give  up 
attendance  at  school,  and  to  forego  thoughts  of 
College  on  account  of  serious  and  long  continued 
illness.  He  entered  a  law  office  of  the  old  school 
at   the   very    lowest   round    of   the    ladder  of   the 


GEO.    A.     MILLER 

profession,  before  he  was  sixteen  ;  and  graduated 
in  1873  before  he  was  twenty,  with  the  degree 
of  Bachelor  of  Laws,  from  the  Law  School  of 
Columbia,  after  two  years  of  tuition  by  that  cele- 
brated teacher  of  law,  Dr.  Theodore  W.  Dwight. 
He  was  admitted  to  the  Bar  in  October  1874,  and 
about  the  same  time  entered  the  office  of  Scudder 
&  Carter,  with  which,  and  its  succeeding  firm  of 
Carter  &  Ledyard,  he  has  ever  since  been  con- 
nected successively  as  clerk,  managing  clerk  and 
partner.  These  firms,  the  present  head  of  which, 
James  C.  Carter,  is  the  recognized  leader  of 
the  American  Bar,  during  their  fift>'  years  of 
existence,  have  been  connected  with  many  of  the 


most  important  litigations  which  have  occupied 
the  attention  of  the  courts  during  that  period. 
Professor  Miller's  special  department  has  been 
practice  and  procedure  in  which  thirty  years  of 
wide  experience  have  given  him  the  opportunity  to 
become  proficient.  When  an  office  boy  and  before 
entering  Columbia  Law  School,  he  wrote  a  com- 
munication, published  in  the  Albany  Law  Journal, 
suggesting  a  plan  for  an  evening  law  school. 
More  than  twenty  years  afterwards  he  became  an 
Instructor  in  the  first  realization  of  his  boyish 
suggestion,  the  Metropolis  Law  School,  with 
which  he  continued  as  Instructor  and  Professor 
until  its  merger  with  New  A^'ork  University.  He 
has  been  Professor  of  Law  in  that  institution  ever 
since,  occupying  the  Chair  of  Code  Practice  and 
Procedure.  The  LTniversity  conferred  the  hon- 
orary degree  of  Master  of  Laws  on  Professor 
Miller  at  Commencement  in  1898,  on  which  occa- 
sion he  delivered  the  address  in  behalf  of  the 
Faculty  to  the  graduates  in  Law.  He  was  con- 
nected with  the  military  service  of  New  York  State 
for  nearly  twenty  years,  from  1873  to  1892,  serving 
in  the  Twenty-second  Regiment  through  the  ranks 
and  subordinate  grades  to  the  position  of  Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel. Afterwards  he  became  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  of  the  Twelfth  Regiment.  He  has  been 
a  wide  reader  of  English  and  American  literature, 
and  is  especially  interested  in  History  and  Political 
Economy.  He  was  a  friend  and  follower  of  Henry 
George,  whose  first  and  famous  book  made  a 
profound  impression  and  exerted  a  lasting  influ- 
ence on  Professor  Miller's  views  and   principles. 

E.  G.  s. 

ROUNDS,    Arthur   Charles,  1862- 

Professor  Law,  1895- 
Born  in  Cleveland,  O.,  1862;  prepared  for  College  at 
Hallowell  Class.  Acad.,  Me.  ;  graduated  Amherst,  1887; 
A.M.  and  LL.B.  Harvard,  1890;  LL.M.  N.  Y.  Univ., 
1900;  practicing  lawyer  in  New  York  City;  taught  in 
Metropolis  Law  School,  1892-95  ;  Prof.  Law  N.  Y.  Univ. 
since  1895;  Lecturer  in  Harvard  Law  School  since 
1898. 

ARTHUR  CHARLES  ROUNDS  was  born 
in  Cleveland,  Ohio,  December  28,  1862, 
his  father,  Charles  C.  Rounds,  having  been  for 
many  years  Principal  of  the  State  Normal  School 
in  Farmington,  Maine,  and  Plymouth,  New  Hamp- 
shire. His  mother  is  Kate  Nixon  (Stowell)  Rounds 
formerly  of  South  Paris,  Maine.  His  ancestors  on 
both  sides  are  of  English  descent  and  have  been 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


145 


residents  of  Massachusetts,  New  Hampshire  and 
Maine  since  the  seventeenth  century.  Arthur  i'. 
Rounds  was  educated  partly  in  a  three  years' 
course  in  the  Normal  School  in  Farmington, 
Maine,  and  had  also  two  years  of  College  prepara- 
tion at  Hallowell  Classical  Academy,  Hallowell, 
Maine.  He  graduated  from  Amherst  in  1887  with 
the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts,  spending  the  next 
three  years,  1887-1890,  at  the  Harvard  Law  School, 
receiving  the  degrees  of  Master  of  Arts  and  Bachelor 
of  Laws.  Professionally  he  has  been  connected 
with  Carter,  Hughes  &  Dwight,  New  York  City, 
from  1 89 1  to  the  present  time,  and  is  a  member  of 
that  firm.  He  taught  law  in  the  Metropolis  Law 
School  from  1892  to  1895,  and  has  been  Pro- 
fessor of  Law  in  the  New  York  University  Law 
School  from  1895  to  the  present  time,  and  in  1900 
received  the  honorary  degree  of  Master  of  Laws 
from  that  University.  Since  1898  he  has  been 
Lecturer  on  New  York  Practice  in  Harvard  Law 
School.  E.  G.  s. 

BUCHNER,   Edward   F.,  1868- 

Professor  Analytical  Psychology,  1896-1901. 
Born  in  Paxton,  111.,  1868 ;  educated  in  public 
schools ;  graduated  Western  College,  Toledo,  la., 
1889;  Instr.  in  Western  College,  1889-90;  A.M.,  1891 ; 
studied  in  Yale,  1890-93  and  received  Ph.D.,  1893  ; 
Lect.  on  Pedagogy  Yale,  1892-94;  Instr.  in  Phil,  and 
Pedagogy  Yale,  1893-97;  Prof.  Analytical  Psychology 
N.  Y.  Univ.  1896-1901. 

EDWARD  F.  BUCHNER,  Ph.D.,  was  born 
of  German  parentage,  in  Paxton,  Ford 
county,  Illinois,  September  3,  1868.  His  father. 
Christian  Jacob  Buchner,  a  native  of  Stuttgart,  and 
his  mother,  Caroline  Louisa  (Lohmann)  Buchner, 
of  Hanover,  were  residents  of  their  native  towns 
until  they  were  about  twenty  years  of  age.  Their 
marriage  occurred  in  1859  in  Urbana,  Champaign 
count)',  Illinois.  Edward  was  the  fourth  son  in  a 
family  of  six  children,  two  of  whom  died  in  in- 
fancy, and  one  at  the  age  of  twelve  years.  The 
greater  portion  of  the  first  four  years  of  his  life 
was  spent  on  a  prairie  farm,  where  the  environ- 
ment was  such  as  a  rather  new  country  provides. 
In  his  fifth  year  the  family  removed  to  Gibson, 
three  miles  distant,  a  village  which  had  been 
recently  surveyed.  The  boy's  early  education  was 
acquired  in  the  schools  of  this  town.  The  train- 
ing was  such  as  was  ordinarily  provided  in  the 
better  grade  of  primary,  grammar  and  high  schools 
of  the  period.     In  his  fifteenth  year  he  was  gradu- 


ated, with  Salutatorian  honors,  from  tiie  (iihson 
High  School.  The  formative  influences  of  these 
early  years  were  derived  from  the  home.  The 
interests,  activities  and  charitable  gifts  of  the  par- 
ents maintained  a  family  circle  steadfast  in  its 
appreciation  of  education  and  its  estimation  of  true 
and  worthy  citizenship,  of  fine  moral  perceptions 
and  of  the  value  of  a  pietistic  religious  fervor. 
The  parents  and  children  were  communicants  in 
the  Church  of  the  United  Brethren  in  Christ. 
The  local  church  of  this  sect  in  Gibson  had  been 
established  and  practically  maintained  through  the 
activity  of    the  father.      The  routine  of    religious 


EDWARD    F.    BUCHNER 

service  and  various  church  duties,  readily  re- 
sponded to  by  the  youth,  made  deep  impressions 
upon  his  mind,  awakening  interests  in  the  conduct 
and  meaning  of  life.  He  was  not  fond  of  play- 
mates, but  preferred  the  dreamings  which  came  as 
he  sought  his  own  amusements.  His  teachers  in 
school  and  church  were  marked  for  their  gentle- 
ness, but  gave  no  decided  turn  to  the  young  life. 
In  1885  he  was  admitted  to  Western  College 
Toledo,  Iowa,  the  oldest  College  in  the  Northwest, 
founded  and  conducted  by  the  Church  of  the 
United  Brethren  in  Christ.  His  studies  continued 
here  for  four  years,  upon  the  completion  of  which 
he  was  graduated,  receiving  the  degree  of  Bachelor 


146 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR    SONS 


of  Arts.  He  was  Secretary,  Vice-President  and 
President  of  the  Young  Men's  Institute,  and  was 
its  Annual  Commencement  Orator  in  1888.  Dur- 
ing his  Senior  year  he  was  the  Scholar  Assistant 
in  the  Department  of  Natural  Science.  Being 
appointed  to  a  College  instructorship  at  graduation, 
he  taught  in  his  Alma  Mater  during  the  following 
year.  At  the  same  time  he  pursued  graduate 
studies  in  Analytical  and  Quantitative  Chemistry. 
This  line  of  work  was  cut  short  by  a  disastrous 
Christmas-night  fire,  destroying  the  entire  building 
in  which  the  Chemical  Laboratory  was  located. 
Re-equipment  was  slow  with  no  promise  of  imme- 
diately resuming  those  studies  with  experimental 
aids.  The  young  man  then  turned  his  attention  to 
philosophical  and  educational  subjects,  an  interest 
in  which  had  been  awakened,  if  not  shapened  by 
his  studies  in  the  latter  portion  of  his  Academic 
career.  In  1891  he  received  the  degree  of  Mas- 
ter of  Arts  from  Western  College.  In  1890  he 
entered  Yale  University,  thus  realizing  an  am- 
bition cherished  from  childhood,  and  pursued 
studies  in  the  Philosophical  Department  of  the 
Graduate  School.  The  student  period  in  this  in- 
stitution extended  over  three  years,  special  atten- 
tion being  given  to  Physiological  Psychology, 
Analytical  Psychology,  Social  Science,  Ethics, 
History  of  Philosophy,  History  of  Education,  Phil- 
osophy of  Religion  and  Theology.  Among  the 
various  Professors  under  whose  directions  these 
studies  were  conducted,  Professor  George  T.  Ladd 
and  Professor  George  M.  Duncan  (New  York 
University,  A.B.  1881),  had,  perhaps,  the  most  in- 
fluence in  shaping  the  trend  of  his  intellectual 
interests.  In  final  fulfillment  of  the  requirements 
for  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Philosophy,  which  was 
conferred  upon  him  in  June  1893,  he  submitted  a 
thesis  entitled,  A  Study  of  Kant's  Psycholog}- 
with  Reference  to  the  Critical  Philosophy,  pub- 
lished as  a  monograph  supplement  by  the  Psycho- 
logical Review  in  1897.  He  was  Chairman  of  the 
Executive  Committee  of  the  Yale  Philosophical 
Club  from  1894  to  1896.  In  1896  he  spent  sev- 
eral months  with  the  Professors  of  Philosophy  and 
in  the  libraries  of  the  Universities  of  Konigsberg, 
Kiel,  Berlin,  Halle,  Jena,  Leipzig,  Marburg  and 
Giessen,  in  search  of  material  relating  to  the  his- 
tory of  Kantian  Philosophy  and  its  modern  inter- 
pretation, combining  with  this  a  special  inquiry 
into  the  developments  in  Theoretical  and  Practical 
Pedagogy  in  the  school  system  of  Germany.     In 


1892  he  received  an  appointment  as  Lecturer  on 
Pedagogy  in  Yale,  this  being  the  first  official  recog- 
nition in  Pedagogy  as  an  academical  subject  by  the 
Corporation  of  Yale.  The  recommendation  to  this 
appointment  was  made  because  of  his  meritorious 
attainments  as  a  student.  In  the  summer  of  1893 
he  was  Assistant  in  the  Psychological  Laboratory 
conducted  by  Professor  Jastrow  at  the  World's 
Fair  in  Chicago.  He  was  advanced  in  1894  to  an 
Instructorship  in  Philosophy  and  Pedagogy  in 
Yale,  conducting  courses  for  both  undergraduate 
and  graduate  students.  Dr.  Buchner  accepted  a 
call  in  1896  to  the  Chair  of  Analytical  Psychology 
in  the  School  of  Pedagogy,  New  York  University. 
He  assumed  its  duties  in  September  of  that  year, 
lecturing  on  the  science  of  Psychology  in  its  rela- 
tion to  the  principles  of  education  and  the  prac- 
tical work  of  teaching.  He  continued  his  courses 
of  instruction  in  Philosophy  and  Pedagogy  at  Yale 
until  his  resignation  of  that  position  in  June  1897. 
Upon  coming  to  New  York  in  1896,  Dr.  Buchner 
also  became  a  member  of  the  Faculty  of  the  Grad- 
uate School,  and  as  such  has  continued  to  give 
instruction  in  Philosophical  subjects  in  that 
Department.  In  1897  and  in  1899  he  represented 
the  School  of  Pedagogy  at  the  University  Summer 
Courses,  giving  lectures  on  Psychology  to  teachers. 
In  1898-1899  and  1899-1900  he  represented  the 
School  of  Pedagogy,  with  lecture  courses  on  Psy- 
chology, in  the  extension  work  for  teachers  main- 
tained by  the  Brooklyn  Institute  of  Arts  and  Sci- 
ences. In  1896  he  was  elected  to  membership  in 
the  American  Psychological  Association,  and  in 
1899  became  a  resident  member  of  the  New  York 
Academy  of  Science.  He  was  elected  a  member 
of  the  American  Association  for  the  Advancement 
of  Science  in  1900.  Since  1898  he  has  been  Sec- 
retary-Treasurer of  the  New  York  Society  for 
Child  Study.  Dr.  Buchner  has  been  a  frequent 
contributor  to  the  literature  of  modern  Philosophy, 
Psychology  and  Pedagogics  ;  his  Bibliography  is 
as  follows  :  "  Froebel  from  a  Psychological  Stand- 
point," Education,  October  and  November  1894, 
Vol.  XV.,  pp.  105-113,  169-173;  "The  School 
Curriculum,"  The  School  Journal,  June  25,  1895, 
Vol.  L.  pp.  706-707;  "The  Third  International 
Congress  of  Psychology,"  The  Psychological  Re- 
view, November  1896,  Vol.  III.,  pp.  589-602  ; 
"  Study  of  Kant's  Psychology  with  Reference  to 
the  Critical  Philosophy,"  New  York,  The  Macmillan 
Co.   1897,  8vo.  pp.  VIII.,   208  (Issued    as   Mon- 


UNIFERSITIES   AND    'III h. IK    SONS 


H7 


ograph  Supplement  No.  4  to  the  Psychological  Re- 
view, January  1897)  ;  "  The  Psychology  of  the 
Child,  by  Dr.  W.  Preyer,"  Translated  for  the 
School  Journal,  April  3,  10,  17,  1897,  Vol.  LIV., 
pp.  413-414,  449-451,  473-474;  "  Johann(;ottlieb 
Fichte,"  A  Library  of  the  World's  Best  Literature, 
Ancient  and  Modern,  Charles  Dudley  Warner, 
editor.  New  York,  The  Liternational  Society, 
1897,  Vol.  XIV.,  pp.  5673-5676  ;  "  Observations 
on  the  '  Principle  of  Identity,' "'  Science,  N.  S. 
Vol.  VI.,  pp.  809-810;  •' The  Province  of  Child 
Study,"  Educational  Foundations,  January  1898, 
Vol.  IX.,  pp.  275-279;  "Child  Study  and  Com- 
position Work "  (in  collaboration).  Educational 
Foundations,  February  and  April  1898,  Vol.  IX., 
pp.  354-363,  503-513;  "The  Pestalozzi-Froebel 
House,"  School  and  Home  Education,  Septem- 
ber 1898,  Vol.  XVIII. ,  pp.  11-14;  "Some  Con- 
ditions of  Progress  in  Pedagogy,"  The  New  York 
Teachers'  Magazine,  June  1899,  Vol.  II.,  pp. 
26-35  5  "  T'^^  Teacher  and  the  Psychologies," 
School  and  Home  Education,  December  1899, 
Vol.  XIX.,  pp.  165-169;  "  VoHtion  as  a  Scientific 
Datum";  and  the  following  reviews:  "Adams's 
The  Herbartian  Psychology  applied  to  Education," 
Educational  Review,  January  1898,  Vol.  XV.,  pp. 
82-85  ;  "  Wenley's  An  Outline  introductory  to 
Kant's  Critique  of  Pure  Reason,"  The  Philosophi- 
cal Review,  March  1898,  Vol.  VII.,  pp.  215-216; 
"  Cornelius's  Psychologieals  Erfahrungswissen- 
schaft."  The  Psychological  Review,  May  1898,  Vol. 
v.,  pp.  321-326;  "  Sneath's  Ethics  of  Hobbes," 
The  Philosophical  Review,  November  1898,  Vol. 
VII.,  pp.  660-661;  "  Eldridge-Green's  Memory 
and  its  Cultivation,"  The  Educational  Review, 
May  1898,  Vol.  XVII.,  pp.  494-496;  "Stern's 
Psychologic  der  Veriinderungsauffassung."  The 
Psychological  Review,  July  1899,  Vol.  VI.,  pp. 
428-432  ;  "  Ziehen's  Psycho-physiologische  Y.r- 
kenntnistheorie,"  The  Psychological  Review,  Julv 
1899,  Vol.  VI.,  pp.  432-439  ;  "  Ladd's  Philosophy 
of  Knowledge,"  Die  Altpreussische  Monatsschrift, 
1899  ;  "  Levy's  L'Education  rationnelle  de  la  Vo- 
lonte,"  The  Philosophical  Review,  1900,  Vol.  IX.; 
and  "  Psychological  Literature."  The  Psychological 
Review,  July  and  November  1899,  Vol.  VI.,  pp. 
440-443,  662-664.  January  1900,  Vol.  VII.,  pp. 
94-97.  Dr.  Buchner  married,  June  i,  1898, 
Hannah  Louise,  daughter  of  the  late  Rufus  Dav- 
enport and  Elizabeth  Sanford  (Morgan)  Cable,  of 
Westport,  Connecticut. 


SOMMER,    Frank    Henry,    1872- 

Professor  Law,  1895- 

Born  in  Newark,  N.  J.,  1872;  graduated  Metropolis 
Law  School,  1893  ;  Instr.  Metropolis  Law  School, 
1893-94;  Prof.,  1894  95;  Prof.  Law  in  the  University 
since  1895;  LL.B.  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1895  ;  LL.M.  N.  Y. 
Univ.,  1900. 

FRANK  HENRY  SOMMER  was  born  Sep- 
tember 3,  1872,  in  Newark,  New  Jersey, 
of  parents  born  in  this  country.  His  maternal 
grandparents  iiad  immigrated  from  Switzerland, 
while  his  father's  parents  came  from  Ciermany. 
His  preliminary  education  was  had  in  public  and 
private  schools.  At  nineteen  years  of  age  in  1891 
Professor  Sommer  entered  the  Metropolis  Law 
School  from  which  in  1893  he  was  graduated  with 
the  second  honor.      In  1893  he  was  appointed  in- 


KK.XNK    H.    .SO.MMKR 

structor  in  the  Metropolis  Law  School ;  in  the  same 
year  in  November  he  was  admitted  to  the  New 
Jersey  Bar  as  Attorney-at-Law.  Having  been  in 
1894  appointed  Professor  in  the  Metropolis  Law 
School,  he  was  in  1895  granted  the  Bachelor 
of  Laws  degree  by  New  York  L'niversity  Law 
School,  being  in  the  reorganization  and  expansion 
of  that  year  appointed  a  Professor  of  the  New 
^'ork  Universit)'  Law  School,  and  lecturing  now  in 
that  school.     He  was  during   1S97   Editor  of  the 


148 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


University  Law  Review,  founded  by  Austin  Abbott. 
In  February  1897  he  was  admitted  to  the  New 
Jersey  Bar  as  Counselor-at-Law.  In  1899  he  pub- 
lished Condensed  Cases  on  Property  in  Land. 
In  1900  he  was  granted  the  degree  of  Master  of 
Laws  by  the  New  York  University  Law  School. 

E.  G.  s. 

EDMONDSON,    Thomas   William,    1869- 

Assistant  Professor  Physics,  1896- 
Born  in  Skipton-in-Craven,  England,  1869;  A.B. 
London  Univ.,  1888  and  Cambridge,  Eng.,  i8gi  ;  gradu- 
ate study  in  Physics,  Chem.  and  Botany  Cambridge 
Univ.,  1891-93  ;  came  to  U.  S.,  1893  ;  Fellow  in  Physics 
Clark  Univ.  Worcester,  Mass.,  1894-96;  Ph.D.  Clark 
Univ.,  1896;  Asst.  Prof.  Physics,  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1896- 

THOMAS  WILLIAM  EI  )M(  )NDSO\,  Ph.D., 
eldest  son  of  Thomas  Edmondson,  was 
born  in  Skipton-in-Craven,  Yorkshire,  England,  in 
1869.  He  received  his  early  education  at  one  of 
the  elementary  schools  of  his  native  town,  and,  in 
1879,  having  gained  an  entrance  scholarship,  he 
entered  the  Skipton  Endowed  Grammar  School, 
where  he  remained  until  1888.  During  the  last 
three  years  of  his  stay  at  this  .school,  his  studies 
were  directed  to  the  work  required  for  the  exami- 
nations leading  to  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts 
at  London  University  ;  and  at  the  matriculation 
examination  of  June  1886,  he  was  placed  first  in 
the  Honours  List  and  was  awarded  the  First 
Matriculation  Exhibition.  His  degree  of  Bachelor 
of  Arts  was  conferred  in  1888.  In  1887  Professor 
Edmondson  gained  the  Akroyd  scholarship,  a 
scholarship  competed  for  annually  by  the  strongest 
students  of  the  endowed  schools  of  Yorkshire,  and 
tenable  at  any  of  the  Colleges  of  Oxford  and 
Cambridge;  and  in  1888  he  entered  Pembroke 
College,  Cambridge,  holding  one  of  the  Senior 
Mathematical  Scholarships  of  his  year.  Here  his 
studies  were  devoted  principally  to  Mathematics, 
and  in  1891,  he  received  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of 
Arts,  being  placed  eighteenth  wrangler  in  the 
Mathematical  Tripos  Examination  of  that  year. 
While  an  undergraduate  at  Cambridge  Professor 
Edmondson  became  connected  with  the  University 
Correspondence  College  as  Assistant  Tutor  in 
Mathematics  and  Physics,  and  in  this  position  he 
continued  after  receiving  his  degree,  at  the  same 
time  pursuing  graduate  studies  in  Physics,  Chem- 
istry and  Botany  at  the  Universit)\  In  1893  he 
came  to  this  country  and  in  1894  was  appointed  to 
a    Fellowship    in    Physics    at    Clark    University, 


Worcester,  Massachusetts.  As  a  result  of  his 
study  in  Physics  and  Mathematics  and  research 
work  in  Physics  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Philos- 
ophy was  conferred  upon  him  in  1896,  in  which 
year  also  he  was  appointed  to  the  Assistant  Pro- 
fessorship of  Physics  in  New  York  University. 
Professor  Edmondson  is  the  author  (with  W.  Briggs) 
of  Mensuration  and  Spherical  Geometry,  of  Keys 
to  Briggs  and  Bryan's  Co-ordinate  Geometry  and 
Textbook  of  Dynamics  (the  latter  with  Bion 
Reynolds),  and  of  other  Mathematical  textbooks 
published  under  the  auspices  of  the  University 
Correspondence  College.  He  has  also  contributed 
to  the  Naturalist  occasional  notes  on  the  flora 
of  his  native  country.  e.  g.  s. 

BRYANT,  Joseph   Decatur,  1845- 

Piolessor  Surgery,  1897- 
Born  in  East  Troy,  Wis.,  1845  ;  attended  Norwich 
Academy,  Norwich,  N.  Y. ;  graduated  Bellevue  Hosp. 
Med.  Coll.,  1868;  Lect.  and  Asst.  in  Bellevue  Coll., 
1871-78;  Prof.  Anatomy,  1878-83;  Prof,  of  Anatomy, 
Clinical  Surgery  and  Adjunct  Prof.  Orthopedic  Sur- 
gery, 1883-97  ;  Prof.  Principles  and  Practice  Surgery, 
Operative  and  Clinical  Surgery,  Univ.  and  Bellevue 
Med.  Coll.  since  1897;  Visiting  and  Consulting  Sur- 
geon to  various  hospitals. 

JOSEPH  DECATUR  BRYANT,  M.D.,  was 
born  in  East  Troy,  \A'alv.orth  county,  \\'is- 
consin,  March  12,  1845,  son  of  Alonzo  A.  and 
Harriet  (Atkins)  Bryant.  His  ancestry  on  both 
sides  is  of  English  origin.  Dr.  Bryant's  first  edu- 
cational training  was  received  in  the  public  schools, 
including  high  schools,  in  the  vicinity  of  his  native 
town,  and  he  later  became  a  student  in  the  Nor- 
wich Academy  of  Norwich,  New  York.  Beginning 
the  study  of  medicine  in  the  office  of  the  late  Dr. 
George  W.  Avery  of  Norwich,  he  afterwards 
entered  the  Bellevue  Hospital  Medical  College, 
and  graduated  there  with  the  degree  of  Doctor  of 
Medicine  in  1868.  After  graduation  he  served  as 
Interne  at  Bellevue  Hospital.  After  more  than 
thirty  years  of  professional  life,  during  which  time 
he  has  attained  success  as  physician,  surgeon  and 
medical  teacher.  Dr.  Bryant  continues  in  active 
work  —  the  incumbent  of  several  important  offices. 
First  appointed  to  the  teaching  force  of  the  Belle- 
vue Hospital  Medical  College  as  Prosector  to  the 
Chair  of  Anatomy  in  187 1,  he  was  continuously 
retained  in  the  College,  holding  the  several  pro- 
gressive positions  of  Lecturer  on  Surgical  Anatomy 
during  the  summer   sessions  from   187 1    to   1874; 


UNIFERSiriES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


149 


Assistant  Demonstrator  of  Anatomy  from  1875  to 
1877;  Lecturer  on  (General,  Descriptive  and  Sur- 
gical Anatomy  in  i877-iiS7<S;  Professor  of  Anat- 
omy from  1878  to  1883  ;  and  Professor  of  Clinical 
Surgery  and  Adjunct  Professor  of  Orthopedic 
Surgery  from  1883  to  1897.  At  the  time  of  tiie 
merging  of  the  Bellevue  College  with  the  New 
York  University  Medical  College,  Dr.  Bryant  was 
appointed  to  his  present  position  as  Professor  of 
the  Principles  and  Practice  of  Surgery,  and  of 
Operative  and  Clinical  Surgery.  In  the  civil  and 
military  life  of  New  York  he  has  held  a  number  of 
important  appointments,  notably  those  of:  Sanitary 


JOSEPH    D.    BRYANT 

Inspector  of  the  City  Health  Department  from 
1873  to  1879  ;  Surgeon,  with  the  rank  of  Major, 
in  the  Seventy-first  Regiment  National  Cuard  of 
New  Y^ork  in  1873  ;  Post-Surgeon  of  the  State 
Camp  in  Peekskill  in  1882  ;  Surgeon-General,  with 
the  rank  of  Brigadier-General,  on  the  staffs  of  Gov- 
ernors Cleveland,  Hill  and  F"lower,  1882-1891  ; 
Medical  Health  Commissioner  of  New  York  City 
in  1887  to  1892  ;  Commissioner  of  the  State  Board 
of  Health  from  1887  to  1892.  He  was  Visiting 
Surgeon  to  the  Charity  Hospital  in  1881-1882 
and  has  served  Bellevue  Hospital  in  that  capacity 
since  1882,  and  St.  Vincent's  since  1887.  He  is 
also  Consulting  Surgeon  to  the  following  institu- 


tions :  the  New  York  Insane  Asylum,  the  Hacken- 
sack  Hospital,  St.  Joseph's  Hospital  of  Yonkers, 
the  Manhattan,  State  and  \\'oiiien's  hospitals,  and 
the  Hospital  for  the  Ruptured  and  ("rippled.  Dr. 
Bryant  is  a  fellow  of  the  New  York  Academy  of 
Medicine,  of  whicii  he  was  President  in  1895,  and 
a  member  of  the  American  Medical  Association, 
the  New  York  State  Medical  Association,  of  which 
he  was  President  in  1898,  the  New  York  County 
Medical  Association,  the  American  Surgical  So- 
ciety, the  Practitioners'  Society  of  New  York  City, 
and  the  Anatomical  Society.  He  has  contributed 
freely  to  the  leading  medical  journals,  on  medical 
topics  of  the  day.  In  1886  he  presented  to  the 
profession  Pjryant's  Manual  of  Operative  Surgery, 
which  is  now  going  through  the  jiress  in  tlie  third 
edition,  in  two  comprehensive  volumes.  Socially 
he  is  allied  witii  the  Manhattan,  Lotos  and  New 
York  Athletic  clubs.  He  was  married,  September 
29,  1874,  to  Annette  A.  Crum ;  his  daughter  is 
Florence  Annette  J)r\ant.  * 


ROUNDS,    Ralph    Stowell,    1864- 

Professor  of  Law,  1896- 

Born  in  Cleveland,  O.,  1864 ;  early  education  at 
State  Normal  School,  Farmington,  Me. ;  prepared  for 
College  at  Hallowell  Classical  Acad.,  Me.  ;  graduated 
Amherst,  1887  ;  LL.B.  Columbia,  1892  ;  practicing  law- 
yer in  New  York  City  ;  Instr.  in  Metropolis  Law  School, 
1894  to  1895  ;  Prof.  Law  N.  Y.  Univ.  since  1896. 

RALPH  STOWKLL  ROUNDS  was  born  in 
Cleveland,  Ohio,  September  3,  1864,  son 
of  Charles  C.  and  Kate  N.  (Stowell)  Rounds,  both 
of  his  parents  being  of  New  England  origin.  Pro- 
fessor Rounds  had  early  education  preparatory  to 
College  entrance  in  the  State  Normal  School  in 
Farmington,  Maine,  and  in  the  Hallowell  Classical 
Academy,  Hallowell,  Maine,  and  from  there  he 
entered  Amherst.  After  graduating  in  1887  with 
the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts  he  taught  for  two 
years  in  the  Adelphi  Academy,  Brooklyn.  In  1889 
he  became  a  student  of  law  at  Columbia,  where  the 
degree  of  Bachelor  of  Laws  was  conferred  upon 
him  in  1892  after  a  three  years'  course.  He  was 
at  once  admitted  to  the  Bar,  and  has  followed  his 
profession  with  much  success  in  New  York  Cit}', 
as  a  member  of  the  firm  of  Rounds  &  Dillingham, 
P'or  three  years  after  graduation  he  was  prize 
lecturer  in  Columbia  Law  School.  In  1894  he 
became  Instructor  in  the  Metropolis  Law  School 


I50 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


and  late  in  the  New  York  University  Law  School, 
and  since  1896  he  has  been  Professor  of  Law  in 
that  University.  e.  g.  s. 


McALPIN,  David    Hunter,  Jr.,  1862- 

Professor  Gross  Pathology,  1897- 
Born  in  New  York  City,  1862;  prepared  for  College 
at  Phillips-Exeter  Academy,  Exeter,  N.  H.;  graduated 
Princeton,  1885;  M.D.  Bellevue  Hosp.  Med.  College, 
1888;  Interne  at  Bellevue  Hosp.,  1888-90;  Prof.  Gross 
Pathology  N.  Y.  Univ.  since  1897. 

DAVID  HUNTER  McALPIN,  Jr.,  M.D.,  was 
liorn  in  New  York  City,  in  1862,  the 
seventli  son  of  David  H.  McAlpin  (vide  America's 
Successful  Men,  New  York  Tribune,  Vol.  L).  He 
was  prepared  for  College  at  the  Phillips-Exeter 
Academy  in  Exeter,  New  Hampshire,  and  entered 
Princeton,  whence  in  1885  he  graduated  with  the 
degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts.  He  studied  medicine 
at  the  Bellevue  Hospital  Medical  College,  receiv- 
ing the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine  in  1 888  ;  in 
the  same  year  Princeton  gave  him  the  Master  of 
Arts  degree.  He  was  Interne  at  Bellevue  Hos- 
pital, 1888-1890,  and  in  1897  was  appointed 
Professor  of  Gross  Pathology  in  the  Bellevue 
Hospital  Medical  College,  now  the  Medical  De- 
partment of  New  York  University.  E.  g.  s. 


BANGS,  Lemuel    Bolton,  1842- 

Professor  Genito-Urinary  Surgery,  1898- 
Born  in  New  York  City,  1842 ;  attended  College  of 
the  City  of  New  York  ;  graduated  N.  Y.  College 
Physicians  and  Surgeons,  1872  ;  Prof.  Genito-Urinary 
Surgery  N.  Y.  Univ.  since  1898;  Surgeon  to  Bellevue 
Hosp. 

LEMUEL  BOLTON  BANGS,  M.D.,  was 
born  in  New  York  City,  August  9,  1842, 
son  of  Lemuel  and  Julia  Anderson  (Merwin) 
Bangs.  His  early  education  was  obtained  by 
attendance  at  private  schools  in  the  City  of  New 
York  and  he  was  prepared  for  College  at  a  noted 
school  on  C'ollege  Hill,  Poughkeepsie,  but  business 
disasters  of  his  father  prevented  the  fulfillment  of 
his  plans,  and  he  returned  to  New  York  and 
entered  the  public  schools  in  order  to  obtain 
admission  to  the  College  of  the  City  of  New  York, 
which  in  those  days  was  known  as  the  Free 
Academy.  His  academic  course  was  interrupted 
in  his  Freshman  year,  and  it  became  necessary 
for  him  to  go  into  business  to  assist  his  parents, 
and    later    to    obtain    the    means  to  complete  his 


education.  Subsequently  he  entered  the  College 
of  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  graduating  in  1872. 
In  one  of  the  early  years  of  the  Civil  War  he 
passed  the  required  examinations  before  the 
Board  of  Examiners  of  the  State  of  New  York 
and  was  qualified  as  line  ofiicer  of  infantry,  but 
being  considered  too  young  for  that  service,  he 
was  enrolled  in  the  Home  Guard  in  the  City  of 
New  York.  Later  on  he  was  able  to  carry  out 
his  desires,  and  since  his  graduation  in  1872  he 
has  won  conspicuous  success  in  the  practice  of  his 
profession,  especially  in  a  branch  of  surgery. 
He  was  formerly  Surgeon  to  St.  Luke's,  the  City 


LEMUEL    BOLTON    KAN(;S 

and  Post  Graduate  hospitals,  and  at  present  he  is 
Surgeon  to  Bellevue  Hospital,  and  Consulting 
Surgeon  to  St.  Luke's,  the  City,  St.  Vincent's 
and  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Hospital  of  Brook- 
lyn. He  was  at  one  time  Professor  of  Genito- 
Urinary  Surgery  in  the  New  York  Post  Graduate 
Medical  School  and  Hospital.  He  is  now,  and 
has  been  since  October  1898,  Professor  of  Genito- 
Urinary  Surgery  in  The  University  and  Bellevue 
Hospital  Medical  College,  the  Medical  Depart- 
ment of  New  York  University.  He  has  edited 
(conjointly  with  Dr.  Hardaway  of  St.  Louis)  the 
American  Text  Book  upon  Genito-Urinary  Dis- 
eases and  Diseases  of  the  Skin.     He  has  written 


UNIl'KKSrriF.S   AND    ■IIU'JK    SONS 


i5» 


extensively  upon  his  brancii  of  suif^ery,  his  articles 
having;  appeared  in  the  medical  journals  of  this 
countrx'.  Dr.  Hangs  is  a  member  of  liie  Century, 
University,  Quill  and  Riding  clubs,  the  New  \'ork 
Academy  of  Medicine  and  of  several  medical 
societies.  He  was  at  one  time  President  of  the 
American  Association  of  (Jenito-Urinary  Sur- 
geons, and  lu-  is  now  President  of  tiie  Ahuniii 
Association  of  tiie  New  \'ork  College  of  Physi- 
cians and  Surgeons.  * 


BIGGS,  Hermann   M.,  1859- 

Professor  Therapeutics  and  Clinical  Medicine,  1898- 

Born  in  Trumansburg,  N.  Y.,  1859;  graduated 
Cornell,  1882  ;  M.D.  Bellevue  Hosp.  Med.  College,  1883  ; 
Resident  Phys.  Bellevue  Hosp.,  1883-84;  studied  in 
Germany,  1884-85;  in  charge  of  Carnegie  Lab.,  1885; 
Lee.  on  Pathology  Bellevue  Hosp.  Med.  College,  1886; 
Demonstrator  of  Anatomy,  1887  ;  Prof.  Pathology, 
1889;  Prof.  Materia  Medica  and  Therapeutics,  1892; 
Adjunct  Prof.  Gen.  Med.,  1897 ;  Prof.  Therapeutics 
and  Clinical  Med.  N.  Y.  Univ.  since  i8g8;  holds  im- 
portant hospital  appointments. 

HKRMANN  M.  BIGGS,  M.D.,  is  the  son 
of  Joseph  II.  and  Melissa  P.  (Pratt)  Biggs 
of  Trumansburg,  New  York,  where  he  was  born, 
September  29,  1859.  Having  been  prepared  at 
Trumansburg  Academy,  Ithaca  Academy,  and 
Cornell  I'niversity  Preparatory  School,  he  entered 
Cornell  I'^niversity  in  September  1879,  receiving 
the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts  in  June  1882.  He 
was  influenced  to  undertake  the  study  of  medicine 
by  his  uncle.  Dr.  S.  H.  Peck,  of  Ithaca,  New  York, 
and  also  by  his  own  experience  of  work  in  the 
Physiological  Laboratory  of  Cornell  University 
under  the  direction  of  Professor  Burt  G.  Wilder. 
He  took  the  medical  preparatory  course  in  Cor- 
nell University  during  his  course  for  the  degree  of 
Bachelor  of  Arts.  He  received  a  leave  of  absence 
from  Cornell  and  took  his  first  course  of  medicine 
in  Bellevue  Medical  College,  1881-1882.  Havino- 
graduated  there  in  March  1883  he  was,  after  a 
competitive  examination,  appointed  to  serve  on 
the  resident  staff  of  Bellevue  Hospital,  holding 
the  appointment  for  eighteen  months.  The  in- 
fluence of  Professor  Austin  Flint,  Sr.,  and  of 
Professor  W.  H.  Welch,  now  of  Johns  Hopkins, 
induced  him  to  study  Patholog)'  and  Bacteriology 
at  Greifswald  and  Berlin  Universities  in  1884  and 
1885.  Having  returned  he  took  charge  of  Car- 
negie Laboratory  when  it  was  opened  in  1885,  and 


was  later  sent  by  tin;  Laboratory  to  study  the 
treatment  of  rabies  in  the  Pasteur  Institute  in 
i'aris.  He  became  in  1886  Lecturer  on  Pathology^ 
in  18S7  Demonstrator  of  Anatoni)',  in  1889  ]'ro- 
frssor(if  i'athology,  in  1892  Professoi'  of  ^h^teria 
Medica  and  Therapeutics,  in  1897  .Xdjunct  Pro- 
fessor (jf  the  Principles  and  Practice  of  .Medicine, 
—  all  in  ]}ellevue  Hospital  Medical  College,  hi 
1898  in  the  University  and  liellevue  llos])ital 
Medical  C'ollege  he  became  Secretary  of  the  l''ac- 
ulty,  Profes.sor  of  Therapeutics  and  Clinical  Medi- 
cine, and  .Xdjunct  Professor  of  the  i'ractice  of 
Medicine.      He  organized  tlie  De]:artment  of  Path- 


HERMANN    M.    BlOf.S 

olog}'  and  Bacteriolog)-  of  the  New  York  Health 
Department  in  1892,  and  has  been  the  Director  of 
its  laboratories  since  that  time.  These  laboratories 
were  the  first  mimicipal  bacteriological  laborato- 
ries of  the  world,  and  the  methods  adopted  have 
been  widely  followed.  He  introduced  the  general 
use  of  diphtheria  antitoxin  in  this  country  and  ob- 
tained the  necessary  legislation  and  appropriations, 
which  enabled  the  New  York  Health  Department 
to  produce,  use  and  seH  it  and  other  biological 
products.  He  was  appointed  Yisiting  Physician 
at  Bellevue  Hospital  in  1893  and  of  St.  \'incent's 
Hospital  in  1898.  He  served  as  Pathologist  to 
the  Bellevue  and  to  the  City  hospitals,  1886-1893 


152 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR    SONS 


and  has  acted  in  the  same  capacity  to  the  Health 
Department  hospitals  since  1888.  He  was  promi- 
nently identified  with  the  work  for  the  prevention 
of  cholera  in  New  York  City  in  1892,  and  was  at 
this  time  a  member  of  the  Conference  Committee 
of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  and  the  New  York 
Academy  of  Medicine.  He  has  contributed  to 
current  medical  literature.  e.  g.  s. 


BOSWORTH,  Francke  Huntington,  1843- 

Professor  Diseases  of  the  Throat,  1898- 

Born  in  Marietta,  Ohio,  1843 ;  early  education  in 
Ohio;  graduated  Yale,  1861  ;  M.A.  in  course;  gradu- 
ated Bellevue  Hosp.  Med.  College,  i86g  ;  practiced 
medicine  in  New  York  City;  Lecturer  and  Prof,  at 
Bellevue  College,  1871-77;  Prof.  Diseases  of  the  Throat 
at  the  University  since  1898. 

FRANCKE  HUNTINCrrON  BOSWORTH, 
M.D.,  was  born  in  Marietta,  Ohio,  Janu- 
ary 25,  1843,  of  New  England  ancestry.  His 
early  education  was  received  in   Ohio.     Eater   he 


FRANCKE    H.    BOSWORTH 

entered  Yale,  where  he  received  the  degree  of 
Bachelor  of  Arts  in  1862.  and  that  of  Master  of 
Arts  in  1865.  He  studied  medicine  in  New  York 
City  and  graduated  at  the  Bellevue  Hospital  Medi- 
cal College  in    1869,   being  Valedictorian  of  the 


Class.  He  served  as  Interne  in  Bellevue,  and 
afterwards  practiced  medicine  in  New  York  City. 
Having  early  devoted  his  attention  to  Diseases  of 
the  Throat  he  was  appointed  Lecturer  on  Diseases 
of  the  Throat  in  Bellevue  Hospital  College  in 
1 87 1,  and  Professor  in  1881,  a  position  which  he 
held  until  the  union  with  New  York  University. 
He  published  in  1879  a  Handbook  of  Diseases  of 
the  Throat  and  Nose,  and  in  1891  a  full  and 
exhaustive  treatise  on  Diseases  of  the  Nose  and 
Throat  in  two  volumes,  and  again  in  1896  pub- 
lished a  textbook  for  students  on  the  same  subject. 
He  has  been  Professor  of  Diseases  of  the  Throat 
at  the  University  since   1898.  e.  g.  s. 


BLISS,  Collins  Pechin,  1866- 

Assoc.  Professor  Mechanical  Engineering. 
Born  in  Carlisle,  Pa.,  1866  ;  early  education  at  Pin- 
gry  School,  Elizabeth,  N.  J. ;  graduated  Princeton, 
1888;  A.M.  in  course;  graduated,  Ph.D.,  Columbia 
School  of  Mines,  1891 ;  connected  with  Globe  Iron 
\A^orks  Co.,  Cleveland,  Ohio;  Assoc.  Prof.  Mechanical 
Engineering,  N.  Y.  Univ. ;  practicing  Architect,  and 
Engineer. 

COLLINS  PECHIN  BLISS,  Architect  and 
Engineer,  was  born  in  Carlisle,  Pennsyl- 
vania, in  1866,  and  was  brought  up  in  Plainfield, 
New  Jersey,  whither  his  father,  Rev.  J.  C.  Bliss, 
D.D.,  had  moved  in  1868  to  take  the  Pastorate 
of  the  Crescent  Avenue  Presbyterian  Church. 
Dr.  J.  C.  Bliss,  who  is  a  Doctor  of  Divinity  of  the 
University  and  a  graduate  of  Western  TIfcological 
Seminary,  is  now  Pastor  of  Washington  Heights 
Presbyterian  Church  in  New  York  City.  The 
name  of  Bliss  is  thought  to  have  been  originally 
Blois,  and  to  be  associated  with  the  village  of 
Blois,  France,  now  famous  for  its  chateau  of  the 
same  name.  The  first  authentic  records  are  from 
England  about  1600,  when  certain  families  of  this 
name  came  to  America  to  escape  religious  perse- 
cution. Tiiey  first  settled  around  Boston,  but 
were  more  extensively  known  in  Hartford  and 
Springfield  and  the  adjacent  towns  of  Connec- 
ticut. Mr.  Bliss  was  educated  at  the  Pingr\- 
School  in  Elizabeth,  New  Jersey,  there  preparing 
for  College,  Princeton  being  selected  as  the  natu- 
ral and  most  convenient  place  for  that  section  of 
the  country.  Prior  to  entering  Princeton  a  year 
was  spent  abroad.  It  was  not  until  well  on  in 
Senior  year  that  he  made  a  decision  as  to  his 
future  line  of  work,  although  all  the  mathematical 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    IIIEIR    SONS 


M3 


and  scientific  branches  were  decidedly  tlie  most 
popular  in  his  selection  and  standing.  Largely 
through  the  influence  of  a  classmate  (now  a 
prominent  architect  of  New  York  City)  a  course 
in  Architecture  and  Civil  Kngineering  at  the 
Columbia  School  of  Mines  was  decided  upon, 
and  immediately  followed  for  three  years,  his 
graduation  as  Bachelor  of  Arts  at  Princeton  in 
1888.  Soon  after  starting  upon  this  course  Mr. 
Bliss  discovered  his  aptitude  for  the  engineering 
branches,  especially  those  dealing  with  the  actual 
construction  of  all  classes  of  work.  During  the 
sununer  the  time  was  spent  in  practical  work  in 
the  offices  of  McKim,  Mead  \:  While,  and  others. 
To  the  interest  shown  by  the  late  Elliott  F. 
Shepard  in  employing  Mr.  ]51iss  for  certain  tech- 
nical investigations  for  the  benefit  of  the  Mail 
and  E.\press,  he  owes  his  start  along  mechanical 
lines,  which  subsequently  proved  to  be  that  field 
of  engineering  for  which  he  was  best  adapted. 
The  work  alluded  to  comprised  a  thorough  inves- 
tigation of  all  the  mechanical  devices  used  for 
the  more  complete  combustion  of  bituminous  coal 
and  the  prevention  of  smoke  therefrom,  particu- 
larly in  the  city  of  Chicago,  the  place  then  selected 
for  the  World's  Fair.  After  graduating  in  1891 
from  Columbia  School  of  Mines  and  receiving  the 
technical  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Philosophy  and 
also  at  the  same  time  the  Master  of  Arts  degree 
from  Princeton,  he  became  Secretary  and  Engineer 
of  a  company  handling  the  patents  covering  one  of 
the  best  devices  discovered  during  his  connection 
with  the  Mail  and  Express.  These  patents  were 
eventually  controlled  by  the  Globe  Iron  Works 
Company  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  with  which  firm 
Mr.  Bliss  was  connected  three  years  prior  to 
accepting  a  position  in  the  Engineering  Depart- 
ment of  New  York  I'niversity.  To  the  influ- 
ence and  backing  also  of  Mr.  II.  M.  Hanna. 
President  of  this  Company,  he  owes  the  oppor- 
tunity of  a  valuable  practical  experience  in  the 
shops  and  yards  of  this  concern.  During  the  fall 
of  1896  preceding  the  technical  work  undertaken 
at  this  University  he  spent  considerable  time  at 
Cornell,  making  a  thorough  study  and  investiga- 
tion of  their  methods  of  conducting  mechanical 
and  experimental  courses,  all  the  privileges  of 
Sibley  College  be^ng  offered  through  the  kindness 
of  Dr.  Thurston,  its  Director.  Having  been  a 
resident  of  New  York  City  since  1884,  Mr.  Bliss 
has  devoted  his  spare  time  including  summers,  to 


con.struction  work  in  and  around  liie  city,  thus 
keeping  in  touch  wiiii  ilie  practical  and  lucrative 
side  of  engineering.  k.  o.  s. 


COAKLEY,  Cornelius  Godfrey,  1862 

Clinical  Professor  Laryngology,    1898 

Born  in  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  1862  ;  graduated  Coll.  of  City 
of  N.  Y.,  A.B.,  1884,  A.M.,  1887;  grad.  N.  Y.  Univ. 
Med.  Coll.,  M.D.,  1887  ;  on  House  Staff  Bellevue 
Hosp.,  1887  88;  Instr.  Histology  N.  Y.  Univ.  Med. 
Coll.,  1889-96;  Prof.  Laryngology  N.  Y.  Univ.  Med. 
Coll.,  1893  ;  Clinical  Prof.  Laryngology  Univ.  and 
Bellevue  Hosp.  Med,  Coll.,  since  i8g8;  practicing 
physician  ;  Laryngologist  Demilt  Dispensary,  and  Con- 
sulting Laryngologist  and  Otologist  to  Columbus  Hos- 
pital ;  Author. 

CORNELIUS  (iODFREY  COAKLEY  was 
born  in  Brooklyn,  New  York,  August  14, 
1862,  the  son  of  (ieorge  Washington  and  Isabella 
Hoe  ((lodfrey)   Coakley.      His  father,  who  is   well 


CORNELIUS    (;.    COAKLEY 

remembered  by  the  Alumni  of  New  York  Univer- 
sity and  by  the  scientific  world,  was  a  native  of 
the  West  Indies,  the  son  of  an  English  planter, 
who  at  the  age  of  twelve  years  came  to  New  York  to 
get  an  education ;  was  graduated  at  Rutgers  College, 
New  Brunswick,  New  Jersey,  in  1836  ;  taught  school 
at  Hagerstown,   Maiyland,   and    was  Professor  of 


154 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


Mathematics  there  until  the  fall  of  i860  ;  then 
came  to  New  York  University  as  Professor  of 
^Mathematics  and  Astronomy,  and  held  that  chair 
with  distinction  until  his  death  in  1896.  Dr. 
Coakley's  mother,  born  Godfrey,  was  the  davighter 
of  an  Englishman,  the  inventor  of  a  method  of 
galvanizing  iron.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  was 
educated  in  the  public  school  system  of  New  York 
C'iiy,  passing  successively  through  the  primary 
and  grammar  schools  and  the  College  of  the  City 
of  New  York.  From  the  latter  institution  he  re- 
ceived the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts  in  1884, 
and  three  years  later  the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts  : 
meantime,  in  the  fall  of  1884,  he  entered  the  Med- 
ical College  of  New  York  University,  and  there 
pursued  a  three  years'  course  of  study  with  distinc- 
tion, being  graduated  in  1887,  with  the  highest 
honors  of  his  class,  and  receiving,  of  course,  the 
degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine.  For  eighteen 
months  thereafter  lie  served  on  the  second  medical 
division  of  the  House  Staff  of  Bellevue  Hospital, 
and  in  the  fall  of  1888  began  the  regular  practice 
of  his  profession.  In  January  1889,  Dr.  Coakley 
was  appointed  Instructor  in  Histology  in  the  Med- 
ical College  of  New  York  University,  and  retained 
that  place  for  seven  years.  Meantime,  in  the  fall 
of  1893,  on  the  resignation  of  Professor  W.  C. 
Jarvis,  he  was  elected  Professor  of  Larnygology  in 
the  same  institution.  He  occupied  that  chair  until 
the  consolidation  of  the  College  with  the  Bellevue 
Hospital  Medical  College,  in  1898,  when  he  be- 
came Clinical  Professor  of  Laryngology  in  the 
united  institution.  This  place  he  still  occupies. 
He  is  also  Laryngologist  to  the  Demilt  Dispensary, 
and  to  the  Clinic  of  the  University  and  Bellevue 
Hospital  Medical  College,  and  is  Consulting  Larj'n- 
gologist  and  Otologist  to  the  Columbus  Hospital, 
New  York.  Dr.  Coakley  is  a  member  of  the 
Society  of  the  Alumni  of  Bellevue  Hospital,  and 
of  the  New  York  County  Medical  Society,  and 
a  fellow  of  the  New  York  Academy  of  Medi- 
cine and  of  the  American  Laryngological,  Rhino- 
logical  and  Otological  Society.  He  was  married 
on  September  10,  1890,  to  Annette  Isabelle  Perry, 
a  descendant  of  tlie  famous  Commodore  Oliver 
Hazard  Perry,  of  the  United  States  Navy.  He 
is  the  author  of  a  Manual  of  Diseases  of  the 
Nose  and  Throat,  published  by  Lea  Bros.  &: 
Company,  Philadelphia,  of  which  the  first  edition 
appeared  in  August  1899,  and  the  second  edition 
in  March  1901.  w.  F.  j. 


BENCH,  Edward    Bradford,  1864- 

Professor  Otology,  1898- 

Born  in  Leedsville,  Conn.,  1864;  fitted  for  College 
at  Bridgeport  High  School ;  graduated  Shef.  Sci. 
School,  Yale,  1883;  M.D.  College  Phys.  and  Sur.,  1885; 
Interne  St.  Luke's  Hosp.,  1885-86;  Interne  Cham- 
bers Street  Hosp.,  1886-87  ;  Prof.  Otology,  N.  Y.  Poly- 
clinic, 1890-93  ;  Prof.  Otology  Bellevue  Hosp.  Med. 
College,  1894-97  ;  Prof.  Otology  Univ.  and  Bellevue 
Hosp.  Med.  College  since  1898  ;  Consulting  Otologist  to 
St.  Luke's  Hospital,  1896  ;  Consulting  Otologist  and  At- 
tending Surg.  N.  Y.  Orthopaedic  Hosp.  and  Dispensary 
and  Attending  Surgeon  to  N.  Y.  Eye  and  Ear  Infirmary. 

EDWARD  BRADFORD  DENCH,  ]\I.D.,  was 
born  in  Leedsville,  Connecticut,  January 
16,  1864,  son  of  Josiah  Bradford  and  Frances  M. 
(Lester)    Dench.       He    fitted   for    College  at   the 


EDWAKD    B.    DENCH 

High  School  of  Bridgeport,  Connecticut,  and 
entered  the  Sheffield  Scientific  School  of  Yale  in 
1879,  graduating  in  1883  with  the  degree  of 
Bachelor  of  Philosophy.  On  his  graduation  he 
went  to  New  York  and  took  up  the  study  of 
medicine  at  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Sur- 
geons, now  the  Medical  Department  of  Columbia, 
and  became  a  Doctor  of  Medicine  in  1885.  After 
his  graduation  there  he  had  two  years  hospital 
service  as  Interne,  part  of  the  time  in  St.  Luke's 
Hospital   and  later  at  the  Chambers  Street  Hos- 


UNiyERSlTlES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


^S5 


pital,  New  \()ik  City,  and  has  since,  besides  his 
edueational  duties,  been  engaged  in  the  private 
practice  of  his  profession  in  New  York  CMty.  He 
was  made  Professor  of  Otology  in  the  New  York 
Polyclinic  in  1890,  resigning  in  1893  to  take  tiic 
("hair  of  Otology  in  tiie  ]5ellevue  Hospital  Med- 
ical (College.  On  the  merger  of  ]5ellevue  with  tiie 
University  Medical  .School  in  1898  he  was  called 
to  the  Chair  of  Otology  in  the  combined  Colleges. 
Professor  Dench  is  considered  one  of  the  best 
American  authorities  on  Otology  and  kindred 
subjects.  In  addition  to  his  other  duties  he  has 
held  the  position  of  Consulting  Otologist  to  .St. 
Luke's  Hospital  since  1896  and  also  that  of  Con- 
sulting Otologist  and  Surgeon  to  the  New  York 
Orthopedic  Hospital  and  Dispensary,  and  .Attend- 
ing .Surgeon  to  the  New  York  Eye  and  Ear 
Infirmary.  He  is  a  member  of  a  number  of 
.societies,  chiefly  .scientific  and  professional  in  their 
nature,  among  them :  the  American  Otological 
Society ;  the  American  Laryngological,  Rhinolog- 
ical  and  Otological  Society  ;  the  New  York  Otolo- 
gical Society;  the  New  York  Academy  of  Medicine; 
the  Society  of  the  Alumni  of  the  New  York  Hos- 
pital ;  .St.  Luke's  Alumni  Society ;  and  among 
social  organizations  :  the  Metropolitan  Club,  the 
New  \i)rk  Athletic  Club,  the  Union  Club,  and  the 
Yale  Club.  His  engrossing  professional  duties 
have  left  him  no  time  for  active  participation  in 
the  political  struggles  of  the  hour.  Professor 
Dench  married,  October  3,  1888,  Marie  Antoinette 
Hunt.  They  have  one  child:  Marie  Catherine 
Dench.  * 


ERDMANN,  John  Frederick,   1864- 

Clinical  Professor  of  Surgery,  1893- 

Born  at  Cincinnati,  O.,  1864  ;  educated  in  public  and 
high  schools;  graduated  M.D.  Bellevue  Hosp.  Med. 
Coll.,  1887;  Capt.  and  Asst.  Surg.,  National  Guard 
N.  Y.,  1891-97;  Clinical  Prof.  Surgery  N.  Y.  Univ., 
and  Bellevue  Hosp.  Med.  Coll.  since  the  combination 
of  the  two  schools. 

JOHN  FREDERICK  ER1)>L\NN,  M.D.,  was 
born  at  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  March  27,  1864, 
the  son  of  Zachariah  and  Maria  Louisa  (Lippert) 
Erdmann.  His  early  and  academic  education  was 
acquired  in  the  public  schools  and  high  school  of 
Chillicothe,  Ohio,  and  at  the  age  of  only  fourteen 
years  he  began  a  business  career  as  an  employee  of 
a  wholesale  dry  goods  and  notions  house.  He 
worked  in  that  business  in    1878-1879,  and  then. 


in  the  latter  year,  began  learning  the  profes- 
sion of  a  pharmacist.  He  remained  in  the  drug 
business  for  four  years,  until  1884,  becoming 
meantime  a  licentiate  in  pharmacy.  With  such 
preparation  he  came  to  New  York  City  in  1884  to 
study  medicine  in  the  Bellevue  Hospital  Medical 
College.  From  that  institution  he  was  graduated 
with  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine  in  March 
1887,  and  forthwith  began  the  practice  of  his  pro- 
fession. In  October  1888,  he  began  to  teach 
medicine  and  surgery,  as  an  assistant  to  Profe.s.sor 
J.  I).  Bayanl  in  Bellevue  Hospital  Medical  Col- 
lege, was  Professor  of  Practical  Anatomy  1895  to 
1899,  and  since  the  union  of  the  two  .schools  he 
has  been  Clinical  Professor  of  .Surgery  in  the  New 
York  University  and  Bellevue  Hospital  Medical 
College.  Doctor  Erdmann  served  from  189 1  to 
1897  as  Captain  and  Assistant  Surgeon  in  the 
Seventy-first  Regiment  of  the  New  York  National 
Ciuard.  He  is  Attending  Surgeon  to  (iouverneur 
Hospital,  and  St.  Mark's  Hospital;  As.sistant  Visit- 
ing Surgeon  to  the  General  Memorial  Hospital 
and  Montefiore  Hospital.  He  was  formerly  a 
member  of  the  Ohio  Society  of  New  York,  and 
of  the  Manhattan  Athletic  Club.  He  is  now  a 
member  of  the  Academy  of  Medicine,  of  which  he 
has  been  Assistant  Secretary,  the  Bellevue  Ho.s- 
pital  Alumni,  the  Hospital  (Graduates"  Club,  the 
New  York  .State  Medical  .Association,  the  New 
York  County  Medical  Association,  the  New  York 
County  Medical  Society,  and  the  Surgical  Society 
of  New  York  City.  He  was  married  on  June  20, 
1894,  to  Georgiana  T.  ^Yright,  of  Providence, 
Rhode  Island,  and  has  two  children  :  Olivia  S. 
and  Sturtevant  J.  Erdmann.  w.   f.  j. 


FORDYCE,  John  A.,  1858- 

Professor  Dermatology,  1898- 

Born  in  Guernsey  Co.,  Ohio,  1858  ;  graduated 
Adrian  College,  Adrian,  Mich.,  1878  ;  M.D.  Chicago 
Medical  College,  1881  ;  Interne  Cook  Co.  Hosp., 
Chicago,  1881  83  ;  practiced  in  Hot  Springs,  Ark., 
1883-86;  studied  in  Europe,  1886-88;  M.D.  Univ.  of 
Berlin,  1888;  practicing  physician  in  N.  Y.  City  since 
1888;  Instr.  and  Lee.  N.  Y.  Polyclinic,  1889-93;  Prof. 
Dermatology  and  Syphilology,  Bellevue  Hosp.  Med. 
Coll.,  1893-98;  Prof.  Dermatology  and  Syphilology 
N.  Y.  Univ.  since  1898. 

JOHN    A.    FORDYCE,     M.D.,    was    bom    in 
Guernsey  county,  Ohio,  both  of  his  parents 
being    natives    of    \\'estern    Pennsylvania.       The 


156 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


ancestors  of  his  father  came  from  Scotland  in  the 
eighteenth  century.  The  ancestors  of  his  mother 
were  of  German  descent.  His  early  education  was 
had  in  public  and  private  schools  of  Cambridge, 
Ohio,  and  ^^'heeling,  West  Virginia.  When  he 
arrived  at  the  age  of  College  training  he  entered 
Adrian  College,  in  Adrian,  Michigan,  where  he 
studied  from  1874  to  1878,  graduating  in  the  latter 
year  with  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts.  He  then 
studied  medicine  at  the  Chicago  Medical  College 
(Medical  Department  Northwestern  University), 
from  1878  to  188 1,  receiving  the  degree  of  Doctor 
of  Medicine  in  the  latter  year.  He  held  the  post 
of    Interne    in    Cook    county    Hospital,    Chicago, 


JOHN    A.    FORDYCE 

1881-1883,  after  which  he  practiced  medicine 
in  Hot  Springs,  Arkansas,  from  1883  to  1886. 
In  that  year  he  was  married  to  Alice  Dean  Smith 
of  New  York  City.  Then  he  spent  two  years  in 
Europe,  receiving  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medi- 
cine from  the  University  of  Berlin  in  1888,  prac- 
ticing medicine  in  New  York  City  since  the  autumn 
of  that  year.  In  1889  he  received  the  degree  of 
Master  of  Arts  from  Adrian  College.  He  was 
Editor  of  the  Journal  of  Cutaneous  and  Genito- 
urinary Diseases  from  1889  to  1897  and  Instructor 
and  Lecturer  on  Dermatology  in  the  New  York 
Polyclinic,  1889  to  1893.     He  was  appointed  Pro- 


fessor of  Dermatology  and  Syphilology  in  Bellevue 
Hospital  Medical  College  in  May  1893,  which 
position  he  occupied  until  July  i,  1898,  when  he 
was  appointed  Professor  of  Dermatology  in  the 
New  York  University  and  Bellevue  Hospital  Medi- 
cal College.  He  has  written  numerous  mono- 
graphs on  subjects  connected  with  the  special 
department  of  medicine  in  which  he  is  interested, 
giving  results  of  original  investigation.       e.  g.  s. 


HERTER,  Christian  Archibald,  1865- 

Professor  Pathological  Chemistry,  1898  - 

Born  in  Glenville,  Conn.,  1865;  educated  Col.  Coll. 
of  Phys.  and  Surg.  (M.  D.,  1885) ;  pursued  professional 
studies  at  Johns  Hopkins  Univ.  and  Univ.  of  Zurich  ; 
served  in  Bellevue,  City,  Babies'  and  Lying-in  hospi- 
tals, N.  Y.,  and  Craig  Colony  for  Epileptics  ;  prac- 
ticing Physician  ;  Prof.  Pathological  Chem.  N.  Y. 
Univ.  and  Bellevue  Hosp.  Med.  Coll.  since  1898. 

CHRISTIAN  ARCHIBALD  HERTER, 
M.D.,  Neurologist  and  Chemist,  was  born 
at  Glenville,  Connecticut,  September  3,  1865,  the 
son  of  Christian  and  Mary  (Miles)  Herter.  His 
father,  who  came  from  South  Germany,  was  an  artist 
and  successful  business  man,  the  son  of  an  architect, 
and  a  descendant  of  the  old  Swiss  family  of  Herder. 
His  mother,  whose  maiden  name  was  Mary  Miles, 
was  the  daughter  of  a  physician,  and  was  de- 
scended from  Simon  Fiske,  Lord  of  the  Manor  of 
Stradhaugh,  Lo.\field,  England.  His  early  educa- 
tion was  acquired  in  New  York  City,  at  the  Co- 
lumbia Grammar  School  and  under  private  tutors. 
His  intellectual  bent  was  strongly  toward  scientific 
work,  and  he  began  laboratory  studies  in  chemistry 
and  physics  at  thirteen  years  of  age.  At  Columbia 
College  he  pursued  for  two  years  a  private  course 
in  physics  and  mathematics.  Thence  he  pro- 
ceeded to  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons, 
the  Medical  Department  of  Columbia,  and  there 
pursued  the  regular  course  of  studies,  being  gradu- 
ated with  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine  in 
1885.  The  ensuing  year  was  spent  in  the  First 
Division  of  Bellevue  Hospital,  as  Senior  Assistant. 
The  winter  of  1886-1887  ^'^^  spent  as  a  pupil  of 
Dr.  William  H.  Welch,  in  the  Pathological  Depart- 
ment of  Johns  Hopkins  University,  and  that  of 
1 887-1 888  as  a  pupil  of  August  Forel,  in  the  study 
of  cerebral  anatomy,  at  the  University  of  Zurich. 
With  such  varied  and  expert  preparation,  Dr.  Her- 
ter entered  upon  the  practice  of  his  profession  in 


UNiyERsrriEs  and  their  sons 


'57 


New  York,  coiiibiniii^  pri\atL'  practice  with  a  huge 
amount  of  hospital  woik.  lie  has  been  a  Visiting 
Physician  at  the  C'ity  Hospital,  a  Consulting  Phy- 
sician at  the  Jiahies'  Hospital,  Consulting  Neurol- 
ogist to  the  Society  of  the  Lying-in  Hospital,  all 
in  New  York  City,  and  Consulting  Pathological 
Chemist  to  the  Craig  Colony  for  Epileptics  at 
Sonyea,  Livingston  county.  New  York.  Since 
June  1898,  he  has  been  Professor  of  Pathologi- 
cal Chemistry  in  the  New  York  University  and 
Bellevue  Hospital  Medical  College.  Dr.  Herter 
is  a  member  of  numerous  professional  and  other 
organizations,  including  the  Association  of  Ameri- 
can    Physicians,     the     Association    of    American 


CHRISTIAN    A.    HK.RTK.R 

Neurologists,  the  Association  of  American  Physi- 
ologists, the  New  York  Academy  of  Sciences 
(of  which  he  is  a  Fellow),  the  New  York  Academy 
of  Medicine,  the  New  York  Pathological  Society^ 
the  New  York  Neurological  Society,  the  New 
York  County  Medical  Society,  the  New  York 
State  Medical  Association,  the  Century  Associa- 
tion and  the  Riding  Club  of  New  York.  In  poli- 
tics he  is  a  Republican,  but  he  has  held  and  sought 
no  public  office.  Dr.  Herter  was  married  on  De- 
cember 9,  i8cS6,  to  Susan  Dows,  and  has  four 
children  :  C'hristine,  Mary  Dows,  Susette  and 
Albert  Herter.  w.  f.  j. 


JUDD,   Charles   Hubbard,    1873- 

Professor  Experimental  Psychology,   1898-1901. 

Born  in  Barailey,  India,  1873;  came  to  America, 
1879;  prepared  for  College  at  High  School,  Bingham- 
ton,  N.  Y.;  graduated  Wesleyan,  1894;  Ph.D.  Univ. 
of  Leipzig,  Germany,  1896;  Instr.  in  Phil.  ^A^esleyan, 
1896-98;  Prof.  Experimental  Psychology  in  School  of 
Pedagogy,   N.  Y.  Univ.  since   1898. 

CHARLES  HUBBARD  JIDD,  Ph.D.,  was 
born  February  20,  1873,  in  Barailey, 
Northwestern  Provinces  of  British  India,  of  parents 
residing  there  at  the  time  as  missionaries,  con- 
nected with  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 
Both  of  his  parents  were  native  born  Americans. 
His  father,  Charles  \^'esley  Judd,  was  the  son  of  a 
Methodist  preacher  and  was  educated  for  the 
ministry  at  Cazenovia  Seminary.  His  mother, 
Sarah  (Hubbard)  Judd,  was  the  daughter  of  a 
farmer  living  near  Owego,  New  York.  She  was 
also  educated  at  Cazenovia  Seminary.  At  the  age 
of  six  years  the  subject  of  this  sketch  was  brought 
to  America  by  his  parents.  After  graduating  in 
1890  from  the  High  School  at  liinghamton.  New 
York,  he  entered  Wesleyan  University,  Middle- 
town,  Connecticut.  In  1894  he  graduated  from 
\A'esleyan  with  highest  honors  in  general  scholar- 
ship and  special  honors  for  e.xtra  work  done  in 
the  Department  of  Philosophy.  His  special  honor 
thesis  was  on  the  subject  "  Visualization  among 
American  College  Students."  The  next  two  years 
were  spent  at  the  University  of  Leipzig,  and  were 
devoted  for  the  most  part  to  lectures  by  W'undt 
and  Leuckart.  and  to  experimental  investigations 
in  the  Institut  fiir  experimentelle  Psychologic.  On 
February  11,  1896,  he  passed  the  University 
examination  magtia  ciitn  laiidc,  and  received  the 
degree  of  Doctor  of  Philosophy,  with  Psychology 
as  major  subject  (Wundt),  Comparative  Anatomy 
(Leuckart)  and  History  of  Pedagog)'  (Volkelt)  as 
minor  subjects.  The  title  of  his  thesis  was 
"  Ueber  Raumwahrnehmungen  im  Gebiete  des 
Tastsinnes."  During  the  next  six  months  he  made 
an  English  translation  of  W'undt's  Crundriss  der 
Psychologic.  This  appeared  late  in  the  year  1896 
from  the  press  of  Wilhelm  Engelmann  in  Leipzig 
under  the  title  Outlines  of  P.sycholog)-.  In  the  fall 
of  1896  he  was  appointed  Instructor  in  Philosophy 
at  Wesleyan  University.  In  the  spring  of  1898  he 
accepted  a  call  to  the  Professorship  of  Physiologi- 
cal and  Experimental  Psychology  in  the  School  of 
Pedagogy-  of  New  York  University.     His  bibliog- 


158 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


raphy,  including  the  titles  already  mentioned,  is  as 
follows:  Philosophy  in  the  (ierman  Universities, 
Science,  August  2,  1895  ;  Ueber  Raumwahrneh- 
mungen  im  Gebiete  des  'I'astsinnes,  Philosophische 
Studuen,  Bd.  XII,  Heft.  3,  1896;  Outlines  of 
Psychology,  a  translation  of  W'undt's  Grundriss 
der  Psychologic,  Wilhelni  Engelmann,  Leipzig, 
1897  ;  Some  Facts  of  Binocular  Vision,  Psycho- 
logical Review,  Vol.  ^'I,  No.  4,  1897  ;  Wundt's 
System  of  Philosophy,  Philosophical  Review,  Vol. 
VI,  No.  4,  1897  ;  Binocular  Factors  in  Monocular 
Vision,  Science,  February  25,  1898;  On  Optical 
Illusion,  Psychological  Review,  Vol.  V,  No.  3, 
1898;  Visual  Perception  of  the  Third  Dimension, 
Psychological  Review,  ^'ol.  V,  No.  4,  1898;  A 
Study  of  Geometrical  Illusions,  Psychological 
Review^  Vol.  VI,  No.  3,  1899;  Psycholog)-  and 
the  Individual  Teacher,  Journal  of  Pedagogy,  Vol. 
XII,  No.  2,  1899;  A  Biological  Analogy  in  Edu- 
cational Theor)%  New  Vork  Teacher's  Magazine, 
\'ol.  II,  (N.  S.),  No.  4,  1899;  Movement  and 
Mental  Development,  New  England  Journal  of 
Education,  January  11  and  18,  1900;  The  Main- 
tenance of  School  Ciovernment  througli  Instruction, 
New  Vork  Teachers'  Monograph,  March  1900; 
A  Suggestion  as  to  Proper  Methods  in  Child 
Study,  Teachers'  World,  September  1900;  The 
Nature  of  the  Child's  Mental  Development,  Pro- 
ceedings of  the  New  York  State  Teachers'  Asso- 
ciation for  1900  ;  also  numerous  reviews  in  the 
Psychological  Review,  the  School  Journal,  the 
Journal  of  Pedagogy,  and  the  New  York  Teacher's 
Magazine.  He  is  a  member  of  the  American 
Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Science  and 
of  the  American  Psychological  Association,  and  a 
fellow  of  the  New  York  Academy  of  Sciences. 
He  is  Secretary  of  the  Section  of  Anthropolog)' 
and  Psychology  in  the  last  named  organization. 

E.    G.    s. 


LeFEVRE,  Egbert,  1858- 

Prof.  Clinical  Med.  and  Assoc.  Professor  of  Therapeutics,  1898- 

Born  in  Raritan,  N.  J.,  1858  ;  graduated  Rutgers  Coll., 
1880,  A.M.  1884;  M.D.  Med.  Dept.  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1883; 
Interne  Bellevue  Hosp.,  1883-85;  Clinical  Lect.  Prac- 
tice of  Medicine  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1880-90;  Prof.  Clinical 
Medicine  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1890-95;  Adj.  Prof.  Medicine 
N.  Y.  Univ.,  1895-98;  Visiting  Phys.  City  Hosp.  N.  Y., 
1894-95;  Visiting  Phys.  Bellevue  Hosp.,  1898;  Attend- 
ing Phys.  St.  Luke's  Hosp.,  1899  ;  Prof.  Clinical 
Medicine  and  Asso.   Prof.   Therapeutics,  N.  Y.  Univ. 


and  Bellevue  Hosp.  Med.  Coll.  since  1898  ;  Corres.  Sec. 
Medical  Faculty. 

EGBERT  LeFEVRE,  M.D.,  is  of  French 
Huguenot  ancestry  on  both  the  paternal 
and  maternal  sides.  His  father  was  the  Rev. 
James  LeFevre,  D.D.,  a  clsrg}-man  of  honored 
standing  and  career  in  the  State  of  New  Jersey, 
and  his  mother,  whose  maiden  name  was  Cornelia 
Bevier  Hasbrouck,  came  of  a  well-known  family  of 
New  York  state.  He  was  born  at  Raritan,  New 
Jersey,  on  October  29,  1858,  and  received  his  early 
education  in  private  schools.     Thence  he  went  to 


EGKERT    LeFEVRE 

the  Preparatory  School  of  Rutgers  College,  at  New 
Brunswick,  New  Jersey,  and  finally  to  Rutgers 
College,  graduating  in  1880  with  tlie  degree  of 
Bachelor  of  Arts.  Four  years  later,  in  considera- 
tion of  his  post-graduate  and  professional  studies, 
his  Alma  Mater  gave  him  the  degree  of  Master  of 
Arts.  Soon  after  leaving  Rutgers  he  came  to 
New  York  University  and  entered  the  Medical 
Department,  from  which  he  was  graduated  witli 
the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine  in  1883.  Dr. 
LeFevre  at  once  began  the  practice  of  his  profes- 
sion, and  also  the  teaching  of  it  to  others,  with 
more  than  ordinary  energ}-  and  success.  In  1883- 
1885  he  was  an  Interne  in  Bellevue  Hospital, 
where  he  gained  the  practical  experience  needed 


UNII^ERSI'lll'.S   AND    THEIR    SONS 


J  59 


to  qualify  liiin  for  further  progress.  Later  liospital 
work  was  performed  as  Visiting  Physician  to  tlie 
City  (Charity)  Hospital  of  New  York  in  1894- 
1895.  He  now  holds  the  position  of  Visiting 
]'hysician  to  Jklievue  Hospital ;  Attending  Piiysi- 
cian  to  St.  Luke's  Hospital,  and  Consulting  Phy- 
sician to  the  Beth-Israel  Hospital.  As  an  instructor 
he  was  called  to  his  Alma  Mater,  the  Medical 
College  of  New  York  University,  as  Clinical  Lec- 
turer on  the  Practice  of  Medicine,  in  1 888-1 890. 
'I'hen  for  Hve  years,  to  1895,  he  was  Professor  of 
Clinical  Medicine.  For  the  next  three  years, 
1 895- 1 898,  he  was  Adjunct  Professor  of  Medicine. 
In  1898  occurred  the  consolidation  of  the  Univer- 
sity and  the  Bellevue  Hospital  Medical  Schools 
into  the  New  York  University  and  Bellevue  Hospi- 
tal Medical  College,  and  in  that  institution  Dr. 
LeFevre  became  Professor  of  Clinical  Medicine 
and  Associate  Professor  of  Therapeutics,  which 
places  he  continues  to  hold,  being  also  Correspond- 
ing Secretary  of  the  Faculty.  Dr.  LeFevre  belongs 
to  many  professional  organizations,  being  a  fellow 
of  the  New  York  Academy  of  Medicine,  and  a 
member  of  the  American  Medical  Association,  the 
New  York  State  Medical  Association,  the  New 
York  County  Medical  Association,  the  Medical 
Society  of  the  County  of  New  York,  the  Medical 
Society  of  the  State  of  New  York,  the  New  York 
Pathological  Society,  and  the  Alumni  Society  of 
Bellevue  Hospital.  He  is  also  a  member  of  the 
Colonial  Club  of  New  York,  and  of  the  Thousand 
Islands  Yacht  Club.  He  was  married  on  Decem- 
ber 12,  1889,  to  Mrs.  Helen  1).  Hasbrouck  Trotter. 
w.  F.  J. 

LUSK,  Graham,  1866- 

Professor  Physiology,  1898- 
Born  in  Bridgeport,  Conn.,  1866;   Ph.B.  Columbia 
School  of  Mines,  1887;  Ph.D.  Univ.  of  Munich,  1891  ; 
Instr.  Physiology  Yale,  1891-92;  Asst.  Prof.,  1892-95; 
Prof.,  1895-98;   Prof.  Physiology  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1898- 

GRAHAM  LUSK,  Ph.D.,  is  the  son  of  Wil- 
liam T.  Lusk,  M.D.,  LL.D.,  and  was  born 
in  Bridgeport,  Connecticut,  February  15,  1866. 
He  entered  the  Columbia  School  of  Mines,  and 
took  the  course  in  Chemistry  graduating  in  1887 
with  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Philosophy.  He 
then  sailed  for  Europe  and  in  the  autumn  of  1887 
began  a  course  of  study  which  culminated  in  1891 
with  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Philosophy  obtained 
at  the  University  of  Munich  where  ho  had  studied 
during  the  greater  part  of  the  four  years,  1887-189 1. 


The  particular  bent  of  his  studies  and  the  selec- 
tion of  his  life-work  was  especially  inspired  by 
Professor  Carl  von  Voit,  the  Munich  physiologist. 
Voit,  Professor  on/inariiis  of  Physiology  and 
Conservator  of  the  Physiological  Collection  at 
Munich  since  1863,  has  devoted  special  attention 
to  the  laws  and  processes  of  nutrition  and  the 
exchange  of  matter  in  that  physiological  function  ; 
see  especially  his  Ilandbuch  der  Physiologie  des 
Allgemeinen  Stoffwechseis  und  der  Erniihrung  (the 
sixth  volume  of  Hermann's  great  Manual  of  Physi- 


GRAHAM    LUSK 

olog}-,  Leipzig,  1881).  Dr.  Graham  Lusk  after  1891 
taught  Physiology  in  the  Medical  School  of  Yale  ; 
one  year  as  Instructor,  three  years  as  Assistant 
Professor  and  three  years  as  Professor.  He 
gratefully  acknowledges  his  indebtedness  to  the 
quiet,  unselfish  academic  atmosphere  of  New 
Haven  so  favorable  to  the  development  of  original 
research.  In  1895  he  received  the  degree  of 
honorary  Master  of  Arts  from  Yale.  From  1898 
to  date  he  has  been  Professor  of  Piiysiology  in 
the  New  York  University  and  Bellevue  Hospital 
Medical  College.  In  1899  he  was  elected  a  fellow 
of  the  Royal  Society  of  Edinburgh.  He  has 
published  a  number  of  researches  and  contributed 
the  article  on  Tlie  Chemistry  of  the  Body  in  the 
American  Text  Book  of  Physiolog)'.  E.  g.  s. 


I  60 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR   SONS 


MacDONALD,  Carlos   F.,  1845- 

Professor  Mental  Diseases  and  Medical  Jurisprudence,  1898- 

Born  in  Niles,  Trumbull  Co.,  Ohio,  1845;  served  in 
Civil  War,  1862-65;  graduated  Bellevue  Hosp.  Med. 
College,  i86g ;  connected  with  institutions  for  the 
insane  since  1870;  Pres.  N.  Y.  State  Commission  in 
Lunacy,  1889-96;  Prof.  Mental  Diseases  Bellevue 
Hosp.  Med.  College  1887-98;  Prof.  Mental  Diseases 
and  Med.  Jurisprudence  at  the  Univ.  since  1898. 

CARLOS  F.  MacDONALD,  M.D.,  was  born 
in  Niles,  Trumbull  county,  Ohio,  in  1845. 
In  1862  at  the  age  of  seventeen  he  enlisted  in  the 
Sixth  Ohio   Volunteer   Cavalry  and  served  to  the 


CARLOS    F.   MArnoNALD 

close  of  the  war,  participating  in  the  battles  of 
Cross  Keys,  Cedar  Mountain,  Second  Bull  Run, 
Antietani,  Fredericksburg,  Chancellor.sville,  Gettys- 
burg, the  Wilderness,  Cold  Harbor,  Spottsylvania, 
Petersburg  and  Five  Forks,  and  he  was  in  the 
cavalry  raids  of  Kilpatrick,  Custer  and  Sheridan, 
being  under  fire  for  the  last  time  when  Lee  sur- 
rendered at  Appomattox.  He  graduated  from 
Bellevue  in  1869.  After  1870  he  was  officially 
and  professionally  connected  with  hospitals  for  the 
insane  in  New  York  Slate,  serving  in  the  capacity 
of  Assistant  Physician  and  Superintendent  of 
several  such  institutions,  both  public  and  private. 
Dr.  MacDonald  was  President  of  the  State  Com- 


mission in  Lunacy,  an  official  body  having  juris- 
diction over  all  the  institutions  for  the  insane  in  the 
State  of  New  York,  both  public  and  private,  since 
the  creation  of  that  body  in  1889  up  to  October 
1896.  During  that  time  he  saw  and  examined 
many  thousands  of  cases  of  insanity  in  the  public 
and  private  institutions  of  the  state.  He  was  Pro- 
fessor of  Mental  Diseases  in  Bellevue  Hospital 
Medical  College  for  upwards  of  ten  years  and  now 
holds  the  position  of  Professor  of  Mental  Diseases 
and  Medical  Jurisprudence  in  the  University  and 
Bellevue  Hospital  Medical  College.  He  was  also 
at  one  time  Lecturer  on  Insanity  at  the  Albany 
Medical  College  for  two  years.  He  has  frequently 
served  on  special  commissions,  under  appointment 
of  Governors  of  New  York  State,  to  determine  the 
mental  condition  of  persons  under  sentence  of 
death,  likewise  under  appointment  of  courts  and  he 
has  appeared  as  an  expert  witness  in  mental  diseases 
in  hundreds  of  cases,  both  civil  and  criminal.  He 
has  also  made  numerous  contributions  to  the  litera- 
ture of  mental  diseases  and  allied  subjects.  Upon 
his  voluntary  retirement  from  the  State  Commission 
in  Lunacy  in  1896,  to  resume  private  practice,  the 
Superintendents  of  the  New  York  State  hospitals 
for  the  insane  unanimously  adopted  the  following 
resolution:  "  \Vhereas,  the  Superintendents  of  the 
State  hospitals  of  New  York,  in  conference  assem- 
bled, have  learned  with  deep  regret  of  the  contem- 
plated retirement  of  Dr.  Carlos  F.  MacDonald 
from  the  Presidency  of  the  State  Commission  in 
Lunacy,  therefore,  RESOLVED,  That  as  represen- 
tatives of  the  State  hospitals  for  the  insane,  we  deem 
it  appropriate  and  fitting  to  make  public  acknowl- 
edgment of  our  appreciation  of  the  important 
service  rendered  by  Dr.  MacDonald  on  behalf  of 
the  establishment,  upon  a  permanent  basis,  of  the 
policy  of  State  care  of  the  insane,  and  of  carrying 
that  policy  into  practical  operation  in  an  efficient 
and  economical  manner.  We  also  record  our  re- 
gret that  Dr.  MacDonald  has  found  it  necessary 
to  withdraw  from  the  service  of  the  State  in  that 
capacity ;  and  we  tender  him  the  assurance  of 
our  confidence  in  the  administration  of  lunacy 
affairs  by  himself  and  his  associates.  Our  thanks 
are  due  to  him  for  his  efforts  to  promote  the  wel- 
fare of  the  insane  and  the  successful  conduct  of 
the  State  hospitals,  and  for  his  future  prosperity 
and  success  he  has  our  heartiest  wishes."  Dr. 
MacDonald's  Associate  Commissioners,  referring 
to  his  retirement  from  the  service  of  the  state,  in 


UNIFERSITIES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


i6i 


their   F,i<jhtli   Annual    Report    to    tlie    Legislature, 
say  :   •'  To  say  that  in  his  long  connection  as  Hospi- 
tal Superintendent  and  as  Commissioner,  with  the 
care  and  treatment   of   the   insane  of    New   York 
State  he  has  rendered  public  services  of  the  most 
distinguished    character  and    of    the    most    vital 
importance,  would  be  to  state  less  than  tiie   fact. 
Indeed,  from  our  knowledge  of  the  truth,  it  would 
be    ditTicult    to    discuss    his    work    in    sufficiently 
measured  terms,  which,  while   avoiding  fulsome  or 
extravagant  eulogy,  should  yet  do  full  justice  to  the 
merits  of  our  late  associate.  .   .   ."  This  brief  sketch 
of  his  official  career  serves  chiefly  to  show  that  for 
over  a  quarter  of  a  century  he  had  held  important 
positi(^ns  of  trust  and  responsibility  in  administering 
the  Lunacy  Laws  of  the  state  while  at  the  same  time 
attaining  an  exalted  position   in   his  profession   as 
an  alienist  and  teacher  of  mental  medicine  ;   indeed, 
it  may  be    said    that  his   personality    was  so    im- 
pressed  upon  the   history  of  the    development  of 
lunacy  legislation  in  this  state  as  to  have  become 
identified  with  and  a  prominent  part  of  it.     From 
the  first.  Dr.  MacDonald  showed  himself  to  be  a 
progressive,  vigorous  and  large-minded  man,  alert 
and    active    in    behalf   of    all    improvements    and 
advances  which  a  cool  judgment  and  a  conserva- 
tive   temperament  might  approve.      His    manage- 
ment of  the  institutions  with  which  he  has  been 
connected  was  marked  b)-  a  high  order  of  execu- 
tive capacity,  joined  with  firmness  and  disciplinary 
skill  and  tempered  by  the  grace  of  sympathetic  and 
himiane  feeling  such  as  became  an  officer  dealing 
with  mentally  diseased  persons.     The  loss  to  his 
associates  resulting  from  his  retirement,  great  as  it 
is,  sinks  into  insignificance  when  the  loss  to  the 
state  is  considered.      It  was  most  fortunate  for  the 
state  that  Dr.   MacDonald  was  chosen  as  the  first 
President    of  the   Commission.     At  the   inception 
and  throughout  the  whole  course  of  the  agitation 
which   led  to  the  establishment  of    the    policy  of 
state  care  for  the  dependent  insane,  he  was  in  full 
and  lively  sympathy  with  the  movement,  and  took 
an  earnest  part  in   its  promotion.      But  for  the  in- 
fusion   into    that    movement    of    his    intelligence, 
energ)',  zeal,  broad-minded  information,  knowledge 
and  sound  judgment,  the  result  might  have  been 
different.     His  matured   and  fully    ripened    views 
had  great,  perhaps  decisive,  influence,  not  only  on 
his  colleagues  in  the  Commission,  neither  of  whom 
had  previously  been  conversant  with  the  subject, 
but  also  on  all  those  who  were  allied  in  the  effort 


to  substitute  state    care   for  the  system    that    had 
hitherto   prevailed.     No  f)ther    person    exerted  so 
controlling  or   so  potent    an   inlluence   upon     that 
most  memorable  chapter  in   the   history  of  lunacy 
affairs  in  our  state  as  did  Dr.  MacDonald.     It  may 
almost  be  said  that  without  the  help  of  iiis  active 
efforts,    the   encouragement    of    his    example,    the 
fidelity   and  vigor  of  his   advocacy,   and  the  con- 
spicuous ability  displayed  by  him  in  directing  and 
facilitating    the    practical     operation     of    the    new 
system,  it  might  have   been   doomed   to  disastrous 
and  complete   failure.      Dr.   MacDonald   also   ren- 
dered valuable  services  to  the  State  of  New  York 
in  the  matter  of  putting  into  successful  operation 
the  law  for  the   infiiction  of  the  death  penalty  by 
means  of  electricity.      Acting  in  an  advisory  capa- 
city, at  the  request  of  Governor  Hill,  he  conducted 
a  series  of  preliminary  experiments  on   animals  to 
determine  the  degree  of  electro-motive  force  that 
would  be  necessary  to  produce  sudden   and  i)ain- 
less    death,    and   subsequently    attended  the    first 
seven  executions  by  this  method.      Thereafter  he 
made  an   exhaustive  official  report  on   the  subject 
entitled:    The  Infliction  of  the  Death  Penalty  by 
Means  of   Electricity,   Being   a   Report   of    Seven 
Cases,  with  Remarks  on  the  Methods  of  Applica- 
tion and  the    Gross   and   Microscopical   Kffects  of 
Electrical  Currents  of  Lethal  Energy  on  the  Hu- 
man   Subject.     L^nion  College  in    1894  bestowed 
the    honorary   degree   of    Master  of  Arts   on   Dr. 
MacDonald.     He  is  a  permanent  member  of  the 
New   York   State    Medical    Society,    of   the    New 
York  County  Medical  Society  and  of  the  Ameri- 
can Medico  Psychological  Association,      e.  g.  s. 


MANDEL,  John  Alfred,  1865- 

Prof.  Chem.  and  Physics,  and  of  Physiological  Chem..  1898- 
Born  in  Stockholm,  Sweden,  1865  ;  educated  in  pub- 
lic schools  and  English  High  School,  Boston,  and  at 
Univ.  of  Berlin  ;  Assistant  to  the  Chair  of  Chem.  Belle- 
vue  Hosp.  Med.  Coll.,  1884-97;  Prof.  Chem.  N.  Y.  Coll. 
of  Vet.  Surg.,  1894-97  !  Asst.  Prof.  Chem.  and  Physics 
Coll.  of  the  City  of  N.  Y.,  1897-98;  Adj.  Prof.  Physi- 
ological Chem.  Bellevue  Hosp.  Med.  Coll.,  1897-98; 
Prof.  Chem.  and  Physics  and  Physiological  Chem.  N.  Y. 
Univ.  and  Bellevue  Hosp.  Med.  Coll.,  since  1898;  Prof. 
Chem.  in  N.  Y. -Amer.  Vet.  Coll.,  N.  Y.  Univ.,  since 
1899;  Sc.  D.  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1901. 

JOHN  ALFRED  MANDEL  was  born  in  Stock- 
holm, Sweden,  on  October  18,  1865,  the  son 
of  Philip  H.  and  Agnes  Caroline  (Lundberg)  ^Lan- 
del.       In    his    boyhood    he    was   brought    by   his 


l62 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


parents  to  this  country,  and  received  an  admir- 
able academic  education  in  the  public  schools  of 
Boston,  Massachusetts,  and  in  the  famous  English 
High  School  of  that  city.  He  was  for  a  time  a 
private  student  in  chemistry,  and  pursued  special 
courses  in  chemistry  and  allied  sciences  at  the 
University  of  Berlin.  Thus  prepared  for  profes- 
sional life,  he  became  a  teacher  of  various  depart- 
ments of  chemical  science,  and  to  that  work  has 
devoted  his  life,  with  conspicuous  success.  He  be- 
gan as  Assistant  to  the  Chair  of  Chemistry  in  the 
Bellevue  Hospital  Medical  College,  and  served  in 
that   capacity   from    1884    to    1897.      \\'hile    filling 


WllWJ'W 


JOHN    A.     MANDEL 

that  place  he  in  1894  became  also  Professor  of 
Chemistry  in  the  New  York  College  of  Veterinary 
Surgeons,  and  thus  served  until  1897.  In  the 
last  named  year  he  became  Assistant  Professor  of 
Chemistry  and  Physics  in  the  College  of  the  City 
of  New  York,  and  also  Adjunct  Professor  of  Phys- 
iological Chemistry  in  the  Bellevue  Hospital  Med- 
ical College,  filling  both  places  for  a  year.  In 
1898  the  consolidation  of  the  two  medical  schools 
into  the  New  York  University  and  Bellevue  Hospi- 
tal Medical  College  was  effected,  and  Mr.  Mandel 
thereupon  became  Professor  of  Chemistry  and 
Physics,  and  of  Physiological  Chemistry,  therein, 
which  dual   place  he    continues  to   till.     In   1899 


the  American  and  New  York  Veterinary  Colleges 
were  consolidated  and  made  a  department  of  New 
York  University,  and  Mr.  Mandel  became  Pro- 
fessor of  Chemistry  therein,  a  place  which  he 
also  continues  to  fill.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
Phi  Gamma  Delta  Fraternity  and  of  the  German 
Chemical  Society  of  Berlin.  He  was  married 
on  August  3,  1 89 1,  to  Paula  A.  Heinrich.   w.  v.  j. 


NOYES,   Henry  Drury,   1832   1901. 

Professor  Ophthalmology,  1898  1900. 
Born  in  New  York  City,  1832;  graduated  College 
Dept.  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1851 ;  M.D.  N.  Y.  College  Phys. 
and  Surg.,  1855;  on  House  Staff  of  New  York  Hosp., 
1855-57;  studied  abroad,  1858-59;  engaged  in  practice 
in  New  York  City;  Surgeon  from  1864,  and  Executive 
Surg,  from  1879  to  1898  to  N.  Y.  Eye  and  Ear  Infirm- 
ary ;  Director  from  1889;  Prof.  Ophthalmology  Bellevue 
Hosp.  Med.  College,  1866-98;  and  at  N.  Y.  Univ., 
1898-1900;  died  1901. 

HENRY  DRURY  NOYES,  M.D.,  was  born 
in  New  York  City,  Marcli  24,  1832,  son  of 
Isaac  Reed  and  Sarah  Flint  (Drury)  Noyes;  botli 
parents  were  born  in  Shrewsbury,  Worcester  county, 
Massachusetts.  The  Noyes  family  of  America 
originated  with  the  arrival  from  \\'iltshire,  Eng- 
land, of  Nicholas  and  the  Rev.  James  Noyes,  and 
from  the  latter,  who  settled  in  Newbury.  Massa- 
chusetts, in  1C35,  the  subject  of  this  sketch  was 
descended.  He  received  early  education  in  various 
schools  of  New  York  City,  and  graduated  from 
the  Academic  Department  of  New  York  Ihiiversity 
in  1 85 1.  He  was  chosen  Valedictorian  of  his 
class.  The  Master's  degree  was  conferred  upon 
him  in  cour.se  three  years  later.  In  1852  he  com- 
menced the  study  of  medicine  in  the  office  of  Dr. 
Gurdon  Buck,  and  continuing  his  work  in  the  New 
York  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  now  the 
Medical  Department  of  Columbia,  received  the 
Doctor  of  Medicine  degree  in  1855.  In  the  same 
year  he  became  a  member  of  the  house  .staff  of  the 
New  York  Hospital,  and  continued  that  connection 
until  1857.  Dr.  Noyes  went  abroad  in  the  spring 
of  1858,  and  spent  one  year  in  professional  study 
at  hospitals  and  clinics  in  London,  Paris,  Berlin 
and  Vienna.  At  that  time  Donders  of  Utrecht 
and  Graefe  of  Berlin  were  coming  into  prominence 
as  teachers ;  Helmholtz  had  made  his  great  inven- 
tion of  the  ophthalmoscope  but  a  few  years  before, 
and  important  progress  was  being  made  in  the 
treatment  of  affections  of  the  eye.     To  this  branch 


UNIl^EKSITIES   AND    THEIR   SONS 


163 


of  the  profession  Dr.  Noyes  devoted  particular 
attention,  and  upon  his  return  in  October  1859,  he 
was  appointed  Assistant  Surgeon  to  the  New 
York  Eye  and  Ear  Infirmary.  With  that  institu- 
tion he  was  continuously  connected  for  more 
than  forty  years.  In  1864  he  was  advanced  to 
the  position  of  Surgeon,  and  when  the  office  of 
Executive-Surgeon  was  created  in  11S79  he  was 
chosen  to  fill  it,  and  so  continued  until  1898,  at 
which  time  he  became  Director  and  Surgeon  of 
the  institution.  During  the  Civil  War  Dr.  Noyes 
was  for  some  time  in  the  employ  of  the  Sanitary 
Commission.      He  first  became  connected  with  the 


HENRY    n.    NOYES 

Bellevue  Hospital  Medical  College  in  1863,  when 
he  was  made  Assistant  Demonstrator  of  Anatomy, 
lecturing  also  on  Ophthalmology.  In  1866  he 
became  Professor  of  Ophthalmology  and  continued 
to  occupy  that  position  after  the  union  of  the 
Bellevue  College  with  New  York  University  until 
October  1900,  when  he  resigned.  He  was  also 
for  ten  years,  1867-1877,  Ophthalmic  Surgeon  to 
the  Charity  Hospital  on  Blackwell's  Island.  He 
was  a  member  of  many  prominent  medical  socie- 
ties, notably  the  New  York  Academy  of  Medicine, 
of  which  he  was  Vice-President,  and  the  Ameri- 
can Ophthalmological  Society  of  which  he  was  a 


founder,  for  ten  years  the  Secretary,  and  for  five 
years  the  President.  He  also  belonged  to  the 
Century  Association  of  New  York  and  the  I'si 
Upsilon  Fraternity.  He  contributed  various  arti- 
cles to  the  medical  journals,  and  made  many 
addresses  before  the  societies  with  which  he  was 
allied.  In  1881  he  published  a  short  treatise  on 
Diseases  of  the  Eye,  which  was  followed  in  1890 
by  a  larger  volume  on  the  same  subject,  of  which 
a  second  edition  appeared  in  1894.  Dr.  Noyes 
was  married,  October  13,  1859,  to  Isabella  Forsyth 
Beveridge,  who  died  December  17,  1868.  He 
was  again  married  in  February  1870,  to  Anna 
Margaret  Grant.     He  died  in  1901.  * 


SAYRE,   Reginald   Hall,   1859- 

Clinical  Professor  Orthopedic  Surgery,  1898- 

Born  in  New  York  City,  1859;  fitted  for  College  at 
Churchill  &  Maury's  School ;  graduated  Columbia,  i88i ; 
M.D.  Bellevue  Hosp.  Med.  College,  1884;  hosp.  serv- 
ice in  Bellevue;  engaged  in  practice  with  his  father; 
Asst.  in  Surgery  at  Bellevue  Hosp.  Med.  College, 
1885-90;  Asst.  and  Lee.  Orthopedic  Surgery,  1890-97; 
Adj.  Prof.,  1897;  Prof.  Orthopedic  Surgery  Univ.  and 
Bellevue  Hosp.  Med.  College  since  1898;  Attending 
Orthopedic  Surgeon  to  Bellevue  Hosp.  Dispensary 
since  1886;  holds  other  important  positions;  author 
of  works  on  medical  subjects. 

REGINALD  HALL  SAYRE,  M.D.,  was  born 
in  New  York  City,  October  18,  1859,  son 
of  Lewis  Albert  Sayre,  M.D.,  and  Eliza  Ann  (Hall) 
Sayre.  The  first  representative  of  the  family  in 
America  was  Thomas  Sayre,  who  settled  in  South- 
ampton, Long  Island,  in  1640.  On  the  maternal 
side  he  is  descended  from  John  Hall,  who  settled 
in  Charlestown,  Massachusetts,  in  1630.  He 
fitted  for  College  at  Churchill  &  Maury's  School 
in  New  York  City,  and  entered  Columbia  in  1877, 
graduating  as  Bachelor  of  Arts  in  1881.  He 
received  a  scholarship  in  C'hemistry  in  his  Sopho- 
more year,  also  won  oratorical  honors,  and  was 
active  in  the  athletic  life  of  the  College.  After  a 
three  years'  course  in  the  Bellevue  Hospital  Med- 
ical College  he  received  his  medical  degree  in 
1884,  and  entered  the  hospital,  securing  first 
place  in  the  competitive  examination.  He  chose 
the  medical  side  of  the  hospital  and  ser\-ed 
eighteen  months,  after  which  he  entered  upon 
practice  with  his  father,  devoting  himself  chiefly 
to  Orthopedic  Surgery.  He  was  made  Assistant 
to  the  Chair  of  Surgery  at  the  Bellevue  Hospital 
Medical   College  in    1885  and  served  until    1890, 


I  64 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


when  he  became  Lecturer  on  Orthopedic  Surgery 
and  Assistant  to  the  Professor  of  that  branch. 
He  was  made  Adjunct  Professor  in  1897,  and  on 
the  consolidation  of  the  College  with  New  York 
University  was  made  Clinical  Professor  of  Ortho- 
pedic Surgery  in  the  University  and  Bellevue 
Hospital  Medical  College.  He  has  been  Attend- 
ing Orthopedic  Surgeon  to  Bellevue  Hospital 
Dispensary  since  1886  ;  Consulting  Surgeon  for 
the  Hackensack  Hospital  since  1891  ;  Consulting 
Orthopedic  Surgeon  to  the  Hospital  for  Crippled 
Children  in  Newark  since  1897,  and  Consulting 
Orthopedic  Surgeon  to  the    Mountain   Side  Hos- 


REGINALD    H.    S.^YRE 

pital  at  Montclair  since  1898.  Professor  Sayre  is 
widely  known  as  a  specialist  in  his  particular 
branches  of  the  medical  profession,  and  is  tiie 
author  of  a  number  of  valuable  monographs  and 
articles  on  medical  subjects.  He  served  as  Vice- 
President  of  the  American  Orthopedic  Association 
in  1892  and  the  New  York  Pathological  Society  in 
1 893  ;  Honorary  Vice-President  of  the  Orthopedic 
Section  of  the  Pan-American  Medical  Congress  in 
1893  ;  Assistant  Secretary  to  the  New  York 
Academy  of  Medicine,  189 2- 1895,  Secretary  from 
1895  to  1897,  Treasurer  for  the  Trustees  since  1899, 
and  was  Chairman  of  the  Surgical  Section  of  the 
American    Medical    Association    at    its    Fiftieth 


Anniversary  in  1897,  and  is  connected  with  a 
number  of  other  professional  societies.  He  has 
been  a  member  of  Squadron  A,  National  Guard 
of  the  State  of  New  York  since  1893,  and  in  1895 
was  made  Inspector  of  Riflie  Practice  with  the 
rank  of  First  Lieutenant.  He  has  devoted  much 
time  to  shooting,  was  second  in  the  Military 
Revolver  Championship  Match  in  1897,  and  won 
the  Revolver  Championship  in  1898,  and  again 
in  1899.  He  is  a  member  of  the  University,  City, 
New  York  Athletic  and  University  Glee  clubs. 
He  was  a  Democrat  in  politics  until  the  promulga- 
tion of  the  Chicago  platform  of  1896,  and  since 
then  has  acted  as  an  Independent.  * 


SMITH,  Abram  Alexander,  1847- 

Prof.  Pnn.  and  Practice  of  Medicine  and  Clinical  Medicine,  1889- 

Born  in  'Wantage,  N.  J.,  1847;  prepared  for  Coll.  at 
Newton,  N.J.,  Collegiate  Inst.,  graduated  Lafayette 
Coll.,  A.B.,  1868;  graduated  Bellevue  Hosp.  Med. 
Coll.  M.D.,  1871 ;  Interne  Bellevue  Hosp.,  1871-72; 
Lect.  Therapeutics  Bellevue  Hosp.  Med.  Coll.,  1876-79  ; 
Prof.  Materia  Medica  and  Therapeutics  Bellevue  Hosp. 
Med.  Coll.,  1879-92;  Prof.  Principles  and  Practice  of 
Medicine  Bellevue  Hosp.  Med.  Coll.,  1892-98;  Prof. 
Principles  and  Practice  of  Medicine  and  Clinical  Medi- 
cine N.  Y.  Univ.  and  Bellevue  Hosp.  Med.  Coll.  since 
1898;  Asst.  Visiting  Phys.  N.  Y.  State  Woman's  Hosp. 
1874-79;  Attending  Phys.  Demilt  Disp.,  1873-79  ;  Visit- 
ing Phys.  Bellevue  Hospital  since  1882 ;  Consulting 
Phys.  Gouverneur  Hosp.,  Hosp.  for  Ruptured  and 
Crippled,  Hosp.  for  Scarlet  Fever  and  Diphtheria  and 
Loomis  Sanitarium  for  Consumptives;  A.M.  Lafayette, 
1871  ;  A.M.  honorary,  Princeton,  1889  ;  LL.D.  Lafayette, 
1892. 

ABRAM  ALKXANDKR  S^^TH,  M.I)., 
LL.D.,  was  born  at  Wantage,  New  Jersey, 
on  ^Lnrch  25,  1847,  the  son  of  James  Alexander 
and  Mary  Ann  (Corbin)  Smith.  His  early  life 
was  spent  amid  the  picturesque  hills  of  his  native 
state,  his  preparation  for  College  being  made  at 
the  Newton  Collegiate  In.stitute,  at  Newton,  New 
Jersey.  Then  he  went  to  the  other  side  of  the 
Delaware  River,  for  higher  education,  at  Lafayette 
College,  Easton,  Pennsylvania,  at  which  institution 
he  was  graduated  with  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of 
Arts  in  1868.  Adopting  the  profession  of  medi- 
cine, he  next  came  to  New  York  City  and  entered 
the  Bellevue  Hospital  Medical  College,  where  he 
was  graduated  in  187 1  with  the  degree  of  Doctor 
of  Medicine,  and  in  the  same  year  Lafayette 
College  gave  him  the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts. 
He  began  work  after  graduation  as  an  Interne  in 


UNiyiiRsrriEs  jnd  'iiieiii  sons 


165 


Bellevue  Hospital,  from  1S71  to  1872.  His 
suI)st,'(|uc'tU  liospital  jiracticc  comprises  service  as 
Atten(lin<;  Physician  at  llie  Demilt  Dispensary, 
1873-1879  ;  Assistant  \isiting  Physician  and 
Snrijjeon  at  the  New  York  State  Hospital  for 
Women,  1874-1879;  Visiting  Physician  at  Belle- 
vue Hospital  from  1882  to  date;  and  Consulting 
Physician  at  Couverneur  Hospital,  the  Hospital 
for  the  Ruptured  and  Crippled,  the  Hospital  for 
Scarlet  I'ever  and  Dipiitlieria,  and  tiie  Loomis 
Sanitarium  for  Consumptives,  at  Liberty,  Sullivan 
county,  New  York.  Dr.  Smith  has  also  had  a 
long  and  distinguished  career  as  an  instructor. 
This  he  began  as  a  Lecturer  on  Therapeutics  in 
Bellevue  Hospital  Medical  College  from  1876  to 
1879.  Next,  in  the  same  institution,  he  was 
Professor  of  Materia  Medica  and  Therapeutics 
from  1879  to  1892.  Again,  in  the  same  institu- 
tion, he  was  Professor  of  the  Principles  and  Prac- 
tice of  Medcine  from  1892  to  1898.  In  the  last 
named  year  the  Bellevue  Hospital  Medical  College 
was  merged  with  the  Medical  Department  of  New 
York  l^niversity.  and  since  that  date  Dr.  Smith 
has  been  Professor  of  the  Principles  and  Practice 
of  Medicine  and  Clinical  Medicine  in  the  com- 
bined schools,  known  as  New  York  L^iiversity  and 
Bellevue  Hospital  Medical  College.  Dr.  Smith  is 
a  member  of  various  professional  organizations, 
among  which  may  be  mentioned  the  New  York 
Practitioners'  Society,  of  which  he  is  President ; 
the  New  York  Clinical  Society,  of  which  he  is  an 
ex-President ;  the  New  York  County  Medical 
Society,  the  New  York  County  Medical  Association, 
the  New  York  State  Medical  Association,  the  New 
York  Academy  of  Medicine,  the  New  York  Medi- 
cal and  Surgical  Society,  the  Association  of 
American  Physicians  and  the  American  Clima- 
tological  Association.  He  is  also  a  member  of  the 
Century,  University,  Grolier  and  Princeton  clubs 
of  New  York.  He  has  received  the  honorary  de- 
grees of  Master  of  Arts,  from  Princeton  in  1889, 
and  of  Doctor  of  Laws,  from  Lafayette  in  1892. 
He  was  married  in  1874  to  Sue  L.,  daughter  of 
Henry  Bender,  of  Easton.  Pennsylvania,  and  has 
two  sons :  Wilson  Schuyler  and  Howard  Alex- 
ander Smith.  \v.  F.  J. 


STEWART,   George  David,   1862- 

Professor  Anatomy  and  Clinical  Surgery,  1898- 

Born  in  Malagash,  N.  S.,  educated  in  public  schools 
of  Nova  Scotia  and  Teachers'   Coll.  Truro,  N.  S.,  grad- 


uating in  1884;  M.D.  Bellevue  Hosp.  Med.  Coll., 
1889;  served  on  House  Staff  and  as  Resident  Surg. 
Bellevue  Hosp.  ;  Visiting  Surg,  to  Bellevue  Hosp. ; 
Adj.  Visiting  Surg.  St.  Vincent's  Hosp.;  Prof.  Anat- 
omy and  Clinical  Surgery  N.  V.  Univ.  and  Bellevue 
Hosp.  Med.  Coll.,  since  1898. 

Gl'.ORCH-:  DAVID  STEWART,  ALD.,  is,  as 
his  name  indicates,  of  Scottish  ancestry, 
and  was  born  in  the  New  Scotland  of  America. 
The  Stewarts  came  from  Dumfriesshire,  Scotland, 
and    were    among   the   earliest    settlers  of    Pictou 


GEORflE    1).    STKWART 


The    McCallums 


his 


were  Scottish  Highlanders,  and 


county,  Nova  Scotia, 
mother's  family 
settled  in  Massachusetts  in  Colonial  times.  Dur- 
ing the  Revolution  they  were  United  Empire 
Loyalists  and  fled,  as  refugees,  from  Massachusetts 
to  Colchester  county.  Nova  Scotia.  The  Irvings, 
the  family  of  Dr.  Stewart's  maternal  grandmother, 
came  from  Dumfriesshire,  Scotland.  Of  such 
ancestry,  and  the  son  of  Daniel  and  Mary  J. 
(McCallum)  Stewart,  he  was  born  at  Malagash, 
Cumberland  county.  Nova  Scotia,  on  December 
28,  1862,  and  was  educated  in  the  common  schools 
of  that  place,  doing  also  a  large  amount  of  syste- 
matic reading  at  home.  For  higher  education  he 
went  to  the  Teachers'  College,  at  Truro,  Nova 
Scotia,  where  he  was  graduated  in  1884.     For  two 


i66 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


years  he  was  a  teacher  in  the  common  schools, 
and  for  two  more  was  principal  of  a  high  school,  in 
Nova  Scotia.  Took  special  courses  in  St.  Francis 
Xavier  College  for  two  years.  Then,  adopting 
medicine  as  his  profession,  he  entered  the  Bellevue 
Medical  College,  and  was  duly  graduated  with  the 
degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine  in  1889.  For  two 
years  thereafter  he  served  on  the  House  .Staff  of 
Bellevue  Hospital,  as  Resident  Surgeon.  He  is 
now  a  Visiting  Surgeon  to  Bellevue  Hospital,  and 
an  Adjunct  Visiting  Surgeon  to  St.  Vincent's 
Hospital.  From  1897  to  1898  was  Professor  of 
Anatomy  in  the  Bellevue  Hospital  Medical  College. 
Since  1898  he  has  been  Professor  of  Anatomy  and 
Clinical  Surgery  in  the  New  York  University  and 
Bellevue  Hospital  Medical  College.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  Alumni  Society  of  Bellevue  Hospi- 
tal, of  the  New  York  State  and  New  York  County 
Medical  Associations,  and  of  the  Hospital  Gradu- 
ates' Club,  and  a  fellow  of  the  New  A'ork  Academy 
of  Medicine.  He  was  married  in  1890  to  Ida 
M.  Robb,  and  has  two  children :  Jean  Robb 
and   Marjorie  Bruce  .Stewart.  w.  v.  j. 


SYMS,  Parker,   1860- 

Clinical  Professor  Surgery,  1898- 

Born  in  Riverdale,  N.  Y.,  i860;  graduated  M.D.  N.  Y. 
Univ.  Med.  Coll.,  1882;  Interne  Bellevue  Hosp.,  1881- 
83  ;  practicing  physician  and  surgeon  since  1883 ;  Attend- 
ing Surg.  Colored  Hosp.,  1885-95;  Attending  Surg. 
Lebanon  Hosp.,  since  1896;  Clinical  Prof.  Surg.  N.  Y. 
Univ.  and  Bellevue  Hosp.  Med.  Coll.,  since  1898. 

PARKER  SYMS,  M.D.,  was  born  at  River- 
dale,  New  York,  on  July  31,  i860,  the  son 
of  Samuel  R.  and  Mary  J.  (Williams)  Syms ;  his 
father's  family  having  come  from  Devonshire,  Eng- 
land, and  his  mother's  family  partly  —  the  \Vil- 
liamses  —  from  Wales  and  partly  —  the  Parkers  — 
from  England  by  way  of  Connecticut.  He  was 
educated  in  private  schools,  and  in  the  Medical 
College  of  the  City  of  New  York,  now  New  York 
University,  whence  he  was  graduated  in  1882  with 
the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine.  He  was  an 
Interne  in  Bellevue  Hospital  for  two  years,  188 1- 
1883,  and  then  entered  upon  the  practice  of  his 
profession,  which  he  has  maintained  down  to  the 
present  time.  He  was  on  the  Surgical  Staff  of 
the  Out-Patient  Department  of  New  York  Hospital 
for  one  year,  and  of  Roosevelt  Hospital  for  five 
years.     For   ten  years,  1880   to   1890,  he  was   on 


the  Attending  Staff  New  York  Cancer  Hospital, 
part  of  the  time  as  Surgeon  and  part  of  the  time 
as  Gynaecologist.  During  its  existence  he  was 
Consulting  Surgeon  at  the  Italian  Hospital  of 
New  York,  and  for  a  number  of  years  he  has 
been  Consulting  Surgeon  at  All  Souls  Hospital, 
Morristown,  New  Jersey.  For  the  ten  years, 
1 885-1 895,  he  was  Attending  Surgeon  to  the 
Colored  Hospital,  and  since  1896  has  held  a 
similar  place    in    the    Lebanon    Hospital.      Since 


PARKER    SYMS 

1898  he  has  been  Clinical  Professor  of  Sur- 
gery in  the  New  York  University  and  Bellevue 
Hospital  Medical  College.  Doctor  Syms  was 
President  of  the  Bellevue  Hospital  Alumni  Societ}', 
1895-96,  and  also  President,  1900-1902,  of  the 
New  York  County  Medical  Association.  He 
belongs  also  to  the  New  York  Academy  of  Medi- 
cine, the  American  Medical  Association,  the  New 
York  State  Medical  .Association,  the  Ardsley  Club, 
and  the  Calumet  Club.  w.  k.  j. 


FLINT,  Austin,  Jr.,  1868- 

Professor  Obstetrics  and  Clinical  Gynaecology,  1899- 

Born  in  Ballston,  N.  Y.,  1868;  early  education  at 
Phillips  Acad.  Andover,  Mass.  ;  graduated  Bellevue 
Hosp.  Med.  College,  1889;  studied  in  Europe;  entered 


UNll'KRsrriES   AND    TUKIR    SONS 


167 


practice  in  New  York  City  ;  Lect.  in  Obstetrics  Bellevue 
Hosp.  College,  1891-1895;  Prof.  Honorary,  1895;  Prof. 
Obstetrics  and  Clinical  Gynaecology  N.  Y.  Univ.  since 
iSgg;   A.M.  Princeton,  1894. 

Ars  I'lN  I'LINT,  Jr.,  M.D.,  the  si.xtli  pliy- 
.sician  of  this  family  in  direct  Hue,  was 
born  in  lialiston,  Saratoga  county,  New  York, 
in  1868,  and  received  his  early  education  at 
Phillips  Academy,  Andover,  Massachusetts.  The 
first    representative    of    the    Flint   family    in    this 


AUSTIN    FLINT,    JR. 

country  was  the  Hon.  Thomas  Flint,  who  came 
from  Matlock  in  Derbyshire,  England,  to  Concord, 
Massachusetts,  in  1638.  His  great-grandson,  Dr. 
Edward  Flint,  went  to  Shrewsbury  from  Concord 
in  1756  and  took  the  practice  left  by  Dr.  Joshua 
Smith,  who  died  early  that  year.  He  joined 
Colonel  Ruggles's  expedition  against  Canada  as 
chief  '•Chirurgeon."  but  remained  only  a  short 
time  in  the  service  and  returned  home  to  resume 
his  practice,  which  we  read  was  "  extensive  and 
abundant."  His  son  Austin  was  born  in  1760, 
and  received  his  medical  education  from  his 
father.  He  served  in  the  Revolutionary  War,  and 
was  present  at  the  surrender  of  Burgoyne.  He 
afterwards  served  as  Surgeon  in  Colonel  Drury's 
regiment  at  \^'est  Point.  He  finally  settled  in 
Leicester,  Massachusetts,  married   Elizabeth  Hen- 


shaw  and  died  at  the  age  of  ninety.  1 1  is  son,  Joseph 
I  lenshaw  Flint,  was  "  a  distinguished  surgeon,"  who 
practiced  for  twenty-five  years  in  Northampton  and 
afterwards  in  Springfield.  His  son,  Dr.  Austin 
I'lint,  was  born  in  I'etersham,  Worcester  county, 
October  20,  18 12,  and  studied  medicine  at  Amherst 
and  Harvard.  He  practiced  in  Northampton  for  a 
time,  then  in  Boston,  and  in  1836  went  to  Buffalo. 
He  was  Professor  of  Medicine  in  the  Rush 
Medical  College  in  Chicago  for  a  year,  then 
returned  to  Buffalo,  where  he  established  The 
Buffalo  Medical  Journal,  which  he  continued  for 
ten  years.  He  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the 
15uffalo  Medical  College,  where  he  was  Professor 
until  1852.  For  four  years  afterwards  he  was  a 
Professor  in  the  Louisville  University,  and  then 
returned  to  Buffalo.  From  1859  to  1861  he  was 
Professor  of  Clinical  Medicine  at  New  Orleans. 
In  1861  he  made  his  home  in  New  York  City, 
and  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Bellevue 
Hospital  Medical  College  where  he  was  Professor 
of  the  Principles  and  Practice  of  Medicine  until 
his  death  in  1886.  He  was  the  author  of  Flint's 
Practice  of  Medicine  and  numerous  other  works. 
His  son,  Austin  Flint,  studied  medicine  at  the 
Rush  Medical  College  in  Philadelphia  and  was 
graduated  in  1857.  He  studied  Physiology  in 
Paris  and  was  afterwards  Professor  of  Physiolog\- 
in  the  New  York  Medical  ('ollege  and  in  New 
Orleans.  In  i86i  he  was  appointed  Professor  in 
the  Bellevue  Hospital  College,  and  was  Secretary 
of  the  Faculty  until  1899.  At  the  time  of  the 
union  of  the  Bellevue  Medical  College  with  the 
New  York  University  he  resigned  these  positions 
and  accepted  an  appointment  as  Professor  of 
Physiology  in  Cornell.  He  is  the  author  of  a  text 
book  of  Human  Physiology  and  of  other  works. 
His  son,  Austin  Flint,  Jr.,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  after  leaving  Phillips  Academy,  entered 
the  Bellevue  Hospital  College  and  was  graduated 
in  1889.  He  was  appointed  Interne  in  Bellevue 
Hospital,  and  subsequently  studied  in  Munich 
and  Vienna.  In  1891  he  became  associated  with 
the  late  Professor  W.  T.  Lusk  in  his  private 
practice  and  C'ollege  work,  and  was  appointed 
Lecturer,  and  in  1895  Professor  of  Obstetrics  in 
Bellevue  Hospital  C'ollege.  The  association  with 
the  late  Dr.  Lusk  naturally  determined  the 
selection  of  obstetrics  and  diseases  of  women  as 
the  chief  feature  of  his  professional  work.  In 
1894  he  received  the  honorary  degree  of  Master 


i68 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


of  Arts  from  Princeton.  In  addition  to  the 
College  position  he  served  as  Attending  Physician 
to  the  Society  of  the  Lying-in  Hospital  from  the 
time  of  his  return  from  Vienna  until  April  1899. 
He  is  now  Attending  Physician  to  Bellevue 
Hospital,  Emergency  Hospital,  Mothers  and 
Babies'  Hospital  and  the  Hospital  for  Ruptured 
and  Crippled,  and  also  Consulting  Obstetrician 
to  the  New  York  Maternity  Hospital.  When  the 
University  and  Bellevue  Medical  Colleges  were 
united  he  was  appointed  a  member  of  the  Faculty 
and  Professor  of  Obstetrics  and  Clinical  Gyna;- 
colog}'  in  the  combined  schof)l.  * 


GARMANY,  Jasper  Jewett,   1859- 

Professor  Clinical  Surgery,  1899- 
Born  in  Savannah,  Ga.,  1859  ;  graduated  Princeton, 
1879;  M.D.  Bellevue  Hosp.  Med.  College,  1882;  3rd 
Surg.  Bellevue,  1882-83;  studied  abroad,  1883-85; 
taught  Surgery  at  Bellevue  Hosp.  Med.  College, 
1886-90;  Prof.  Clinical  Surgery  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1899- 

JASPER   JEWETT    (JARMANY,    M.D.,    was 
born    in     Savannah,    Georgia,    Februar)^    3, 
1859,  son  of  George  Washington  and  Jane  Maria 


was  descended  from  German  ancestry.  Dr,  Gar- 
many  is  related  through  his  mother,  who  was  born 
in  Savannah,  to  the  Puritan  family  of  Champion 
paternally,  and  to  the  English  Discombes  mater- 
nally. His  early  days  were  spent  in  the  private 
schools  of  his  native  city  and  he  was  later  prepared 
for  College  in  Baltimore,  Maryland.  From  Prince- 
ton, where  he  graduated  in  1879,  he  holds  the 
degree  of  Master  of  Arts,  conferred  in  course.  He 
graduated  at  the  Bellevue  Hospital  Medical  College 
in  1882,  and  in  the  3'ear  following  held  an  appoint- 
ment on  Third  Surgical  Division  in  Bellevue  Hos- 
pital. From  1883  to  1885  Dr.  Garmany  was  in 
Europe  studying  in  the  leading  institutions  in 
London,  Paris  and  Vienna,  and  in  the  latter  year 
became  a  Fellow  of  the  Royal  College  of  Surgeons 
of  England.  Returning  to  New  York  he  entered 
practice,  and  in  1886  commenced  to  teach  Opera- 
tive Surgerj'  at  the  Bellevue  College,  and  later  at 
the  Post-graduate  College.  In  1898  he  became 
connected  with  the  teaching  force  of  the  newly 
formed  University  and  Bellevue  Hospital  Medical 
College  and  passing  rapidly  through  the  successive 
-Stages  of  advancement  became  in  1899  Professor 
of  Clinical  Surger)^ — his  present  position.  Dr. 
Garmany  was  married  October  10,  1888,  to  Marj^ 
Campbell  ISIackenzie,  and  has  three  children : 
Jean,  Mackenzie  and  Bissett  Garmany.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  Princeton  Club,  the  Bellevue  Hos- 
pital Alumni  Societ}%  the  Academy  of  Medicine 
and  the  British  Medical  Association.  * 


JASPER    J.    GARMANY 

(Champion)  Garmany.  His  father  was  born  in 
South  Carolina  of  Scotch-Irish  descent  on  the 
paternal  side  and  through  his  mother,  nee  Feltman, 


GILL,   Harry  Douglass,   1861- 

Sec.  Veterinary  Faculty  and  Prof.  Veterinary  Surgery,  1899- 

Born  in  New  York  City,  1861  ;  attended  College  City 
of  N.  Y.,  and  Bellevue  Med.  Coll.;  graduated  N.  Y. 
Coll.  Vet.  Surg.,  1884;  Sec.  and  Dean  N.  Y.  Coll.  Vet. 
Surg,  and  Prof.  Equine  Med. ;  Sec.  of  Faculty  and 
Prof.  Vet.  and  Clin.  Surg.  N.  Y.-Amer.  Vet.  Coll., 
1899-  ;  Veterinarian  to  U.  S.  Dept.  of  Agriculture. 

HARRY  DOUCtL.^SS  GILL,  D.V.S.,  was 
born  in  New  York  City,  March  20,  1861, 
son  of  William  and  Helen  Fleming  (Young)  Gill. 
He  is  in  direct  line  of  descent  from  John  Gill  of 
Birmingham,  England.  His  early  education  was 
received  in  the  public  schools  where  he  was  pre- 
pared for  later  study  in  the  College  of  the  City  of 
New  York.  His  professional  study  was  in  the 
Bellevue  Medical  College  and  the  New  York 
College  of  Veterinary  Surgeons,  from  the  latter  of 
which  he  graduated  in  1884.     Prior  to  the  union 


UNI  VERS  rriEs  and   iiieir  sons 


169 


of  the  Nl'w  York  C'ollege  of  Veterinary  Surgeons 
with  the  American  Veterinary  College,  Dr.  Oill 
was  Secretary  and  Dean  of  tiie  former  and  I'ro- 
fessor  of  the  Theorv  and  Practice  of  Equine 
Medicine  ;  and  when  tiie  two  institutions  came 
togetlier  as  a  department  of  New  York  University 
in  1899,  he  was  appointed  to  the  positions  of 
Secretary  of  the  Faculty  and  Professor  of  the 
Principles  and  Practice  of  Veterinary  Surgery 
and  Clinical  Surgery.  Tiie  success  of  his  pro- 
fessional career  has  been  evidenced  in  his 
appointment  to  the  following  important  offices : 
Veterinarian  of  the  United  States  Department  of 
Agriculture  ;  Veterinarian  of  the  New  York  State 
Department  of  Agriculture;  Veterinarian  for  the 
New  South  Wales  Government ;  and  \'eterinarian 
to  the  Department  of  Health  in  New  York  City. 
Dr.  C.ill  was  married,  November  5,  1881,  to 
Adelaide  Florence  Hasty;  their  children  are: 
Harry  Percival  and  Wray  Montcrief  Gill. 


LaGARDE,  Louis  Anatole,  1849- 

Professor  Military  Surgery,  1899- 
Born  in  Louisiana,  1849;  studied  Louisiana  Univ.; 
graduated  M.D.  Bellevue  Hosp.  Med.  Coll.,  1872;  In- 
terne Roosevelt  Hosp.,  1872-74;  Asst.  Surgeon  U.  S. 
Army,  1874;  ist  Lieut.,  1878;  Captain,  1883;  Major 
and  Surgeon,  1896;  Delegate  to  International  Congress 
of  Medicine  and  Surgery,  Paris,  1900;  since  1899  Prof. 
Military  Surg.  N.  Y.  Univ.  and  Bellevue  Hosp.  Med. 
Coll. 

LOUIS  ANATOLE  LaGARDE,  as  his  name 
indicates,  is  of  French  ancestry.  His 
father's  family  settled  in  Canada,  going  thither 
from  France,  in  the  early  years  of  that  country, 
and  about  1756  migrated  thence  to  Louisiana. 
His  mother's  family  went  to  Louisiana  directly  from 
P'rance,  at  the  time  of  the  French  Revolution. 
Both  families  have  since,  until  the  present  genera- 
tion, made  Louisiana  their  home.  Dr.  LaGarde 
was  born  on  April  15,  1849,  ^^  Thibodeau.x,  Loui- 
siana, the  son  of  Jules  Adolphe  and  Aurelia 
(Daspit)  LaGarde,  and  began  his  education  in 
private  .schools  at  that  place.  Thence  he  went  for 
two  years,  1866- 1868,  to  the  Louisiana  Universitv. 
near  Alexandria,  Louisiana,  but  left  it  before  gradu- 
ating. He  then  came  to  New  York,  and  entered 
the  Bellevue  Hospital  Medical  College,  from  w  hich 
he  was  graduated  with  the  degree  of  Doctor  of 
Medicine  in  1872.  The  ne.xt  two  years,  1872- 
1874,    were    spent    as    an    Interne    at    Roosevelt 


Hospital.  Then  he  entered  the  .service  of  the 
I'ederal  Government,  as  an  Acting-Assi.stant-Sur- 
geon  in  the  United  States  Army,  his  apiJointment 
dating  from  April  1874.  In  June  1878  he  was 
commissioned  a  First  Lieutenant  and  Assistant 
Surgeon.  He  was  ])ronioted  to  be  Captain  and 
Assistant  Surgeon  in  June  1883,  and  finally  in 
November  1896,  he  was  commissioned  as  Major 
and  Surgeon.  Meantime  he  was  in  charge  of  the 
exhibits  of  the  Medical  Department  of  the  United 
States  Army  at  the  World's  Columbian  Exposition 
at  Chicago  in  1893.  He  was  appointed  Professor 
in    Hygiene    to   the    Medical    Department   of    the 


LOUIS    A.     l.AGARDt: 

Ihiiversity  of  Denver,  Denver,  Colorado,  1894- 
1895,  during  which  time  he  organized  and  had 
charge  of  the  Bacteriological  Laboratory  to  the 
Board  of  Health  of  that  city.  In  1898,  at  the  time 
of  the  Spanish  American  War,  he  commanded  the 
Reserve  Divisional  Hospital  of  the  Fifth  Army 
C^orps  at  Siboney,  Cuba,  in  which  all  the  wounded  of 
that  army  were  treated  following  the  attack  upon 
Santiago.  Since  1899  he  has  been  Professor  of 
Military  Surgery  in  the  New  York  L'niversity  and 
Bellevue  Hospital  Medical  College,  of  New  York 
University.  He  was  a  delegate  from  the  United 
States  Army  to  the  International  Congress  of 
Medicine  and  Surgery  at  Paris  in  August  1900, 


70 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR   SONS 


and  was  elected  President  of  the  section  on  Uni- 
formity of  International  Statistics  of  Armies.  Dr. 
LaGarde  is  a  member  of  the  Association  of  Mili- 
tary Surgeons  of  the  United  States.  He  was 
married  in  1879  to  Fanny  Neely,  of  Franklin, 
Kentucky,  and  has  two  children  :  Richard  Neely 
and  Louis  Anatole  LaGarde,  Jr.  w.  f.  j. 


LIAUTARD,  Alexandre   Francois,  1835- 

Dean  and  Professor  Veterinary  College,  1899- 

Born  in  Paris,  France,  1835;  graduated  Vet.  School 
of  Alfort,  France,  1856;  served  in  French  Army  three 
years;  came  to  U.  S.,  i860;  practicing  Vet.  Surgeon  in 
New  York  City;  M.D.,  N.  Y.  Univ.  Medical  College, 
1864;  Dean,  Prof,  of  Anatomy  and  Operative  Surgery 
and  Director  of  Hospital  in  N.  Y.  College  of  Vet. 
Surgeons,  1864-75 ;  held  same  offices  in  Am.  Vet. 
College,  1875-99,  Dean  and  Prof.  Anatomy,  Clinical 
Surgery,  Veterinary  Jurisprudence  and  Sanitary  Medi- 
cine, N.  Y.- American  Vet.  College  since  1899;  Editor 
American  Vet.  Review. 

ALEXANDRE  FRANCOIS  LIAUTARD, 
M.D.,  was  born  in  Paris,  France,  February 
15,  1835.  He  graduated  from  the  Veterinary 
School  of  Alfort,  France,  in  1856;  and  served  in 
the  French  Army  for  three  years.  In  i860  he 
settled  in  New  York  City  as  a  practicing  veteri- 
nary surgeon,  and  in  1864  received  the  degree  of 
Doctor  of  Medicine  from  the  New  York  Univer- 
sity Medical  College.  In  1864,  when  veterinary 
medicine  as  a  profession  had  no  existence  in  the 
United  States,  the  New  York  College  of  Veteri- 
nary Surgeons,  chartered  in  1856,  was  organized; 
in  1875  *'^^  American  Veterinary  College  was 
incorporated  and  organized.  Dr.  Liautard  was 
continuously  Dean,  Professor  of  Anatomy  and 
Operative  Surgery,  and  Director  of  the  Hospital 
in  the  two  Colleges — in  the  former  from  1864  to 
1875,  in  the  latter  from  1875  to  1899.  He  pro- 
\ided  the  Trustees  of  each  College,  successively, 
with  a  building  fitted,  up  for  College  occupancy, 
and  his  private  hospital  patients  together  with 
the  patients  that  presented  at  the  free  hospital 
clinics  established  and  carried  on  by  him,  fur- 
nished to  the  students  their  means  of  practical 
instruction.  During  this  period  of  thirty-five  years 
he  was  the  soul  and  life  of  the  successful  \et- 
erinary  educational  work  carried  forward  in  the 
two  Colleges.  He  was  an  enthusiastic  and  able 
teacher,  introducing  most  of  the  operations  of 
veterinary    surgery    into    this    country.     In    1899 


when  the  union  of  the  New  York  College  of 
Veterinary  Surgeons  with  the  American  Veteri- 
nary College  under  the  name  of  the  New  York- 
American  Veterinary  College  was  effected,  Dr. 
Liautard  was  placed  at  the  head  of  this  depart- 
ment of  New  York  University  as  Dean.  His 
chair  embraces  the  subjects  of  Anatomy,  Clinical 
Surgery,  Veterinary  Jurisprudence  and  Sanitary 
Medicine.  He  has  been  a  prolific  author  of  works 
on  veterinary  medicine  and  he  established,  and 
has  carried  forward  as  editor,  the  American  Vet- 
erinary Review,  now  in  the  twenty-fifth  year  of 
its  career;   it  stands  to-day  as  a  veterinary  medical 


A.    F.    I.IAUTARI) 

periodical  of  national  and  international  importance. 
He  has  always  been  active  in  the  organization  of 
\eterinary  societies,  local  and  national,  to  cement 
and  advance  the  interests  of  American  veterinary 
medicine.  His  professional  labors  have  been  con- 
spicuously recognized  by  his  election  to  active 
and  honorary  membership  and  offices  in  both 
veterinary  and  medical  societies  and  associations 
in  this  countr)^  and  abroad.  In  1884  he  was 
decorated  by  the  French  government  as  Chevalier 
du  Me'rite  Agricole.  As  the  first  in  the  United 
States  to  educate  man  scientifically  in  the  theory 
and  practice  of  veterinary  medicine  Dr.  Liautard 
deser\es  the  appellation  of  The  Father  of  Ameri- 


UNIP^'ERSITJES    JNI)    TJ/FJR    SONS 


171 


can  Velerinaiy  Medicine  ;  while  the  hundreds  of 
graduates  of  the  American  Veterinary  College, 
who  to-day  constitute  the  great  body  of  our  nati\e 
\eterinary  profession,  are  the  living  witnesses  of 
the  results  of  his  continuous  singleness  of  purpose 
and  untiring  energy  in  contributing  his  time,  his 
means,  and  his  best  efforts — as  teacher,  author, 
editor  and  organizer  —  to  the  development  in 
the  Tnited  States  of  veterinary  medicine  as  a 
profession.  * 

LUSK,  William  Chittenden,  1868- 

Professor  Practical  Anatomy,  1899 
Born  in  Guilford,  Conn.,  1868;  graduated  Brooklyn 
Polytechnic  Inst.,  1885;  A.B.  Yale,  1890;  M.D.  Belle- 
vue  Hosp.  Med.  Coll.,  1893;  Interne  Bellevue  Hosp., 
1893-95 ;  Asst.  Dem.  Anatomy  Bellevue  Hosp.  Med. 
Coll.,  and  Visiting  Surg.  Almshouse  and  Workhouse 
hospitals,  1895;  Lect.  Anatomy  N.  Y.  Univ.  and  Belle- 
vue Hosp.  Med.  Coll.,  1898;  Prof.  Practical  Anatomy 
in  same  institution,  and  Asst.  Visiting  Surg.,  Bellevue 
Hosp.,  1899  to  date. 

W11.LI.\M  CHITTENDEN  LUSK,  M.I)., 
was  born  at  Guilford,  Connecticut,  on 
July  23.  icS68,  the  son  of  William  Thompson  and 
Mary    IlarlwcU    (Chittenden)    Lusk.       His    great- 


who  settled  atCiuilford,  Connecticut,  in  1639.  He 
was  educated  first  at  the  Polytechnic  Institute, 
Brooklyn,  New  York,  where  he  was  graduated  in 
1885  ;  next  in  the  Academic  Department  of  Yale 
University,  where  he  was  graduated  with  the 
degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts  in  1890  ;  and  finally  in 
the  Bellevue  Hospital  Medical  College,  where  he 
was  graduated  with  the  degree  of  Doctor  of 
Medicine  in  1893.  In  1893- 1895  he  was  an 
Interne  at  Bellevue  Hospital.  In  the  last  named 
year  he  became  a  Visiting  Surgeon  to  the  Alms- 
house and  Workhouse  hospitals,  and  al.so  Assistant 
Demonstrator  of  Anatomy  in  the  Bellevue  Hospital 
Medical  College.  Three  years  later  that  College 
was  consolidated  with  the  New  York  University 
Medical  College,  and  in  the  united  schools  he 
became  Lecturer  on  Anatomy.  The  following 
year  he  became  an  Assistant  Visiting  Surgeon  to 
Bellevue  Hospital,  and  entered  upon  the  Professor- 
ship of  Practical  Anatomy  in  the  University  and 
Bellevue  Hospital  Medical  College,  which  he  still 
holds.  Dr.  Lusk  is  a  member  of  the  New  York 
Academy  of  Medicine,  the  New  York  State  Medical 
A.s.sociation,  and  the  Century,  University,  Metro- 
politan   and  New  York  Riding  clubs.        w.  v.  j. 


W1LLI.\M  C.   LUSK. 

great-great-grandfather  was  John  I,usk,  of  Scottish 
origin,  who  settled  at  Wethersfield,  Connecticut. 
He  is  also   descended   from   William   Chittenden. 


MASON,  George  Cotner,   1871- 

Instructor  Civil  Engineering  1892-99,  Asst.  Prof.  1899- 
Born  in  New  York  City,  1871  ;  attended  College 
City  of  New  York,  1886-89;  graduated,  B.S.  N.  Y. 
Univ.,  1892;  C.E.,  1893;  M.S.,  1894;  Instr.  Civil  Engi- 
neering at  the  University,  1892-99;  Asst.  Prof,  since 
1899 ;  practicing  engineer. 

GEORGE  COTNER  MASON  was  born  in 
New  York  City,  ISLay  4,  187 1,  a  .son  of 
James  Richmond  and  Mary  Wolverton  (Cotner) 
Mason.  He  was  educated  at  the  public  schools  of 
New  York  and  attended  the  College  of  the  C'ity  of 
New  York  from  1886  to  1889;  in  that  year  he 
entered  the  Sophomore  Class  at  New  York 
University  and  graduated  in  1892  with  the  degree 
of  Bachelor  of  Science,  gaining  the  degree  of  Civil 
Engineer  in  the  subsequent  year,  1893,  and  that 
of  Master  of  Science  by  work  in  the  Graduate  De- 
partment in  1894.  He  was  Instructor  in  Civil 
Engineering  from  1892  to  1899;  in  the  latter  he 
was  made  Assistant  Professor  of  Civil  Engineering. 
In  his  private  practice  he  has  surveyed  large  tracts 
of  Westchester  county.  New  York,  as  well  as  a  con- 
siderable portion  of  Fisher's  Island,  New  York. 
He  has  been   Engineer  of  the    Elka   Park   Associ- 


172 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR   SONS 


ation  near  Tannersville.  New  York,  he  also  has 
been  Chief  Engineer  of  the  Klondyke  Exploration 
Engineering  and  Mining  Company  of  St.  Louis, 
Missouri,  completing  a  trip  of  nine  months  through 
Alaska,  making  investigations  and  locations  for 
the  company.  He  is  a  member  of  Psi  Upsilon 
and  Phi  Beta  Kappa  fraternities,  and  an  associate 
member  of  the  American  Society  of  Civil  Engi- 
neers. E.  G.  s. 


OSBORN,    George   W^ashington,    1870- 

Instructor  Semitic  Language  1895,  Assistant  Professor  1899- 
Born  in  Greenville,  N.  J.,  1870;  attended  Pingry 
School,  Elizabeth,  N.  J.;  studied  at  Hamilton  Col- 
lege, 1891-92;  graduated  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1895;  A.  M., 
1897;  Instr.  Semitic  Languages  at  the  Univ.,  1894-99; 
studied  in  Europe,  1897;  Asst.  Prof.  Semitic  Lan- 
guage since   1899. 

GEORGE  WASHINGTON  OSBORN,  the 
youngest  son  of  George  B.  and  Ellenora 
Osborne  was  born  in  Greenville,  New  Jersey, 
August  9,  1870.  After  having  attended  the  pub- 
lic schools  until  the  age  of  fourteen  he  entered 
into  a  commercial  life  with  his  father,  in  which 
occupation  he  continued  until  the  age  of  eighteen. 
At  this  age  he  determined  to  enter  ("ollege. 
After  two  years  of  preparation,  one  of  which  was 
spent  at  the  Pingry  School  of  Elizabetii,  New 
Jersey,  he  entered  the  Class  of  1895  at  Hamilton 
College.  After  one  year  at  this  College  he  entered 
New  York  University  where  he  devoted  himself  to 
the  study  of  the  Semitic  Languages  under  the 
direction  of  Professor  Prince.  He  entered  the 
Senior  Class  in  Hebrew  and  was  awarded  first 
prize.  In  his  Junior  year  he  assisted  Professor 
Prince  as  Tutor.  In  his  Senior  year  he  was  given 
two  classes  and  at  graduation  was  appointed 
Instructor  in  the  Semitic  Languages.  The  degree 
of  Master  of  Arts  was  conferred  upon  him  in  1897. 
He  spent  the  spring  and  summer  of  1897  studying 
Arabic  under  Professors  Noldeke  of  Strassburg 
and  DeGoeje  of  Leyden.  On  his  return  he  was 
married  to  Clementine,  eldest  daughter  of  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Eawcett  of  Tyler,  Texas.  In  .1899  he 
was  appointed  Assistant  Professor  of  the  Semitic 
Languages,  which  position  he  still  holds.     E.  G.  s. 


Inst.  Hackettstown,  N.  J. ;  entered  N.  Y.  College  Phys. 
and  Surg.,  1882;  graduated,  M.D.,  Univ.  Med.  College, 
1884;  went  to  So.  America  for  Parke,  Davis  &  Co., 
1885;  made  original  investigations  and  discoveries  of 
important  medicinal  plants;  Prof.  Botany,  Physiology 
and  Materia  Medica  N.  Y.  College  of  Pharmacy  since 
1888;  member  of  Com.  of  Revision  U.  S.  Pharma- 
copoeia since  1890;  Prof.  Materia  Medica  and  Phar- 
macology Bellevue  Hosp.  Med.  College,  1897-99;  Prof, 
same  N.  Y.  Univ.  since  1899 ;  Assoc.  Editor  Journal  cf 
Pharmacology. 

HENRY  H.  RUSBY,  M.D.,  was  born  April  26, 
1855,  in  Essex  county.  New  Jersey,  in  the 
manufacturing  village  of  Franklin.  Here  his  father 
was  a  countrv  merchant  as  well  as  a  leader  in  the 


RUSBY,  Henry    H.,  1855- 

Prof.  Materia  Medica  and  Pharmacology,  1899- 
Born    in    Franklin,    N.    J.,    1855  ;    attended    Normal 
School,    Westfield,    Mass.    and    Centenary    Collegiate 


HENRY    H.    RUSBY 

local  society  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
and  in  politics,  a  man  of  ability  and  judgment,  an 
earnest  and  consistent  abolitionist  and  later  a 
prohibitionist.  His  mother  was  of  Irish-Dutch  ex- 
traction, her  name  Holmes,  a  family  belonging 
to  the  earliest  settlers  in  the  valley  of  the  Passaic. 
She  was  the  mother  of  ten  children  of  whom  Pro- 
fessor Rusby  was  second.  There  was  little  in 
the  routine  of  question  and  answer  in  the  village 
school  to  charm  or  engage  the  boy's  mind ;  but 
when  he  was  fifteen  a  new  teacher  came  to  the 
village  school,  Charles  H.  Fuller,  of  Western 
Massachusetts.      This  wise    teacher   observed   in 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


^73 


yoiino;  Rushy  a  love  of  seekinjj  out  curious  plants, 
and  supplied  him  with  a  copy  of  (Iray's  Botany,  a 
work  which  the  lad  mastered  with  sympathetic 
enjoyment.  Young  Rushy  trotl  in  his  teacher's 
footsteps  and  attended  the  Normal  School  in  West- 
field,  Massachusetts,  and  subsequently  the  Cen- 
tenary Collegiate  Institute  at  Hackettstown,  New 
Jersey.  But  for  an  accident  in  the  gymnasium 
Rusby  would  have  enterfed  the  Faculty  there.  Later 
he  taught  school  in  Roseland,  New  Jersey,  and  in 
West  Deertield,  Massachusetts,  continually  enlar- 
ging his  herbarium,  eventually  completing  the  most 
exhaustive  collection  of  the  Hora  of  Essex  county 
thus  far  made,  for  which,  at  the  Centennial  Kxpo- 
sition  in  Philadelphia,  1876,  he  received  a  medal 
and  diploma.  About  this  time  also  he  gained  the 
acquaintance  of  Dr.  George  Thurber,  President  of 
the  Torrey  Botanical  Club.  In  1880,  througii 
connections  of  Dr.  Thurber,  he  entered  upon  a 
commission  to  explore  the  flora  of  Southwestern 
New  Mexico  and  adjacent  Arizona,  which  work  he 
pursued  for  a  year  and  a  half  amid  many  adven- 
turous experiences  and  narrow  escapes  both  from 
wild  animals  and  wild  frontiersmen.  Duplicates 
of  this  collection  —  the  botanical  determination 
being  made  by  Professor  E.  L.  Greene,  then  of 
Silver  City,  New  Mexico,  now  of  the  Catholic 
University  in  Washington,  District  of  Columbia  — 
were  sold,  the  funds  thus  secured  being  used  to 
begin  the  study  of  medicine  in  1882  at  the  College 
of  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  New  York  City.  He 
also  gained  a  position  as  clerk  to  the  medical  staff 
of  the  New  York  Cit)'  Lunatic  Asylum  on  Black- 
well's  Lsland.  During  this  winter  he  discovered 
that  he  suffered  from  congenital  cataract  upon  both 
eyes.  Soon  after  he  made  an  arrangement  with 
the  firm  of  Parke,  Davis  tv  Company  of  Detroit 
to  explore  for  them  the  medicinal  flora  of  Arizona 
and  at  the  same  time  during  the  academic  year  to 
carry  his  medical  studies  to  completion,  selling  to 
that  firm  also  his  herbarium.  On  returning  from 
Arizona  he  resumed  medical  studies  at  the  Uni- 
versity Medical  College  where  he  graduated  in 
the  spring  of  1884.  In  the  winter  of  1885  Dr. 
Rusby  was  sent  by  Parke,  Davis  &  Company  to 
South  .\merica,  especially  to  investigate  the  shrub 
Erythroxylon  Coca,  cocaine  having  just  at  that 
time  come  into  prominence  as  a  remedy.  His 
health  suffered  permanent  injury  from  the  sea- 
sickness accompanying  the  long  voyages  incurred. 
He  spent  several   months  in  Bolivia,  pursuing  his 


investigations  both  of  the  plant  last  named  and  of 
the  extensive  cinchona  plantations  found  there. 
The  drugs  Pichi  (Fabiana  imhrkata)  and  Cocillana 
{Giiarea  Rusby i)  were  introduced  by  Dr.  Rush)'  to 
American  medicine.  During  the  winter  he  began 
a  novel  and  most  difficult  enterprise  ;  he  traversed 
the  South  .\nierican  continent  laterally,  from  the 
Pacific  to  the  .Vtlantic,  associating  himself  with  C. 
!"'.  Kiernan  who  desired  to  investigate  the  feasi- 
bility of  establishing  a  commercial  route  across 
the  continent.  The  route  was  down  the  rivers 
Mapiri,  Bemi,  Madeira  and  Amazon.  Botanical 
collections  were  continued  without  intermission. 
About  forty-five  thousand  specimens,  representing 
some  four  thousand  species,  a  fifth  of  them  prob- 
ably new  to  science,  were  subsequently  distributed 
to  the  leading  herbaria  of  the  world.  IVLmy  of 
the  scientific  results  of  this  important  tour  were 
published  by  and  through  Dr.  Britton  in  the  Bulle- 
tin of  the  Torrey  Botanical  Club.  The  work  is  at 
the  present  time  being  brought  to  completion  by 
Dr.  Rusby  himself.  Further  botanical  material 
was  gathered  for  about  five  years  after  Dr.  Rusby 's 
return  by  Miguel  Bang,  a  Danish  botanist,  the 
publication  of  which  material  is  now  being  brought 
to  conclusion  by  Dr.  Rusby  in  the  memoirs  of  the 
Torrey  Botanical  Club.  During  his  trans-conti- 
nental tour  Dr.  Rusby  practiced  medicine  and  was 
offered  a  permanent  professional  field  by  the 
settlers  on  the  Beni  River.  Many  lectures  were 
delivered  by  Dr.  Rusby  after  his  return  and  several 
leading  botanists  of  Great  Britain  and  the  conti- 
nent dedicated  species  and  genera  to  the  scientific 
explorer.  He  became  a  continuous  contributor  of 
articles  relating  to  vegetable  materia  medica  and 
during  the  summer  of  1888  he  was  called  to  the 
Chair  of  liotany.  Physiology  and  Materia  Medica 
at  the  College  of  Pharmacy  in  New  York,  a  position 
still  held.  From  1889  to  1896  he  lectured  upon 
fodders  and  the  principles  of  feeding  in  the  Ameri- 
can \'eterinary  College  of  New  York  (now  merged 
with  New  York  University).  In  1890  he  was 
elected  a  member  of  the  Committee  of  Revision 
of  the  I'nited  States  Pharmacopceia.  in  which  work 
he  has  been  active  to  the  present  time.  In  1893 
Dr.  Rusby  with  his  family  enjoyed  a  most  delight- 
ful sojourn  at  the  Kew  Royal  Botanical  Gardens, 
near  London,  studying  his  Bolivian  plants.  One 
fruit  of  these  studies  was  the  article  on  Cinchona 
in  the  seventeenth  edition  of  the  United  States 
Dispensatory,  a  piece  of  work  which  he  regards  as 


74 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


the  most  finished  he  ever  executed.  Upon  his 
return  to  New  York  he  was  made  Chairman  of  a 
Committee  estabhshed  by  the  Pan-American  Medi- 
cal Congress  to  consider  a  plan  for  the  systematic 
study  of  the  entire  American  medicinal  flora.  This 
matter  was  embodied  in  a  report  adopted  at  the 
next  meeting  of  this  Congress  in  the  Cit^'  of  Mexico 
in  1896,  ])r.  and  Mrs.  Rusby  having  attended  that 
meeting.  In  the  spring  of  that  year  Dr.  Rusby 
explored  for  the  Orinoco  Company  the  vegetable 
resources  of  their  immense  tract  upon  the  right 
bank  of  the  lower  Orinoco  River,  acting  also  as 
physician  to  the  party,  an  account  of  this  tour  being 
subsequently  published  in  the  Journal  of  Pharma- 
cology. In  the  summer  of  1897  a  second  visit 
was  made  to  Kew  for  the  studies  of  these  and 
additional  Bolivian  collections.  In  1896  Pro- 
fessors Rusby  and  Jelliffe  published  a  text  book 
entitled  Essentials  of  Pharmacognosy  which  was 
revised  and  greatly  enlarged  and  brought  out  in 
October  1899  under  the  title  of  Morphology  and 
Histology  of  Plants,  a  work  which  has  met  with 
great  success.  In  1897  Dr.  Rusby  was  appointed 
Professor  of  Materia  Medica  and  Pharmacolog)'  in 
Bellevue  Hospital  Medical  College  and  kept  this 
chair  in  the  consolidation  with  New  York  Uni- 
versity. He  holds  important  official  relations  to 
the  New  York  Botanical  Ciarden,  of  which  he  was 
one  of  the  incorporators,  and  during  1898  and 
1899  Honorary  Curator  of  its  collections.  In  1900 
it  was  found  more  satisfactory  to  arrange  for  the 
performance  of  definite  duties  and  to  assume 
specific  responsibilities  in  the  capacity  of  Curator 
of  these  collections;  he  is  now  Curator  of  the 
Economic  Collections,  and  one  of  the  six  Scientific 
Directors.  Membership  in  the  Torrey  Botanical 
Club,  of  which  he  was  for  many  years  Secretary', 
and  has  been  since  then  Chairman  of  the  Com- 
mittee on  Programme,  he  has  always  regarded  as 
one  of  his  most  important  public  functions.  In 
this  work  he  has  taken  special  interest  in  aiding  in 
the  organization  of  botanical  nomenclature  upon  a 
rational  and  systematic  basis.  Dr.  Rusby  is  a 
fellow  of  the  American  Pharmaceutical  Associa- 
tion and  member  of  its  Research  Committee ; 
fellow  of  the  American  Association  for  the  Advance- 
ment of  Science ;  corresponding  member  of  the 
Pharmaceutical  Society  of  Great  Britain  ;  honorary 
member  of  the  Instituto-Medico  Nacional,  Mexico  : 
member  of  the  New  York  and  New  Jersey  State 
Pharmaceutical  Associations,   and  the  New  York 


Microscopical  Society :  fellow  of  the  New  York 
Academy  of  Sciences  ;  member  of  the  Council  of 
the  New  York  Scientific  Alliance,  and  honorary- 
member  of  the  Practitioners'  Club  of  Newark,  New 
Jersey.  He  is  at  present  engaged  in  editing  the 
Materia  Medica  department,  and  writing  the 
articles  on  the  vegetable  drugs,  of  the  new  editions 
of  Buch's  Reference  Hand-Book  of  the  Medical 
Sciences.  e.  g.  s. 

RYDER,   John  Elmer,   1866- 

Prof.  Obstetrics  and  Clinical  Medicine,  Veterinary  Dept.,  1899- 
Born  in  Jamaica,  L.  I.,  1866;  attended  Vienot's 
French  Collegiate  School ;  graduated  Am.  Veterinary 
College,  1884;  in  general  practice  in  Jamaica,  L.  I., 
1885-89  ;  studied  abroad,  1889-91  ;  in  practice  in  New 
York  City  since  1892  ;  Asst.,  1886-89,  and  Prof.  1891-99 
Am.  Veterinary  College  ;  Prof.  Obstetrics  and  Clinical 
Medicine  N.  Y.  Univ.  Veterinary  Dept.  since  1899. 

JOHN  ELMER  RYDER.  D.V.S.,  was  born 
in  Jamaica,  Long  Island,  April  10,  1866, 
son  of  Stephen  and  Magdalen  (Yan  W'icklen) 
Ryder.     On   the   paternal   side  the    Ryders    have 


J.   E.   RvnER 

married  into  the  following  families,  previous  to 
the  generation  of  Stephen  and  Magdalen  Van 
Wicklen:  Smith,  Lane.  Duryea  and  Eldert.  Mater- 
nally, the  descent  is  chiefly  from  the  Wliitney 
familv,  one   of   the  oldest  of  Long  Island.     The 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


^75 


prn<i;cnitor  of  the  American  line  of  the  Whitneys 
was  Jlcnry  W'liitney,  who  was  born  in   England  in 
1620,  and  came  to   this  country  in    1637,  one  of 
the  thirty-seven  settlers  who  made  their  homes  at 
••Ilasiiom    mock,"   now    called    Soutii    Old    l.oni^ 
Island.      In   this   family    Darling  Whitney,  grand- 
father twice   icmoxed  of  the  present  subject,  was 
a    resident   of    Stamford,    Connecticut,   and   later. 
1758,  of  Long   Island;   he  enlisted  for  service  in 
the  Revolution   at   the  age  of  eighteen  and  served 
at  West  Point  and  Fort  (Jreen  ;   his  father,  Daniel 
Whitney,  was  at   the   same   time  a  Lieutenant  of 
militia.      Dr.    Ryder   had   early   education    in    the 
public  schools  of  his  birth-place,  and  in  Menot's 
French    Collegiate    School,   then    entering  profes- 
sional study  at  the   American  \'eterinary  College, 
where  he  graduated  in    1884.     After  one  year  as 
Ilouse-Surgeon  to  the  American  Veterinary  Hos- 
pital, he  opened  an  office  for  general  practice  in 
Jamaica,   Long   Lsland,   where  he  continued   until 
1889,  during  which  time  he   held  the  position   of 
Inspector  of  the  Bureau  of  Animal  Industry  of  the 
I'nited  States.      He  was  also  Assistant  in   Equine 
Pathology    at    the    American    Veterinar}^    College 
from   1886  to   1889.     In  1889  he  went  abroad  for 
special  professional  study,  and  was  thus  engaged 
for  two  years  in   England  and   France.     Upon  his 
return  to  America  Dr.  Ryder  was  again  called  to 
the    American    A'eterinary    College    as    Professor 
of  ( )bstetrics,  to  which  subject  was  added  that  of 
Cattle  Patholog)-  in  1893,  and  in    1899  he  became 
Professor  of  Obstetrics  and  Clinical  Medicine  in 
the  \'eterinary  Department  of  New  York  Llniver- 
sity.      He    has    continued    to  conduct    a   general 
practice  of  his  profession  in  New  York  City,  where 
he  has  held  several  important  offices,  notably  those 
of  Veterinarian   to   the   Queens   County  Board  of 
Health,  and   Veterinarian   to  the   National   Horse 
Show  Association  of  America.     He  is  a  member 
of  the  American  Veterinary  Medical  Association, 
the   New  York  State  Veterinary  Medical  Associa- 
tion  and   the   \'eterinary   Medical   Association    of 
New    \'ork    county.        Dr.    Ryder    was     married, 
September    21.    1893,    to    Certrude    Schoomaker 
De   Bevoise.  and   lias  one   child:   Helen   Whitney 
Ryder.  * 

CURTIS,  Benjamin  Farquhar,  1857- 

professor  Principles  of  Surgery,  1900- 
Born,  Philadelphia,  1857;  graduated  Col.   Coll.,  A.B., 
1878;   Coll.    Phys.  and  Surg.,   M.D.,    1881  ;    engaged  in 
hospital  work  in  Vienna  and  Wurzburg,  1881-82;  hos- 


pital work  in  N.  Y.,  1882-83;  N.  Y.  Hospital  House  of 
Relief,  1884  87  ;  North  Disp.,  1886  89;  Instr.  N.  Y. 
Polyclinic,  1884-86;  Asst.  Surg.  N.  Y.  Cancer  Hosp., 
1886  88;  Asst.  Surg.  Roosevelt  Hosp.,  Out  Pt.  Dept., 
1887-88;  since  1888,  Surg.  St.  Luke's  Hosp.;  Chief 
of  Surgical  Clinic  Vanderbilt  Clinic  Col.  Coll.,  1890 
94;  Surg.  N.  Y.  Cancer  Hosp.,  1890-1900;  Prof.  Clini- 
cal Surgery  Woman's  Med.  Coll.  of  N.  Y.,  1892-98; 
Prof.  Surgery  N.  Y.  Post-Graduate  Med.  School  and 
Hosp.,  1894-98;  since  1894,  Consult.  Surg.  N.  Y.  Ortho- 
paedic Disp.  and  Hosp.  ;  Adjunct  Prof.  Principles  of 
Surgery  and  Prof.  Clinical  Surgery  N.  Y.  Univ.  and 
Bellevue  Hosp.  Med.  Coll.,  1898  gg ;  Prof.  Principles 
of  Surgery  N.  Y.  Univ.  and  Bellevue  Hosp.  Med. 
Coll.  since  1900;  Consult.  Surg.  General  Memorial 
Hosp.,  since  1900;  member  and  officer  of  numerous 
professional  societies ;  author  of  numerous  publica- 
tions on  medical  and  surgical  topics. 

BF:NJAMIN  FARQUHAR  CURTIS,  M.D., 
was  born  in  the  City  of  Philadelphia,  August 
5,  1857,  during  the  temporary  residence  of  his  par- 
ents in  that  place,  their  permanent  home  being 
in  New  York.  His  father,  Benjamin  Curtis,  born 
in  1790,  was  descended  from  Agur  and  lluldaii 
(Lewis)  Curtis,  of  Stratford,  Connecticut,  the 
family  being  of  Puritan  origin.  His  mother,  whose 
maiden  name  was  Laura  Hadden,  was  the  daughter 
of  David  Hadden,  merchant,  of  Aberdeen.  .Scot- 
land, and  his  wife,  Ann  (Aspinwall)  Hadden,  of 
New  York.  Benjamin  Farquhar  Curtis  was  brought 
to  New  York  in  his  infancy  by  his  parents,  and 
has  spent  practically  all  his  life  in  that  city.  He 
was  educated  at  first  in  pri\ate  schools  in  New 
York,  and  then  at  Columbia  College,  where  he  was 
graduated  with  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts  in 
1878.  Thence  he  proceeded  to  the  College  of 
Physicians  and  Surgeons,  the  Medical  Department 
of  Columbia,  and  was  there  graduated  with  the  de- 
gree of  Doctor  of  Medicine  in  1881.  A  year  of 
hospital  work  and  study  abroad,  in  A'ienna  and 
Wiirzburg,  followed,  after  which  he  returned  to 
New  York  and  spent  another  year  at  St.  Luke's 
Hospital,  Bellevue  Hospital,  and  the  House  of 
Relief  of  the  New  York  Hospital,  giving  a  part  of 
the  year  to  each  of  the  three.  His  regular  pro- 
fessional practice  began  in  1884,  when  he  entered 
the  out  door  patients'  department  of  the  House  of 
Relief  of  the  New  York  Hospital,  in  Chambers 
Street,  devoting  himself  to  general  surgery  and  to 
genito-urinary  and  venereal  diseases.  That  en- 
gagement lasted  until  1887.  Meantime  in  1886 
he  was  also  engaged,  until  1889,  at  the  Northern 
Dispensary,  in  New  York,  treating  chiefly  disea.ses 
of  women  and  children.      From   1S84  to   i886  he 


176 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


was  also  an  Assistant  Instructor  in  Diseases  of 
Women  at  the  New  York  Polyclinic,  under  Pro- 
fessor J.  B.  Hunter.  From  1886  to  1888  he  was 
Assistant  Surgeon  at  the  New  York  Cancer  Hos- 
pital;  in  1887-1888  he  filled  a  like  place  at  Roose- 
velt Hospital,  Out  Patient  Department,  and  in 
1888  he  became  a  Surgeon  at  St.  Luke's  Hospital, 
a  connection  which  is  still  maintained.  He  re- 
turned to  his  Alma  Mater  in  1890-1894,  as  Chief 
of  the  Surgical  Clinic  in  the  Vanderbilt  Clinic,  in 
the  Medical  Department  of  Columbia  University. 
At  the  same  time,  1890,  he  became  an  Attending 
Surgeon  at  the  New  York  Cancer  Hospital,  and 
thus  served  until  1900.  From  1892  to  1898  he 
was  Professor  of  Clinical  Surgerj-  in  the  Woman's 
Medical  College  of  the  New  York  Infirmary  for 
Women  and  Children;  from  1894  to  1898  he  was 
Professor  of  Surgery  in  the  New  York  Post-Gradu- 
ate  Medical  School  and  Hospital;  and  from  1894 
to  the  present  time  he  has  been  a  Consulting  Sur- 
geon at  the  New  York  Orthopaedic  Dispensar)- 
and  Hospital.  With  such  extended  and  varied  ex- 
perience and  the  knowledge  which  had  come  there- 
from, Dr.  Curtis  in  1898  entered  the  service  of 
New  York  University  as  Adjunct  Professor  of  the 
Principles  of  Surgery,  and  also  Professor  of  Clini- 
cal Surgery  in  the  New  York  University  and  Belle- 
vue  Hospital  Medical  College,  which  had  then  just 
been  formed  by  the  consolidation  of  the  two  well- 
established  and  renowned  schools  of  medicine  and 
surgery.  Two  years  later,  in  1900,  he  was  promoted 
to  the  full  chair  of  Principles  of  Surgery  in  that 
institution,  a  place  which  he  still  occupies.  He 
has  also  since  1900  been  Consulting  Surgeon  to 
the  General  Memorial  Hospital  for  Tumors,  etc. 
With  so  notable  a  record  of  activity  and  achieve- 
ment, he  has  naturally  become  prominently  identi- 
fied with  the  chief  professional  societies.  He  has 
been  a  member  of  the  New  York  County  Medical 
Society  and  of  the  New  York  Clinical  Society  since 
1886,  and  was  President  of  the  latter  in  1890  ;  a 
member  of  the  New  York  Academy  of  Medicine 
since  1887  ;  a  member  of  the  New  York  Pathologi- 
cal Society  from  1889  to  1892  ;  a  member  of  the 
New  York  Surgical  Society  since  1889,  and  its 
President  from  1899  to  1901  ;  a  member  of  the 
American  Surgical  Association  since  1896;  and  a 
member  of  the  New  York  State  Medical  Society 
since  1898.  He  has  also  been  a  Trustee  of  the 
New  York  Dispensary  since  189 1.  In  his  college 
days  Dr.  Curtis  was  a  member  of  the  Psi  Upsilon 


Fraternity,  Lambda  Chapter,  at  Columbia.  He 
has  been  a  member  of  the  New  York  Canoe  Club, 
since  1884,  and  an  honorary  member  of  it  since 
1895,  a  member  of  the  Century  Association  of 
New  York  since  1892  ;  he  was  a  member  of  the 
New  York  Athletic  Club  from  1894  to  1901  ;  and 
in  1 90 1  he  became  a  member  of  the  New  York 
Yacht  Club.  He  was  married  in  1882  to  Eva 
Hawks  Bogert,  who  died  in  1883.  In  1897  he 
was  married  to  Anabella  Gierke,  Dr.  Curtis 
has  been  a  voluminous  writer  on  professional 
topics  for  the  leading  professional  periodicals,  the 
title  of  some  of  his  essays  being  as  follows  :  A  Dis- 
pensary Dressing  for  Ulcers  of  the  Leg,  New  York 
Medical  Journal,  November  8,  1884  ;  Congenital 
Ankylosis  of  the  Radio-Ulnar  Articulation, —  IbitI, 
September  19,  1885  ;  Urethritis  and  Chancroid,  a 
Report  of  Cases  treated  at  the  Chambers  Street 
Hospital,  Out  Patient  Department,  —  Ibid,  May  20, 

1886  ;  Clinical  Notes  on  Syphilis,  New  York  Med- 
ical Record,  December  11,  1886;  Parotitis  com- 
plicating (Gonorrhoea,  New  York  Medical  Journal, 
March  26,  1887  ;  Contusions  of  the  Abdomen  with 
Rupture  of  the  Intestine,  Cartwright  Prize  Essay, 
1887.  American  Journal  Medical  Sciences,  October 

1887  ;  The  Results  of  Laparotomy  for  Acute  Intes- 
tinal Obstruction,  Transactions  New  York  State 
Medical  Societ}%  1888,  and  New  York  Medical 
Record,  February  1888  ;  Enterotomy  for  Acute 
Intestinal  Obstruction,  New  York  Medical  Record, 
September  i,  1888;  The  Surgeon's  Handbook, 
translated  from  the  (iernian  of  Professor  Friedrich 
von  Esmarch,  Kiel,  and  London,  1888;  Intussus- 
ception and  Ulcer  —  Articles  in  Buck's  Reference 
Handbook  of  the  Medical  Sciences,  Wood,  New 
York,  1885-1893  ;  Early  Stages  of  Carcinoma,  New 
York  Medical  Record,  June  2,  1888;  Some  Cases 
of  Perityphlitis,  New  York  Medical  Journal,  Janu- 
ary 3,  1 891;  The  Treatment  of  Arterio  Venous 
Aneurism  with  Two  Cases  Treated  by  Extirpation, 
American  Journal  Medical  Sciences,  February 
1891  ;  Laparotomy  for  Acute  Intussusception,  New 
York  Medical  Record,  October  31,  1891  ;  Tumor 
of  the  Left  Frontal  Lobe  of  the  Cerebrum,  Opera- 
tion, Recovery  (neurological  account  by  J.  A. 
Booth,  M.D.),  Annals  of  Surgery,  February  1893  ; 
Neglected  Fractures  in  Children,  New  York  Medical 
Record,  May  20,  1893  ;  Cases  of  Bone  Implanta- 
tion or  Transplantation,  for  Cyst  of  Tibia  ;  Osteo- 
myelitic  Cavities  and  Ununited  Fracture,  American 
Journal    Medical   Sciences,   July   1893  ;   Intestinal 


UNIVERSITIES   JND    THEIR    SONS 


177 


Obstruction  in  Children,  American  Medical  Surgical 
Bulletin,  January  i,  1892  ;  The  Cure  of  Cancer  by 
Operation  —  a  lecture  by  invitation  before  Chicago 
Post-Graduate  Medical  School  —  New  York  Med- 
ical Record,  February  24,  1894;  Thyroidectomy 
for  Exophthalmic  Coitre  etc.  International  Clinics, 
4th  Ser.  Vol.  II,  Philadelphia  1894;  Bending  of 
Neck  of  the  Femur,  American  Medical  Surgical 
Bulletin,  November  1,  1894;  The  Curability  of 
Cancer  when  the  Lymph-Nodes  are  involved. 
Medical  Record,  February  1895  ;  and  Transac- 
tions New  York  State  Medical  Society  1895  ; 
Surgery  in  Children,  the  Post-Graduate,  October 
1897  ;  The  Practice  of  Surgery,  by  H.  R.  Wharton, 
M.l).,  and  B.  F.  Curtis,  M.D.,  Lippincott,  Philadel- 
phia 1897  ;  Diseases  of  the  Peritoneum,  in  Vol. 
VIII.,  Twentieth  Century  Practice  of  Medicine  — 
edited  by  Hedman,  William  Wood  &  Co.,  New 
York,  1896;  A  Case  of  Bilharzia  Hematobium 
treated  by  Resection  of  the  Bladder,  reported  be- 
fore British  Medical  Association  (Montreal),  1897, 
—  British  Medical  Journal,  1897  ;  Clinical  Reports 
from  the  Surgical  Clinic  of  Professor  B.  F.  Curtis, 
Post-Graduate,  March  1898  ;  The  Treatment  of 
Chronic  Empyaenia,  New  York  Medical  Record, 
March  29,  1898  ;  the  Ligation  of  the  First  Part 
of  the  Subclavian  for  Aneurism,  Annals  of  Surgery, 
1898,  XXVII,  243;  Posterior  Thoracotomy  for 
Foreign  Body  in  the  Right  Bronchus,  do.,  1898, 
XXVIII. ;  Fever  in  Antiseptic  Surgery,  Transac- 
tions New  York  State  Medical  Society  1899, 
Medical  News,  June  1899  ;  Oesophageal  Stricture 
treated  by  Gastrostomy  and  Elastic  Dilatation, 
Annals  of  Surgery,  March  1900  ;  Fracture  of  the 
Neck  of  the  Humerus  with  Dislocation  —  Annals 
of  Surgery,  March  1900;  Cancer  of  the  Stomach 
and  Intestines,  Medical  Record,  August  4,  1900; 
the  Surgical  Treatment  of  Dilatation  of  the 
Stomach  and  of  Gastroptosis,  Annals  of  Surgery, 
July  1900  ;  Two  Cases  of  Resection  of  the  Stomach 
for  Carcinoma,  Yale  Medical  Journal,  January 
1900  ;  Cicatricial  Stricture  of  Pharynx  cured  by 
Plastic  Operation,  Annals  of  Surgery,  February 
1 90 1.  w.  F.  J. 

HASKINS,  Charles  Waldo,  1852- 

Dean  School  of  Commerce,  Accounts  and  Finance,  igoo- 

Born  in  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  1852;  graduated  Brooklyn 
Polytechnic  Institute  ;  commenced  business  career  in 
accounting  dept.  of  Frederick  Butterfield  &  Co.,  New 
York  City ;  traveled  in  Europe,  studying  two  years 
in  schools  of  Paris ;  accountant  to  North  River  Con- 


struction Co.,  and  later.  Auditor  of  Disbursements  to 
West  Shore  Railroad;  entered  profession  of  public 
accountancy ;  Dean  of  N.  Y.  Univ.  School  of  Com- 
merce, Accounts  and  Finance,  and  Prof.  Auditing  and 
the  History  of  Accountancy,   1900- 

CHARLES  WALDO  HASKINS,  President 
of  the  New  York  State  Society  of  Certified 
Public  Accountants,  was  born  in  Brooklyn,  New 
York,  January  11,  1852,  son  of  Waldo  Emerson 
and  Amelia  Rowan  (Cammeyer)  Haskins.  He  is 
a  descendant  of  Captain  John  Haskins,  a  promi- 
nent Revolutionary  patriot  of  Boston,  whose 
daughter     was     the      mother     of     Ralph     Waldo 


C.    W.    HASKINS 

Emerson.  Mr.  Haskins  was  educated  in  his 
native  city,  where  he  graduated  at  the  Brooklyn 
Polytechnic  Institute;  after  which  he  .served  an 
apprenticeship  of  five  years  in  the  accounting 
department  of  the  importing  house  of  Frederick 
Butterfield  &  Company  of  New  York  City.  He 
afterward  made  the  tour  of  the  Continent  of 
Europe,  and  devoted  two  years  to  further  study 
in  the  .schools  of  Paris ;  and  returning  to  New 
York  he  entered  Wall  Street  in  the  banking  and 
brokerage  house  of  his  father,  Waldo  Emerson 
Haskins,  with  the  view  to  becoming  a  member  of 
the  Stock  Exchange.  A  serious  \iew,  however, 
of   the     growing    importance   of    accountancy    in 


178 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


respect  to  modern  business  conditions  decided 
Mr.  Haskins  to  devote  himself  permanently  to 
this  department  of  commercial  and  financial 
activity,  and  entering  the  accounting  department 
of  the  North  River  Construction  Company,  then 
building  the  New  York,  West  Shore  &  Buffalo 
Railway,  he  soon  had  supervision  of  the  con- 
struction accounts  of  the  company.  Upon  the 
completion  of  the  West  Shore  he  became  its 
general  bookkeeper  and  Auditor  of  Disbursements, 
and  when  the  road  was  absorbed  by  the  New 
York  Central,  he  entered  the  profession  of  public 
accountancy  upon  his  own  responsibility.  In  the 
carrying  out  of  his  professional  work  he  has  held, 
incidentally,  several  important  administrative 
offices,  among  them,  those  of  Secretary  of  the 
Manhattan  Trust  Company,  and  Comptroller  of 
the  Central  Georgia  Railway,  of  the  Ocean 
Steamship  Company  and  of  the  Chesapeake  & 
Western  Railroad.  In  1893  Mr.  Haskins  and 
his  partner,  E.  W.  Sells,  were  appointed  experts 
under  the  Joint  Commission  of  the  Fifty-third 
Congress  to  revise  the  accounting  system  of  the 
United  States.  Their  recommendations  were 
adopted  by  the  government,  and  are  now  in 
successful  operation.  Preparatory  to  the  adoption 
of  the  (ireater  New  York  Charter,  Mr.  Haskins 
was  placed  at  the  head  of  the  Committee  of 
experts  to  make  up  the  accounts  of  the  City  of 
Brooklyn.  At  the  close  of  the  war  with  Spain, 
the  firm  was  selected  by  the  United  States 
authorities  to  investigate  the  finances  of  the  City 
of  Havana,  and  later,  the  accounts  of  the  Island 
of  Cuba.  While  making  a  tour  abroad  in  1900, 
Mr.  Haskins  devoted  considerable  attention  to 
the  study  of  European  accountancy  as  connected 
with  the  higher,  commercial  education,  and  upon 
his  return  he  delivered  a  number  of  addresses 
upon  the  subject  of  Accountancy  as  a  definite 
profession.  These  addresses  and  the  concerted 
efforts  of  the  professional  accountants  of  the 
State  of  New  York  brought  before  Chancellor 
MacCracken  and  the  Council  of  .  New  York 
University  the  need  of  a  school  in  the  interest  of 
higher  commercial  education.  In  July  1900.  the 
decision  to  establish  such  a  school  was  reached, 
and  soon  after,  the  New  York  University  School 
of  Commerce,  Accounts  and  Finance  was  formally 
organized  as  a  department  of  the  University.  Of 
this  department  Mr.  Haskins  was  chosen  Dean  ; 
in  connection  with  the  duties  of  that  office  being 


also  Professor  of  Auditing  and  of  the  Historj-  of 
Accountancy.  He  is  President  of  the  New  York 
State  Societj'  of  Certified  Public  Accountants, 
and  President  of  the  Board  of  Examiners 
appointed  by  the  Regents  under  the  act  to 
regulate  the  profession  of  public  accountants,  and 
is  allied  with  many  historical  and  social  organiza- 
tions. In  1884  he  married  Henrietta,  daughter 
of  Albert  Havemeyer,  the  New  York  merchant ; 
their  children  are:  Ruth,  born  in  1887,  and 
Noeline  Haskins,  born  in  1894.  * 


BOUTON,  Archibald  Lewis,  1872- 

Instructor  in  English  1898-1901,  Asst.  Professor  1901- 
Born  in  Cortland,  N.  Y.,   1872  ;   graduated  Amherst 
Coll.,  Mass.,  1896;  graduate  study  at  Columbia;  Greek 
Master  Rutgers  Prep.  School,  New  Brunswick,  N.  J., 
1896-98;  Instr.  English  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1898- 

ARCHIBALl)  LEWIS  BOl'TON  was  born 
in  Cortland,  New  York,  September  i,  1872, 
son  of  Lewis  and  Kniily  (Lamont)  Bouton.  On 
his  father's  side   he   is  descended  from  a  French 


AKCHIH.VLD    I,.     HOUTON 

Huguenot  family  founded  in  America  by  John 
Bouton,  who  settled  in  Connecticut  in  1636.  His 
mother's  ancestry  is  of  Highland  Scotch  origin. 
Mr.  Bouton  is  a  graduate  of  Amherst  College, 
having  entered  that  institution  from  the  Cortland 


UNiyERSITIES   AND    THKIK    SONS 


179 


State  Normal  Scliool,  and  graduated  Bachelor  of 
Arts  in  iS(j6.  Subsequent  study  at  Columbia,  witli 
English  as  his  major  subject,  brought  him  the 
degree  of  Master  of  Arts.  He  came  to  New  York 
University  as  Instructor  in  English  in  1898,  after 
two  years  as  Greek  Master  in  Rutgers  Preparatory 
School  of  New  Brunswick,  New  Jersey,  and  was 
appointed  Assistant  Professor  of  English  in  March 
1 90 1.  w.  F.  J. 

PARK,  William  Hallock,  1863- 

Professor  Bacteriology  and  Hygiene,  1900- 
Born  in  New  York,  1863;  graduated  A.B.,  Coll. 
City  of  N.  Y.,1883;  M.D.  Coll.  Phys.  and  Surg.,  1886; 
Asst.  Dir.  Bacteriological  Laboratories,  N.  Y.  Health 
Dept.,  since  1895;  Asso.  Prof.  Bacteriology  and 
Hygiene  Bellevue  Hosp.  Med.  Coll.,  i8g8;  Prof.  Bac- 
teriology and  Hygiene  N.  Y.  Univ.  and  Bellevue  Hosp. 
Med.  Coll.  since  igoo. 

WILLIAM  HALLOCK  PARK,  M.D.,  was 
born  in  the  City  of  New  York  in  1863,  the 
son  of  Rufus  and  Harriet  (Hallock)  Park,  and  the 
descendant  of  English  ancestors  and  of  early  New 
England  colonists.  He  was  educated  in  the  pub- 
lic school  system  of  New  York,  including  the  Col- 
lege of  the  City  of  New  York,  from  which  latter 
institution  he  was  graduated  with  the  degree  of 
Bachelor  of  Arts  in  1883.  Then,  adopting  the 
medical  profession,  he  entered  the  College  of 
Physicians  and  Surgeons  of  Columbia  University, 
and  was  graduated  with  the  degree  of  Doctor  of 
Medicine  in  1886.  At  that  time  the  highly  im- 
portant science  of  Bacteriology  was  rising  into 
prominence,  under  the  masterful  influence  of  Pas- 
teur and  his  disciples  in  many  lands,  and  Dr.  Park 
began  to  concentrate  his  attention  upon  it,  and 
presently  became  one  of  the  recognized  authorities 
therein.  He  became  Assistant  Director  in  the 
Bacteriological  Laboratories  of  the  Health  De- 
partment of  the  City  of  New  York  in  1895,  and 
is  still  thus  engaged.  In  1898  he  was  As.sociate 
Professor  of  Bacteriolog)'  and  Hygiene  in  the 
Bellevue  Hospital  Medical  College.  Since  1900 
he  has  been  Professor  of  Bacteriology  and 
Hygiene  in  the  New  York  University  and  Bellevue 
Hospital  Medical  College.  He  is  an  independent 
Democrat  in  politics,  but  has  held  no  public  office 
beyond  that  named,  and  has  taken  no  part  in 
political  matters  beyond  that  of  a  private  citizen. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  University  and  Century- 
clubs,  and  a  fellow  of  the  New  York  Academy  of 
Medicine.  w.  v.  j. 


COLLINGWOOD,   Francis,   1834- 

Lecturer  on  Foundations,  189s- 
Born  in  Elmira,  N.  Y.,  1834;  graduated,  C.E., 
Rensselaer  Polytechnic  Institute,  1855;  practicing 
Engineer  in  private  work  until  1869;  City  Engineer 
of  Elmira,  N.  Y. ;  Loan  Commissioner  Chemung  Co.; 
Asst.  Engr.  East  River  Bridge  Construction,  1869-83; 
Consulting  Engineer;  Expert  Examiner  N.  Y.  Civil 
Service  since  1895;  Lecturer  on  Foundations  N.  Y. 
Univ.  since  1895. 

FRANCIS  COLLINGWOOD,  C.E.,  was  born 
in  Elmira,  New  York,  January  10,  1834, 
son  of  Francis  and  Elizabeth  (Kline)  Collingwood. 
His  father,  who  was  born  and  educated  near 
Uppingham,  England,  was  of  a  family  who  lived 


F.    COLLINGWOOD 

in  or  near  that  place  for  over  two  hundred  years. 
His  mother  was  descended  both  paternally  and 
maternally  from  families  near  Easton,  PennsyKania, 
her  father  having  been  a  drummer  boy  in  the 
American  Army  during  the  Revolution.  Mr. 
Collingwood's  early  education  was  that  offered  by 
the  public  schools  and  the  academy  of  his  native 
place.  He  learned  the  jeweler's  and  watchmaker's 
trade,  and  during  spare  hours  prepared  himself 
for  entrance  at  the  Rensselaer  Polytechnic  Insti- 
tute in  Troy,  New  York,  from  which  he  graduated 
in  1855,  receiving  the  degree  Civil  Engineer.  From 
then    until   1869    he    pursued  private  practice    as 


i8o 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


an  engineer  in  Elmira,  sendng  for  a  portion  of 
the  time  as  City  Engineer.  In  1869  Mr.  Colling- 
wood  was  appointed  Assistant  Engineer  in  the 
work  of  designing  and  constructing  the  first  East 
River  Bridge,  and  in  this  undertaking  he  was 
constantly  engaged  during  the  next  fourteen  years 
until  the  completion  of  the  bridge.  Among  other 
important  professional  positions  which  he  later 
held  may  be  mentioned  his  service  as  a  member 
of  the  Commission  to  examine  the  new  Croton 
Aqueduct  and  report  on  fraudulent  construction. 
He  has  also  been  Expert  Examiner  in  the  Civil 
Service  of  New  York  City  since  1895  and  Loan 
Commissioner  of  Chemung  county,  New  York. 
Besides  holding  a  regular  appointment  as  Lecturer 
on  Foundations  at  New  York  University  he  has 
delivered  several  lectures  at  the  Rensselaer  Poly- 
technic Institute,  also  the  annual  address  at  the 
Commencement  in  1880.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
American  Society  of  Civil  Engineers,  (of  which  he 
has  been  Secretary),  the  American  Institute  of  Min- 
ing Engineers,  the  Institution  of  Civil  Engineers 
of  Great  Britain,  of  which  he  holds  the  Telford 
Medal,  the  New  York  Academy  of  Science,  the 
New  York  Microscopical  Society,  the  Metropolitan 
Museum  of  Art,  the  New  York  Botanical  Garden, 
the  American  Association  of  Forestry,  the  National 
Geographical  Society,  and  the  Engineers'  Club. 
In  politics  he  votes  independently.  Mr.  Colling- 
wood  was  married  June  5,  i860,  to  Eliza  \V. 
Bonnett.  * 

VAUX,    Downing,    1856- 

Lecturer  on  Landscape  Gardening,  1895- 
Born  in  New  York  City,  1856  ;  studied  in  Columbia 
School  of  Mines,  1874;   practicing  landscape  architect, 
New  York  City;  Lee.  on  Landscape  Gardening  N.  Y. 
Univ.  since  1895. 

DOWNING  VAUX  was  born  in  New  York 
City  in  1856,  son  of  Calvert  and  Mary 
Swan  (McEntee)  Vaux,  and  is  descended  from 
English  ancestry  through  his  father  and  from 
Dutch  and  Irish  through  his  mother.  His  early 
education  was  obtained  in  various  private  and 
public  schools  in  New  York  and  Massachusetts 
and  in  New  York  City.  The  first  of  his  profes- 
sional study  was  at  Columbia  where  he  was  for  one 
year  a  student  in  the  School  of  Mines  with  the 
Class  of  1878.  This  was  followed  by  three  years 
of  study  and  work  in  the  office  of  Vaux  &:  Radford, 
architects  and  engineers,  one  year  with  McClay 
&    Davies,    engineers,    both  firms    of  New    York 


City.  Mr.  Vaux  then  went  into  independent 
practice  as  landscape  and  building  architect,  and 
has  continued  to  follow  his  profession  in  New  York 
City  since  1887.  Since  1895  he  has  been  Lec- 
turer on  Landscape  Gardening  at  the  University. 
He  is  Secretary  of  the  American  Society  of  Land- 


DOWNING    VAUX 

scape  Architects,  and  a  member  of  the  Society  for 
the  Preservation  of  Scenic  and  Historic  Places 
and  Objects,  the  Architectural  League  and  the 
National  Arts  Club,  of  New  York  City.  He 
was  married  August  12,  1893,  to  Lillian  Baker 
Andrews.  * 


BIGGS,  George  Patton,  1867- 

Lecturer  on  Special  Pathology,  1897- 
Born  in  Trumansburg,  N.  Y.,  1867;  early  educa- 
tion in  public  schools,  Trumansburg;  graduated 
Bellevue  Hosp.  Medical  College,  1889;  on  staff  of 
Bellevue  Hosp.,  1889-91  ;  Asst.  Pathologist  N.  Y. 
Hosp.,  1891-96;  and  Pathologist  since  1896;  Asst.  in 
Pathology,  Bellevue  Medical  College,  1891-94;  Asst. 
in  Materia  Medica,  1894-97;  Lecturer  on  Special 
Pathology  since  1897;  Prof.  Physiology  N.  Y.  Vet. 
College,   1892-98. 

GEORGE  PATTON  BIGGS,  M.D.,  was 
born  in  Trumansburg,  New  York,  October 
26,  1867,  son  of  David  Simmons  and  Anna  Sue 
(Camp)    Biggs.     His    mother    was    the    daughter 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR    SONS 


iSi 


of  Frederick  and  Sarah  (Piatt)  Camp,  the  latter  a 
descendant  of  Jonathan  IMatt.  His  father  was  the 
son  of  Michael  and  Tabitha  (Simmons)  Biggs,  who 
were  children  of  Frederick  Biggs  and  David  Sim- 
mons respectively.  Dr.  Biggs  entered  Bellevue 
Hospital  Medical  College  from  the  High  School  of 
his  native  town,  and  received  the  degree  Doctor  of 
Medicine  in  1889.  Until  1891  he  held  a  position 
on  the  regidar  staff  of  Bellevue  Hospital,  and  then 
became  Assistant  Pathologist  to  the  New  York  Hos- 
pital, where  he  has  been  Pathologist  since  June  i, 
r896.  He  first  joined  the  teaching  force  of  the 
Bellevue  Hospital  Medical  College  in  1891,  when  he 


logical  Society  and  the  Society  of  the  Alumni  of 
Bellevue  Hospital  Medical  College,  all  of  New 
York  City.  He  was  married  April  14,  1898,  to 
Lucy    Florence    Browning;    their    son    is    (lecjrge 


GEO.    p.    BIGGS 

was  appointed  Assistant  to  the  Chair  of  Patholog)- ; 
in  1894  his  subject  was  changed  to  Materia  Medica, 
and  in  1897  he  was  elected  to  a  Lectureship  on 
Special  Patholog}-,  which  position  he  has  retained 
since  the  merging  of  the  Bellevue  and  I'niversity 
Medical  Colleges.  He  was  also  Professor  of 
Physiology  in  the  New  York  Veterinar}'  C'ollege 
from  1892  to  1898.  He  has  held  various  hospital 
appointments,  notably  as  Visiting  Physician  to  the 
Alms  House,  and  Work  House  Hospitals  from 
1894  to  1896.  Dr.  Biggs  is  Assistant  Pathologist 
to  the  New  York  Health  Department,  having  been 
in  that  office  since  January  i,  1896.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  Academv  of  Medicine,  the  Patho- 


Browning  Biggs. 


WEGMANN,  Edward,   1850- 

Lecturer  on  Water  Works  Construction,  1896- 

Born  in  Rio  de  Janeiro,  Brazil,  1850 ;  graduated,  C.E., 
N.  Y.  Univ.,  1871  ;  practicing  Engineer  in  various  local- 
ities since  1871  ;  now  connected  with  Engineering 
Dept.  N.  Y.  Aqueduct  Commission,  Croton  River  Div. ; 
Lecturer  on  Water  Works  Construction  N.  Y.  Univ. 
since  i8g6. 

EDWARD  WEGMANN  was  born  November 
27,  1850,  in  Rio  de  Janeiro,  Brazil.  His 
father,  Edward  L.  Wcgmann,  was  a  Swiss  merchant 
who  came  of  a  very  old  Swiss  family,  which 
according  to  the  Swiss  records  settled  in  Zurich, 
Switzerland,  in  1469.  His  grandfather  was  a 
Swiss  officer  who  served  in  the  Wiirtemberg 
Cavalry  during  the  wars  of  Napoleon.  His 
mother,  Mary  W.  (Sand)  Wegmann,  was  the 
daughter  of  Christian  H.  Sand,  a  German  mer- 
chant who  became  naturalized  and  settled  in  New 
York  City  where  he  became  very  well  known  in 
business  circles.  While  his  son  was  still  an  infant 
Edward  L.  Wegmann  moved  with  his  family  to  New 
York  City,  where  he  engaged  in  business.  During 
the  Civil  \\'ar  he  was  obliged  to  go  to  Galves- 
ton, Texas.  Before  going  there  he  took  his  family 
to  Switzerland  where  Edward  Wegmann  was 
educated  in  the  Cantonal  Schools,  from  i860  to 
1866.  In  August  1866,  the  family  returned  to  New 
York,  and  Mr.  Wegmann  studied  at  the  Brooklyn 
Polytechnic  School  for  about  two  years,  and  then 
entered  his  father's  business  as  clerk.  He  soon 
found  that  he  had  no  taste  for  business  and  having 
made  up  his  mind  to  become  a  Civil  Engineer  he 
took  up  studies  at  New  "\'ork  I'niversity,  graduat- 
ing as  Ci\il  Engineer  in  1871.  His  first  engage- 
ment at  practical  engineering  was  as  a.xeman  on 
the  preliminary  siuveys  for  the  New  York,  ^^'est 
Shore  &  Chicago  Railroad,  and  subsequent  pro- 
fessional engagements  have  been  as  follows  :  rod- 
man  on  the  New  Haven,  Middletown  I't  \\'illimantic 
Railroad,  1872  ;  Assistant  Engineer  on  the  same. 
1873;  engaged  in  the  Wyandotte  Rolling  Mill, 
Michigan,  studying  practically  the  manufacture  of 
iron,  1874;  formed  a  partnership  with  R.  Creuz- 
baur  for  the  development  of  a  steam  street  car  and 


l82 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR    SONS 


other  machinery-  invented  by  Mr.  Creuzbaur,  1875  ; 
engaged  as  mechanical  engineer  at  the  Danforth 
Locomotive  Works  in  Paterson,  New  Jersey,  where 
the  Creuzbaur  steam  street  car  was  being  con- 
structed, 1876  ;  had  cliarge  of  half  of  the  construc- 
tion of  the  Elevated  Railroad  on  Sixth  Avenue, 
New  York,  as  engineer  of  the  Keystone  Bridge 
Company,  Pittsburg,  Pennsylvania,  who  had  the 
contract  for  building  this  work,  1877  ;  engaged  on 
the  construction  of  the  Elevated  Railroad  on 
Ninth,  First  and  Second  avenues.  New  York,  as 
Assistant  Engineer  for  the  Metropolitan  Elevated 
Railroad,  1878-1879;  employed  for  a  few  months 
on  the  construction  of  the  New  York  &  New 
England  Railroad  in  Waterburj-,  Connecticut,  also 
located  the  Ohio  River  Railroad  from  Portsmouth 
to  Ironton,  Ohio,  1880;  had  charge  as  Resident 
Engineer  of  the  construction  of  thirty  miles  of  the 
New  York,  West  Shore  &:  Buffalo  Railroad,  fourteen 
miles  in  Rockland  county  and  sixteen  miles  in 
Genesee  county,  1 881-1883  ;  engaged  as  Division 
Engineer  on  the  construction  of  the  New  Croton 
Aqueduct  and  of  the  New  Reservoirs,  New  York, 
his  work  including  the  tunnel  under  the  Harlem 
River  and  all  the  new  work  on  Manhattan  Island 
to  the  Central  Park  Reservoir,  1884- 1900.  In 
1888  Mr.  Wegmann  published  a  book  on  the 
design  and  construction  of  masonry  dams  in 
which  he  gave  a  new  method  of  determining  the 
profile  of  a  masonry  dam,  which  he  iiad  developed 
while  making  calculations  for  the  proposed  Quaker 
Bridge  Dam.  This  book  has  passed  through  four 
editions.  In  preparing  the  fourth  edition,  which 
was  published  in  September  1899.  the  work  was 
enlarged  so  as  to  include  the  whole  subject  of 
dams,  viz.  :  masonry,  earth,  rock-fill  and  timber 
structures,  and  also,  the  principal  types  of  movable 
dams.  In  1896  he  published  the  book  entitled 
Water  Supply  of  the  City  of  New  York,  1658- 
1895.  While  writing  this  book  Mr.  \\'egmann 
was  engaged  by  the  Board  of  General  Managers 
of  the  Exhibit  of  the  State  of  New  York  at  the 
World's  Columbian  Exposition  to  prepare  an 
exhibit  illustrating  the  water  supply  of  the  City 
of  New  York  for  the  Chicago  Exposition  of  1893  ; 
he  received  a  diploma  for  this  exhibit.  Besides 
the  above  literary  work  he  has  contributed  articles 
to  the  Engineering  Press  and  has  written  pamphlets 
on  rapid  transit,  etc.  Mr.  Wegmann  was  appointed 
Lecturer  on  Water  Works  Construction  at  New 
York  University  in  1896.  e.  g.  s. 


LEWIS,   Charles  Henry,   1857- 

Clinical  Lecturer  on  Medicine,  1898- 
Born  in  Naugatuck,  Conn.,  1857  ;  attended  Wil- 
liston  Seminary,  Easthampton,  Mass.  ;  graduated 
Yale,  1882;  M.D.  Bellevue  Hosp.  Med.  College,  1884; 
St.  Vincent's  Hosp.,  1884-86  ;  studied  in  Europe,  1886- 
87;  practicing  physician  in  New  York  City;  Clinical 
Lecturer  on  Medicine,  N.  Y.  Univ.  since  1898. 

CHARLES  HENRY  LEWIS,  M.D.,  was 
born  in  Naugatuck,  Connecticut,  April  8, 
1857,  son  of  William  Beecher  and  Catherine  Eliza- 
beth (Spencer)  Lewis.  His  family  is  descended 
from  Welsh-English  ancestry,  and  for  nine  gener- 
ations the  members  have  lived  in  New  England. 


CH.\RLES    H.    LEWIS 

After  early  attendance  at  the  Soutii  Berkshire 
Institute  in  New  Marlboro,  Massachusetts,  Dr. 
Lewis  entered  tiie  historic  \\'illiston  Seminary  in 
Easthampton,  Massachusetts,  where  he  received 
preparation  for  College.  He  graduated  in  Arts  at 
Yale  in  1882,  and  in  Medicine  at  the  Bellevue 
Hospital  Medical  College  in  1884.  After  eighteen 
months  of  hospital  work  in  St.  Yincent's  he  went 
to  Europe  for  further  study  and  there  remained 
during  the  year  1886-1887.  Since  the  latter  date 
he  has  been  in  practice  in  New  York  Cit}',  and 
holds  the  appointments  of  Yisiting  Physician  to  St. 
Yincent's  and  Columbus  hospitals.  Since  1898 
Dr.  Lewis  has  been  Clinical  Lecturer  on  Medicine 


UNirEKSiriES   .INI)    TIIKIIi   SONS 


■«3 


at  the  University.  He  is  a  menil)cr  of  the  Ihii- 
versity,  New  York  Athletic,  Yale  and  Hospital 
(Graduates'  clubs,  the  New  York  County  Medical 
Society,  the  Academy  of  Medicine  and  the  I'atho- 
logjical  Society.  * 

SABIN,    Alvah    Horion,    1851- 

Leeturer,  Oils,  Paints  and  Varnishes,  i8g8  igoo. 

Born  in  Norfolk,  N.  Y.,  1851  ;  early  education  in 
Wisconsin  schools;  graduated  Bowdoin,  1876;  Prof. 
Chem.  Univ.  of  Vt.,  1880  86 ;  State  Chemist  of  Vt., 
1882  86;  Pres.  Amer.  Milk  Sugar  Co.,  1885  87  ;  Chem- 
ist in  firm  Edward  Smith  &  Co.,  varnish  makers, 
New  York  City,  since  1888;  Lect.  on  Oils,  Paints  and 
Varnishes  N.  Y.  Univ.,  Mass.  Institute  Tech.  and 
Univ.  of  Michigan;  author. 

AlAAII  HORTON  SABIN  was  born  in  Nor- 
folk, New  York,  185  i,  son  of  Henry  S.  and 
Z.  (Vernal)  Sabin.  He  is  descended  from  William 
Sabin  of    Rehoboth,    Massachu.setts,  who  died  in 


A.     H.     SABIN' 

1687.  The  ^'ernal  family  at  the  time  of  the 
Revolution  lived  in  and  about  Peekskiil,  New 
York.  His  maternal  grandmother  was  a  daughter 
of  \V.  Spooner,  a  pensioner  of  the  Revolution  who 
had  fought  with  Prescott's  regiment  at  Bunker 
Hill.  The  lineage  is  also  traced  from  Ann 
Spooner,      1635,    of     Plymouth.      Massachusetts, 


Richard  Warren,  a  passenger  on  the  Mayflower, 
(Governor  Dudley  of  Massachusetts,  Captain  Rug- 
gles  of  Roxbury,  Ma.ssachusetts,  and  other  promi- 
nent colonials.  Mr.  Sabin  was  first  educated  in 
the  public  and  denominational  schools  of  Wis- 
consin, and  was  graduated  at  Bowdoin  in  1876 
with  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Science,  receiving 
the  Master  of  Science  degree  in  course.  In  1880 
lie  was  called  to  the  Professorship  of  Chemistry  in 
tlie  University  of  Vermont  and  continued  in  that 
chair  until  1886,  in  the  meantime,  1882,  being  ap- 
pointed State  Chemist  of  Vermont.  In  1885  he 
became  President  and  Manager  of  the  American 
Milk  Sugar  Company.  He  took  his  present  place 
as  C'hemist  and  Director  in  the  firm  of  Kdward 
Smith  &  Company,  varnish  manufacturers,  New 
York  City,  1888.  Since  1897-1898  Mr.  Sabin  has 
lectured  at  New  York  University  on  Oils,  Paints 
and  Varnishes,  and  also  lectured  on  the  same 
subjects  at  Purdue  University,  Lafayette,  Indiana, 
in  1898-1899,  Massachusetts  Institute  of  Tech- 
nology, and  University  of  Michigan.  In  1892- 
1893  he  was  Chairman  of  the  New  York  Section 
of  the  American  Chemical  Society  and  in  1893 
Vice-President  of  the  Society;  he  is  a  member  also 
of  the  American  Society  of  Mechanical  Engineers, 
the  International  Society  for  Testing  Materials, 
the  Chemists'  Club  of  New  York,  the  Paint,  Oil 
and  Varnish  Club  of  New  York  and  the  Fireside 
Club  of  Flushing,  New  York,  and  is  an  associate 
member  of  the  American  Society  of  Civil  Engi- 
neers and  of  the  American  Society  of  Naval  Ar- 
chitects and  Marine  P^ngineers.  Politically  his 
views  are  in  sympathy  with  the  Republican  party. 
Mr.  Sabin  married  in  1880  Mary  E.  Barden,  and 
has  two  children :  Raymond  E.  and  \\'arren  I). 
Sabin.  He  is  the  author  of  Painting  with  Speci- 
fications, 1898,  and  various  papers  prepared  for 
the  American  Society  of  Civil  Engineers  and  other 
organizations ;  some  of  these  have  been  reprinted. 


STUBBERT,    James    Edward,  1859 

Lecturer  Tropical  Diseases,  1898- 

Born  in  Maiden,  Mass.,  1859;  graduated  N.  Y.  Univ. 
Med.  Coll.  M.D.,  1881  ;  Surg,  in  Central  China,  1881  83  ; 
practiced  in  U.  S.,  1883-89  ;  Chief  Surg.  Nicaragua 
Canal  Co.,  1889-94;  Port  Surg.  City  of  America,  Nicara- 
gua, 1890;  Diplomatic  Representative  of  Nicaragua 
Canal  Co.  to  Costa  Rica  and  Nicaragua,  and  Lieut- 
Col,  in  Nicaragua  Army,  1894  ;  studied  and  practiced  in 
tropical  diseases  in  Central  America,  1894-96;  Physician 
in  charge  of  Loomis   Sanitarium,   Liberty,   N.  Y.,  since 


i84 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


1896;  Lect.  Tropical  Diseases  N.  Y.  Univ.  and  Bellevue 
Hosp.  Med.  Coll.,  since  1898;  Prof.  Pulmonary  Diseases 
N.  Y.  Post  Grad.  Med.  Coll.,  1899. 

JAMES  EDWARD  STUBBERT,  M.D.,  was 
born  at  Maiden,  Massachusetts,  on  January 
14,  1859,  the  son  of  the  Rev.  William  Frederick 
Stubbert,  D.D.,  and  Mary  Reed  (\^'yman)  Stubbert; 
his  father's  family  having  migrated  from  England  to 
Nova  Scotia  late  in  the  eighteenth  century,  and  his 
mother  being  descended  from  John  ^^'yman  and 
Ruth  Putnam,  who  came  from  England  in  1640. 
He  was  educated  in  the  public  schools  of  Massa- 
chusetts   and    New    Jersey,    and    in    the    Medical 


J.    EDWARD    STUl'.r.KRT 

Department  of  the  University  of  the  City  of  New 
York,  now  New  York  University,  being  graduated 
with  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine  in  iS.Si. 
The  first  three  years  of  his  professional  life,  iSSi- 
1883,  were  spent  as  a  surgeon  in  Central  China, 
after  which  he  returned  to  the  Ignited  States  and 
engaged  in  private  practice  imtil  1889.  In  the 
last  named  year  he  became  Chief  Surgeon  to  the 
Nicaragua  Canal  Company,  and  served  in  that 
capacity  until  1894,  meantime  having  an  admirable 
opportunity  to  study  the  tropical  diseases  prevalent 
in  Central  America.  He  was  in  1890  Port  Sur- 
geon of  the  City  of  America,  in  Nicaragua.  In 
1894  he  became  a  Lieutenant-Colonel  in  the  Nica- 


raguan  Army,  and  was  the  Diplomatic  Repre- 
sentative of  the  Nicaragua  Canal  Company  to 
Nicaragua  and  Costa  Rica.  At  the  conclusion  of 
his  services  to  the  Canal  Company  he  spent  two 
more  years,  1894-1896,  in  the  study  and  practice 
of  tropical  diseases  in  Central  America,  and  then 
returned  to  the  United  States.  Immediately  upon 
his  return  he  was  made  Physician-in-charge  of  the 
Loomis  Sanitarium  for  Pulmonary  Patients,  at 
Libert}',  Sullivan  County,  New  York,  and  has 
remained  in   that  place   ever  since.     He   was   in 

1898  appointed  Lecturer  on  Tropical  Diseases  in 
the  New  York  University  and  Bellevue  Hospital 
Medical  College,  and  still  retains  that  place.     In 

1899  he  was  appointed  Professor  of  Pulmonary 
Diseases  in  the  New  York  Post  Graduate  Medical 
College.  Dr.  Stubbert  became  a  member  of  the 
Essex  District  Medical  Society,  in  New  Jersey, 
in  1886  ;  of  the  Glen  Ridge  Club,  New  Jersey,  in 
1887  ;  a  Fellow  of  the  I'niversity  of  Nicaragua 
in  1892,  of  the  University  of  Salvador  in  1894; 
and  of  the  University  of  Guatemala  in  1895.  He 
is  now  a  member  of  the  New  York  Academy  of 
Medicine,  the  New  York  Count)'  Medical  Society, 
the  New  York  County  Association,  the  New  York 
State  Medical  Society,  and  the  American  Climato- 
logical  Association.  He  was  married  to  Anne 
Baker  in  1894.  w.   f.  j. 


HANBOLD,  Herman   Arthur,  1867- 

Clinton  Lee.  Surgery  and  Demstr.  Operative  Surgery,   1900- 

Born  in  New  York  City,  1867  ;  graduated  Bellevue 
Hosp.  Med.  Coll.,  1889;  Interne  St.  Vincent's  Hosp., 
1889  go;  Asst.  in  Physiology  Bellevue  Coll.,  1890-98; 
Clinical  Lee.  Surgery  and  Demst.  Operative  Surgery, 
N.  Y.  Univ.,  1900. 

HERMAN  ARTHUR  HANBOLD,  M.D., 
was  born  in  New  York  City,  December  2 1 , 
1867,  son  of  Arthur  and  Anna  (Keppler)  Han- 
bold,  both  of  German  ancestry.  His  early  educa- 
tion was  in  the  public  schools,  and  from  them  he 
passed  into  commercial  life,  engaging  in  the  in- 
surance business.  After  four  years  his  desire  for 
a  professional  career  led  him  to  enter  Bellevue 
Hospital  Medical  College,  and  he  received  a  de- 
gree there  in  1889.  He  served  the  customary 
eighteen  months  as  Interne,  connected  with  St. 
Yincent's  Hospital  in  New  York  Cit)',  and  was 
then,  in  1890,  appointed  an  Assistant  in  Physi- 
olog)-  at  Bellevue  Hospital  Medical  College,  a 
position  which  he  continued  to  occup)-  during  the 


UNII'KKsrnES    .INI)    IIIEIR    SONS 


185 


next  eight  years.  Since  1900  Dr.  Ilanhold  lias 
been  Clinical  Lecturer  in  Surgery  and  1  )cin()nslra- 
tor  of  Operative  Surgery  in  tiie  Medical  Depart- 
ment of  New  York  Univer.sily.  He  iia.s  been  \'is- 
iting  Surgeon  to  the  Harlem  Hospital  since  1895. 
During  the  Spanish  War  Dr.  Hanhokl  enlisted  for 
military  .service  as  Captain  and  Assistant  Surgeon 
of  the  8th  Regiment  New  York  Yolunteers  Infan- 
try. He  is  a  member  of  the  .Academy  of  Medi- 
cine, the  Leno.x  Medical  As.sociation.  tiie  Hospital 
Graduates'  Club,  the  New  York  .Vthletic  Chib 
and  tiie  Democratic  Club.  He  was  married 
August  7,  1895,  to  Anna  Elizabeth  Nolan.  * 


JANEWAY,   Theodore   Caldwell,   1872 

Lecturer  Medical  Diagnosis,  1900- 

Born  in  N.  Y.  City,  1872;  graduated  Sheffield  Scien- 
tific School,  Yale  Univ.  1892,  with  degree  of  Ph.B.  ; 
M.D.  Coll.  Phys.  and  Surg.  Columbia  Univ.,  1895; 
Assist.  Bacteriology  Coll.  Phys.  and  Surg.  1895-96; 
Interne  St.  Luke's  Hosp.,  1897  ;  Instructor  Medical 
Diagnosis  N.  Y.  Univ.  and  Bellevue  Hosp.  Med.  Coll. 
1898;   Lecturer,  igoo. 

THEODORE  CALDWELL  JANEWAY, 
M.D.,  is  the  son  of  Dr.  Edward  G.  Jane- 
way,  the  distinguished  Dean  of  the  New  York 
University  and  Bellevue  Hospital  Medical  College, 
and  grandson  of  Dr.  George  J.  Janeway,  of  New 
Brunswick,  New  Jersey.  Nor  was  his  ancestry 
less  scholarly  in  other  directions.  His  great- 
grandfather of  the  paternal  side  was  the  Rev. 
Jacob  Jones  Janeway,  D.D.,  and  his  maternal 
grandfather  was  the  Rev.  Ebenezer  Piatt  Rogers, 
D.D.,  his  mother's  maiden  name  having  been 
Frances  S.  Rogers.  He  was  born  in  New  York 
City  in  1872,  and  was  carefully  educated  at  the 
Columbia  Grammar  School  and  at  Cutler's  School, 
whence  he  went  to  the  Sheffield  Scientific  School 
of  Yale  University.  There  he  was  graduated  with 
the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Philosophy  in  1892. 
He  then  began  the  study  of  medicine,  both  in  the 
office  of  his  father  and  at  the  same  time  in  the 
College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  of  Columbia 
University.  PYom  the  latter  institution  he  was 
graduated  in  1895.  with  the  degree  of  I^octor  of 
Medicine,  and  he  remained  there  for  another  year, 
1 895- 1 896,  as  Assistant  in  Bacteriologj-.  From 
January  to  October  1897  he  was  an  Interne  at  St. 
Luke's  Hospital.  With  such  preparation  he  entered 
the  service  of  New  York  University  in  1898,  in 
the   capacity  of   Instructor   in   Medical    Diagnosis 


in  the  New  York  University  and  Bellevue  Hospital 
Medical  College  and  was  appointed  Lecturer  on 
Medical  Diagnosis  in  1900.  Dr.  Janeway  was 
married  in  1898  to  Eleanor  C.  Alderson,  and  has 
one  child,  a  daughter.  w.   v.  j. 


STOWELL,   William   Leiand,  1859 

nodical  Instructor,   1884-91,  1898-1900. 

Born  in  Woodbridge,  Conn.,  1859;  graduated  M.D. 
Med.  Dept.  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1881  ;  served  two  years 
in  Charity  and  Maternity  Hospitals,  1881-83;  Phys. 
Hospital  for  Nervous  Diseases  and  Epileptics,  1883; 
Instr.  Diseases  of  Children,  N.  Y.  Univ.  Med.  Coll., 
1884-91;  Pathologist  Dermilt  Disp.,  1885  88;  Clinical 
Instr.  N.  Y.  Univ.  and  Bellevue  Hosp.  Med.  Coll. 
1898- 1  goo. 

WILLLVM  LELAND  S'lX  )\\  1;LL,  .M.D.. 
was  born  at  Woodbridge,  Connecticut,  on 
December  24,  1859.  His  father,  the  Rev.  Alex- 
ander David  Stowell,  belonged  to  a  family  which 
was  settled  in  Hingham,  Ma.ssachusetts,  in  1649 
or  earlier.  At  a  date  subsequent  to  the  Revolu- 
tionary War  the  Government  granted  to  John 
Stowell  a  tract  of  land  now  included  in  Paris, 
Maine,  for  service  rendered  in  that  war.  Alexan- 
der Stowell,  grandfather  of  the  subject  fif  this 
sketch,  was  a  pioneer  in  Tompkins  county.  New 
York,  whither  he  went  from  Worcester,  Massa- 
chusetts, in  18 1 7.  He  married  Mary  Goodloe 
Hyde,  of  North  Carolina.  His  son,  Alexander 
David  Stowell,  already  named,  was  graduated  at 
Yale  in  1853  and  became  a  Congregational  Minis- 
ter. Dr.  Stowell's  mother,  wife  of  the  Rev.  A.  I). 
Stowell,  bore  the  maiden  name  of  Louise  Hender- 
son Leiand,  and  traced  her  ancestry  back  to 
Henry  Leiand,  who  came  from  England  in  1652, 
and  to  Captain  James  Leiand.  who  received  a 
grant  of  land  comprising  the  present  site  of  Graf- 
ton, Massachusetts.  The  families  of  Merriam  and 
Putnam,  of  English  origin,  are  also  included  in 
Dr.  Stowell's  ancestry.  William  Leiand  Stowell 
was  educated  in  his  early  years  privately,  by  his 
father,  a  mo.st  accomplished  scholar  and  instructor. 
Then  he  was  sent  to  the  New  York  State  Normal 
School  at  Cortland,  in  1 875-1 876.  Finally,  he 
came  to  the  University  of  the  City  of  New  York, 
now  New  York  University,  and  was  graduated 
from  its  Medital  College  in  1881,  with  the  degree 
of  1  )octor  of  Medicine.  Two  years  of  ser\-ice  in 
the  Charity  (now  City)  and  Maternity  hospitals 
followed,  in  188 1-1883,  and  then   in    1883  he  was 


i86 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR   SONS 


Resident  Physician  to  the  Hospital  for  Nervous 
Diseases  and  Epileptics.  P'rom  1885  to  1888  he 
was  Pathologist  to  the  Demilt  Dispensary,  and 
since  1888  he  has  been  Visiting  Physician  to  that 
institution.  In  1895  he  was  Visiting  Physician  to 
the  Infants'  Hospital  and  to  the  Randall  Island 
Hospital  for  children.  He  is  also  an  Examiner  in 
Lunacy.  His  services  as  an  Instructor  in  New 
York  University  began  in  1884,  when  he  became 
an  Instructor  in  Diseases  of  Children  in  the  Medi- 
cal College,  and  he  continued  in  that  place  until 
1 89 1.  Again,  in  1898-1900  he  was  Clinical  In- 
structor in  the  New  York  University  and  Bellevue 
Hospital  Medical  College.  Dr.  Stowell  is  a  fellow 
of  the  New  York  Academy  of  Medicine,  and  in 
1895-1896  was  Secretary,  and  in  1901  Chairman 
of  its  Pediatric  Section.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
New  York  County  Medical  Society,  the  Charity 
Hospital  Alumni  Association,  the  Physicians' 
Mutual  Aid  Association,  the  New  York  State 
Medical  Alliance,  the  Micological  Society,  and 
the  Quill  Club.  He  was  married  in  1891  to 
Louise  Espencheid,  of  Brooklyn,  New  York,  and 
has  three  children:  Leland  Espencheid,  Kenneth 
Kingsley  and  William  Curtis  Stowell.        w.  f.  j. 


SHIPLEY,  James  Henry,  1874- 

Instructor  French,  1896-1900. 
Born  in  Boscobel,  Wis.,  1874;  graduated  B.S.  N.  Y. 
Univ.,  1896;  A.M.,  1898;  Instr.  French  N.  Y.  Univ., 
1896-1900 ;  expert  Dept.  Liberal  Arts  and  Chemical 
Industries  for  U.  S.  Commissioner-General  Paris  Expo- 
sition, 1900;  teacher  Boys'  High  School,  Brooklyn, 
N.  Y.,  1901. 

JAMES  HENRY  SHIPLEY  was  born  in 
Boscobel,  Wisconsin,  in  1874,  son  of  Joseph 
Twadell  and  Mary  Ann  (Desmond)  Shipley.  He 
is  descended  from  EngHsh  and  Irish  ancestors. 
His  early  school  years  were  spent  in  Decorah, 
Iowa,  where  he  graduated  as  Valedictorian  of  his 
class  in  the  High  School.  In  1896  he  graduated 
in  Science  at  New  York  University,  being  granted 
the  divided  first  honor,  together  with  the  Chemical 
Prize,  the  Butler  Eucleian  Prize,  and  the  Inman 
Fellowship.  He  was  at  once  appointed  Instructor 
in  French,  and  entered  upon  the  duties  of  that 
position  in  conjunction  with  graduate  studies  lead- 
ing to  the  Master  of  Arts  degree,  which  was  con- 
ferred upon  him  in  1898.  His  achievements  in 
scholarship  also  led  to  his  election  to  the  Phi 
Beta     Kappa    Societ}'.      In    February    1900     Mr. 


Shipley  left  his  position  at  the  University  to  accept 
an  appointment  as  Expert  in  the  Department  of 
Liberal  Arts  and  Chemical  Industries  under  the 
L^nited  States  Commissioner-General  to  the  Paris 
Exposition.  Under  this  appointment  he  remained 
a  year  in  Paris.  He  has  recently  been  appointed 
a  substitute  teacher  in  the  Boys'  High  School  of 
Brooklyn.     Delta  Upsilon  is  his  fraternity,    w.  f.  j. 


CANN,   Frank   Howard,   1863. 

Director  Gymnasium,   1895- 
Born  in  Danvers,  Mass.,  1863;  Director  Gymnasium 
N.  Y.  Univ.  1895- 

FRAXK  HOWARD  CANN  was  born  in 
Danvers,  Massachusetts,  November  14, 
1863,  son  of  Thomas  and  Mariah  Tedford  Cann. 
Since  the  completion  of  his  education  Mr.  Cann 
has  given  his  attention  to  athletic  interests  as 
expert  trainer    and  director.      He  has    been  thus 


FRANK     H.    CANN 

engaged  in  Boston  and  Lynn,  Massachusetts; 
Newport,  Rhode  Island ;  and  Bridgeport,  Connec- 
ticut. In  1895  he  was  appointed  through  Com- 
modore David  Banks  to  take  charge  of  the 
athletics  of  New  York  University.  Mr.  Cann  is 
Director  of  the  College  Gymnasium,  in  that  capa- 
city meeting  Freshmen  three  times  a  week  for 
obligatory  training,  and  Sophomores  twice  a  week. 


VNIVERSiriES   AND    rilh.lK   SONS 


.87 


He  employs  Dr.  Sargent's  (Harvard)  system  of 
measiireineiits  and  development  of  special  deficien- 
cies by  special  training. 


BOYNTON,  Perry  Sanborn,  1866- 

Demonstrator  of  Anatomy,  1897- 
Born  at  Lisbon,  N.  H.,  1866;  graduated  Dart 
mouth,  A.B.,  1890,  A.M.,  1893;  Phi  Beta  Kappa,  1890; 
graduated  N.  Y.  Univ.  Med.  Coll.,  M.D.,  1895;  school 
teacher  and  principal;  Interne  N.  Y.  Post  Graduate 
Med.  School  and  Hosp.,  1890-97;  Demons.  Anatomy 
N.  Y.  Univ.  since  1897;  Instr.  Gynaecology,  N.  Y. 
Post  Graduate  Med.  School  and  Hospital,  since  1899. 

P1<:RRY  SANBORN  BOYN  TON  was  born  at 
Lisbon,  New  Hampshire,  December  6,  1866, 
the  son  of  Dr.  Oren  H.  and  Alice  Elizabeth 
(Hollister)  Boynton.      He   is   a   descendant   in  the 


PERRY    S.     BOYNTON 

ninth  generation  from  William  Boynton,  who  came 
over  in  1638  from  Yorkshire,  England,  and  settled 
at  Rowley,  Massachusetts,  and  in  the  seventh 
generation,  from  Lieutenant  John  Hollister,  who 
came  from  England  in  1642  and  settled  at  Wethers- 
field,  Connecticut.  Until  his  nineteenth  year  he 
was  educated  only  in  the  public  schools  of  Lisbon, 
which  were  of  a  high  grade.  A  year  at  the  St. 
Johnsbury  Academy,  at  St.  Johnsbury,  Vermont, 
where  he  was  graduated  in    1886,  fitted  him  for 


College,  and  he  tlien  entered  Dartmouth.  'J'here 
he  was  graduated  with  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of 
Arts  in  1890,  at  the  same  time  being  elected  to 
the  honorary  fraternity  of  Phi  Beta  Kappa.  Three 
years  later,  at  the  end  of  a  post  graduate  course, 
Dartmouth  conferred  upon  him  llie  degree  of 
Master  of  Arts.  These  three  post  graduate  years 
were  devoted  largely  to  school  teaching  as  well  as 
to  study.  He  iiad,  indeed,  taught  in  village 
schools  of  New  Hampsiiire  and  X'ermont  while  he 
was  an  undergraduate.  In  1890- 1891  he  was 
i*rinci])al  of  tiie  High  School  at  Antrim,  New 
Hampshire,  and  from  1891  to  1894  he  taught  in 
public  schools  in  New  York  City.  During  the 
last  of  these  teaching  years  he  was  also  a  student 
of  Medicine  in  the  Medical  College  of  New  York 
University,  from  which  he  was  graduated  with  the 
degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine  in  1895.  In  1895- 
1897  he  was  an  Interne  in  the  New  York  Post- 
Graduate  Medical  School  and  Hospital,  and  then, 
in  the  latter  year,  entered  upon  the  jjractice  of 
medicine  in  New  York  City.  Dr.  Boynton  entered 
the  service  of  New  York  University  in  1897,  as  a 
Demonstrator  of  Anatomy,  and  still  occu])ies  that 
place.  He  was  appointed  an  Instructor  in  (Jyna;- 
cology  in  the  New  York  Post-Graduate  Medical 
School  and  Hospital  in  1899.  He  is  a  member  of 
the  Dartmouth  College  Aknnni  Association  of 
New  York,  and  also  of  the  Alpha  Delta  Phi 
Fraternity  with  which  he  was  connected  as  an 
undergraduate.  He  belongs  also  to  the  Medical 
Society  of  the  County  of  New  York,  and  to  the 
Medical  Association  of  the  City  of  New  York.  He 
was  married  on  June  23,  1900,  to  Esther  F. 
McCombs,  of  Clayton,  New  York.  w.  f.  j. 


BRODHEAD,   George   Livingston,  1869^ 

Instructor  Obstetrics,  1898- 
Born  in  New  Orleans,  La.,  1869;  attended  Cornell 
Medical  Preparatory  Course,  1886-88;  graduated  Co- 
lumbia Univ.  Med.  Dept.,  1891  ;  surgical  work  in  Mt. 
Smai  Hosp.,  1891-93;  Instr.  Obstetrics,  Columbia, 
1885-97;  Prof.  Obstetrics  N.  Y.  Post  Graduate  Medical 
School  and  Hospital,  1900;  Instr.  Obstetrics,  N.  Y. 
Univ.,  1898;  practicing  physician. 

GEORGE  LIVINGSTON  BRODHEAD, 
M.D.,  was  born  in  New  Orleans,  Louisi- 
ana, October  14,  1869,  son  of  Augustus  Wacker- 
hagen  and  Sarah  Blandina  (Trumpbour)  Brodhead. 
A  part  of  his  early  education  was  received  at 
Ulster  Academy  in  Rondout,  New  York,  where  he 
graduated  in   1886.     From   1886   to    1888   he   at- 


i88 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR   SONS 


tended  the  Medical  Preparatory  Course  at  Cornell, 
and  then  entered  the  Medical  Department  of 
Columbia,  graduating  Doctor  of  Medicine  in  1891. 
For  two  years  after  graduation  he  was  occupied 
with  surgical  service  at  Mt.  Sinai  Hospital.  Dr. 
Brodhead  first  became  engaged  in  medical  teach- 
ing in  1895,  when  he  was  appointed  Instructor  in 
Obstetrics  at  Columbia,  a  position  which  he  held 
for  two  years.  He  is  now  Professor  of  Obstetrics 
in  the  New  York  Post  Graduate  Medical  School 
and  Hospital,  and  Instructor  in  the  same  subject 
at  New  York  University,  his  dates  of  appointment 
having  been  respectively  1900  and  1898.  Since 
1897  he  has  conducted  a  private  practice  at  60 
West  Fifty-Eighth  Street.  He  has  from  the  be- 
ginning of  his  professional  career  been  actively 
engaged  in  hospital  service,  having  been  from 
1895  to  1897  Resident  Physician  to  the  Sloane 
Maternity  Hospital,  and  holding  at  present  an 
appointment  as  Attending  Obstetrician  to  the 
New  York  Post  Graduate  Hospital.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  New  York  County  Medical  Society, 
the  Physicians'  Mutual  Aid  Association,  the  New 
York  Obstetrical  Society,  the  Society  of  the 
Alumni  of  the  Mt.  Sinai  and  Sloane  Maternity 
Hospitals,  the  Medical  Society  of  New  York 
l^niversity  and  the  West  End  Medical  Society. 
Dr.  Brodhead  was  married,  June  2,  1897,  to 
Frances  Louise  Clark.  * 


BROWN,  Samuel  Alburtus,  1873- 

Instructor  in  Physical  Diagnosis. 
Born  in  Newark,  N.  J.,  1873;  educated  in  public 
schools  and  High  School,  Newark,  N.  J.  graduated  with 
degree  M.D.,  Med.  Coll.  of  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1894;  In- 
terne Bellevue  Hosp.,  1894-96;  practicing  physician  in 
N.  Y.,  since  1896  ;  Chief  of  Clinic  Med.  Coll.  N.  Y- 
Univ. ;  Instr.  Physical  Diagnosis  N.  Y.  Univ.  and 
Bellevue  Hosp.  Med.  Coll. 

SAMUEL  ALBURTUS  BROWN,  M.D.,  was 
born  in  Newark,  New  Jersey,  in  1873,  tbe 
son  of  Isaac  Payne  and  Marie  Antoinette  (Aldridge) 
Brown.  He  is  descended  from  George  Brown,  who 
was  settled  at  Amboy,  New  Jersey,  in  1685,  and 
from  Thomas  Brown,  a  soldier  in  the  Revolutionary 
Army.  His  early  education  was  acquired  in  the 
public  schools  of  Newark,  whence  he  proceeded  to 
the  admirable  High  School  of  that  city.  Thus 
equipped  he  entered  the  Medical  College  of  New 
York  University,  and  was  duly  graduated  with  the 
degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine  in  1894.     The  next 


two  years  were  spent  as  an  Interne  in  Bellevue 
Hospital,  and  since  1896  he  has  been  a  practicing 
physician  in  New  York  City.  Dr.  Brown  has 
served  as  Chief  of  Clinic  in  the  University  Medical 
School,  and  is  at  the  present  time  enrolled  in  the 
Faculty  of  the  New  York  University  and  Bellevue 
Hospital  Medical  College  as  Instructor  in  Physical 
Diagnosis.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Alumni  Scciety 
of  Bellevue  Hospital,  the  Medical  Society  of  the 
County  of  New  York,  the  Medical  Association  of 
the  County  of  New  York,  the  New  York  State  Medi- 
cal Association,  and  the  American  Medical  Associa- 
tion, and  is  a  fellow  of  the  New  York  Academy  of 
Medicine.  In  College  he  was  a  member  of  the 
Phi  Gamma  Delta  and  Nu  Sigma  Nu  fraternities, 
in  which  he  still  retains  an  interest.  He  was  mar- 
ried on  June  15,  1898,  to  Charlotte  Cowdrey. 


GUERARD,  Arthur  Rose,  1851- 

Instructor  Materia  Medica  and  Therapeutics,  i8g8- 
Born  in  Charleston,  S.  C,  1851  ;  graduated  A.M. 
Univ.  of  St.  Andrews,  Scotland,  1872;  Royal  School  of 
Mines,  London,  1875;  M.D.  Bellevue  Hosp.  Med. 
College,  1895;  Prof.  Chemistry,  Charleston  Med. 
College,  1885  86;  Instr.  Materia  Medica  and  Therapeu- 
tics, N.  Y.  Univ.,  1898-  ;  Asst.,  Bacteriologist,  New  York 
City  Dept.  of  Health,  1896- 

ARIHUR  ROSE  GUERARD,  M.D.,  was 
born  in  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  July  4, 
1 85 1,  son  of  Octavius  Jacob  and  Amelia  Laura 
(Rose)  Guerard.  His  paternal  grandfather  three 
times  removed  was  Pierre  Jacques  Gue'rard,  a 
Huguenot  refugee,  and  leader  of  an  expedition 
sent  to  Charleston  by  King  Charles  of  England  in 
1680,  to  encourage  the  cultivation  of  silk.  His 
two  sons  accompanied  him  :  John,  grandfather 
twice  removed  of  the  present  subject,  a  member 
of  the  Royal  Privy  Council,  and  Peter,  Collector 
of  Revenues  for  the  colony  of  Carolina,  and  the 
inventor  of  the  first  pendulum  engine  for  husking 
rice.  Maternally  the  descent  is  from  the  great- 
grandfather, Alexander  Rose,  son  of  Hugh  Rose, 
fifteenth  baron  of  Kilravock,  Invernesshire,  Scot- 
land ;  Alexander  came  to  America  just  before  the 
Revolution,  married  a  Miss  Livingstone  of  New 
York  and  .settled  in  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  as 
merchant  and  factor ;  his  son,  Arthur  Gordon 
Rose,  grandfather  of  the  present  subject,  was  for 
many  years  President  of  the  Bank  of  Charleston. 
Dr.  Guerard's  first  education  was  in  the  public 
schools    of   Charleston,   a  later  study    being    per- 


UNirKRSITJES    AND    TIIKIR    SONS 


189 


formed  abroad.  TTe  graduated  Master  of  Arts  at 
the  University  of  St.  Andrews,  Seotlaiid,  in  iiSyj, 
and  three  years  later  completed  the  course  of 
study  at  the  Royal  School  of  Mines  in  London. 
Several  years  were  then  spent  in  extensive  Iravil 
on  the  Continent,  in  tiie  course  of  which  he  visited 
the  principal  (lerman  Universities  and  accpiired  a 
thorough  knowledge  of  French  and  (lerman.  He 
also  engaged  in  mining  and  metallurgical  engineer- 
ing in  (]ermany,  15elgium,  and  Norway.  Later  he 
returned  to  this  country  and  entered  upon  a  study 
of  medicine,  making  a  specialty  of  Bacteriology 
and  Preventive   Medicine.      In   1885-1886   he  was 


ARTHUR    R.    GUERARD 

Professor  of  Chemistry  in  the  Charleston  Medical 
College.  The  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine  was 
conferred  upon  him  by  Bellevue  Hospital  Medical 
College  in  1895.  Since  1898  Dr.  Guerard  has 
been  Instructor  in  Materia  Medica  and  Therapeu- 
tics in  the  Medical  Department  of  New  York 
Uni\'ersit\'.  In  the  New  \'ork  Cit\'  Department 
of  Health  he  has  held  the  position  of  Assistant 
Bacteriologist  since  1896.  Among  the  more  recent 
of  his  professional  activities  is  a  plan,  now  in 
progress,  to  establish  at  his  country  home,  ••Hei- 
delberg," in  Flat  Rock,  North  Carolina,  in  the 
western  North  Carolina  Mountains,  a  sanitarium 
or   retreat,    for    convalescents,    to    be    called    the 


Heidelberg  Sanitarium.  Dr.  Cuerard  is  a  member 
of  the  County  Medical  Society  of  New  \'ork  and 
Ihr  liuguenol  Society  of  C^harleston.  He  was 
married  in  1878  to  Eugenie,  daughter  of  the  late 
Cajnain  Albrecht  Kngels  of  the  (German  .\rmy  ;  he 
has  seven  children  :  Arthur,  Amy,  .Antcjinetle, 
i''ranz,  Norman,  Kaii  and  John  (aierard. 


WINTER,  Henry  Lyle,  1868 

Clinical  Instructor  Nervous  Diseases. 
Born  in  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,i868;  graduated  N.  Y.  Univ. 
Med.  Coll.,  M.D.,  1892;  general  medical  practitioner 
until  1898;  since  1898,  specialist  in  nervous  and  mental 
diseases;  Associate  in  Anthropology,  Pathological  In- 
stitute, N.  Y.  State  Hospital ;  Clinical  Inst.  Nervous 
Diseases,  N.  Y.  Univ.  and  Bellevue  Hosp.  Med.  Coll. 

HENRY  LYLE  WINTER,  U.\).,  was  born  in 
Brooklyn,  New  York,  on  July  7,  1868,  the 
son  of  John  Brereton  and  Margaret  (Boyce)  Winter. 
His  father  came  from  the  Winter  family  of  Worces- 
tershire, England,  and  his  mother  from  a  Dutch 
family  early  settled  in  New  Am.sterdam.  After 
receiving  an  academic  education,  he  entered  the 
Medical  College  of  New  York  University,  and  was 
graduated  with  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine 
in  1892.  He  then  entered  upon  the  general  prac- 
tice of  his  profession,  until  1898.  Since  the  latter 
date  he  has  devoted  his  attention  solely  and  with 
signal  success  to  the  specialty  of  nervous  and 
mental  diseases.  He  is  now  Associate  in  Anthro- 
pology in  the  Pathological  Institute  of  the  New 
York  State  Hospital,  and  Clinical  Instructor  in 
Nervous  Diseases  in  the  New  York  University  and 
Bellevue  Hospital  Medical  College.  He  was  mar- 
ried on  October  23,  1895,  to  Ida  B.  Mcllhanney 
of  New  Jersey,  a  direct  descendant  of  Patrick 
Henry.  He  has  one  son,  Henry  Lyle  Winter,  Jr., 
born  March  21,  1901.  w.  f.  j. 


TRIMBLE,  W^illiam  Burwell,  1870- 

Clinical  Instructor  Surgery. 
Born  in  Montgomery,  Ala.;  educated  Univ.  of  Va. 
and  N.  Y.  Univ.;  graduated  N.  Y.  Univ.,  M.D.,  1891; 
House  Surg,  at  Gouverneur  Hosp.;  on  staff  N.  Y. 
Skin  and  Cancer  Hosp.  ;  Clinical  Inst.  Surg.,  N.  Y. 
Univ.  and  Bellevue  Hosp.  Med.  Coll.  ;  Clinical  Asst. 
N.  Y.  Skin  and  Cancer  Hosp.  ;  Attending  Surg.  Univ. 
Clinic  Surg.  Dept. 

WILLIAM  BURWELL  TRIMBLE,  M.D.. 
was  born  at  Montgomery,  Alabama,  on 
September  27,  1870,  the  son  of  Edward  M.  and 
Annie  Burwell  (Crigg)  Trimble.     He  is  a  grand- 


I  90 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR    SONS 


son  of  Benjamin  Trimble,  who  was  a  banker  at 
\A'etumpha,  Alabama,  and  a  great-great-grandson 
of  John  Tardy,  who  was  born  in  Paris,  France, 
came  to  America  at  the  age  of  twelve  with  the 
Huguenots,  fought  in  the  Revolution,  and  was  a 
Presbyterian  Minister  in  Maryland  and  Mrginia. 
He  is  also  a  descendant  of  the  Burwells  of  Virginia, 
of  General  Marmaduke  Baker,  of  North  Carolina, 
and  of  the  English  family  of  Cowper,  of  Norfolk, 
Virginia.  Dr.  Thomas  Burwell  Grigg,  his  ma- 
ternal grandfather,  was  a  prominent  physician  and 
planter,  who  went  from  Dinwiddie  county,  ^"ir- 
ginia,  to    Alabama,   before    the    Indians    left    the 


WILLIAM      I!.     TRIMBLE 

latter  state.  Dr.  Trimble  was  educated  at  the 
best  private  schools  in  Montgomery,  including 
the  High  School  of  Professor  George  \V.  Thomas, 
where  he  spent  several  years.  Next  he  pursued  a 
course  at  the  University  of  Virginia,  and  finally 
entered  the  Medical  College  of  New  York  Univer- 
sity, where  he  was  graduated  with  the  degree  of 
Doctor  of  Medicine  in  March  1891.  He  served 
the  regular  term  on  the  house  staff  of  Gouverneur 
Hospital,  and  as  House  Surgeon,  and  also  in  the 
New  York  Skin  and  Cancer  Hospital,  and  for 
more  than  seven  years  has  practiced  medicine  in 
New  York  City.  He  is  now  a  Clinical  Instructor 
in  Surger)'  in  the  New  York  University  and  Belle- 


vue  Hospital  Medical  College ;  Attending  Surgeon 
in  the  Surgical  Department  of  the  Universit}- 
Clinic,  and  Clinical  Assistant  in  the  New  York 
Skin  and  Cancer  Hospital.  He  is  a  member  of 
the  University  Medical  Society,  the  New  York 
County  Medical  Society,  the  New  York  Count}' 
Medical  Association,  the  American  Medical  Asso- 
ciation, and  the  New  York  State  Medical  Associa- 
tion.    V.-.  F.  J. 

SCRATCHLEY,  Francis  Arthur,  1858- 

Clinical  Instructor  Electro-Therapeutics,  1899- 
Born  in  Louisiana,  1858  ;  graduated  Washington  and 
Lee  Univ.,  1877;  Univ.  of  La.,  1878;  M.D.  N.  Y. 
Univ.  Med.  Coll.,  1881  ;  served  in  various  hospitals  in 
La.  and  N.  Y.  City  and  State  ;  Clinical  Asst.  to  Chair  of 
Mental  and  Nervous  Diseases  N.  Y.  Univ.  Med.  Coll., 
1889-98;  and  in  Univ.  and  Bellevue  Hos.  Med.  Coll., 
1898-99;  Tutor  Materia  Medica  and  Therapeutics  N.  Y. 
Univ.  Med.  Coll.,  1897-98;  Chief  of  Clinic  Diseases 
of  Nervous  System,  and  Instr.  Electro-Diagnosis  and 
Electro-Therapeutics  Univ.  and  Bellevue  Hosp.  Med. 
Coll.,  since  1899. 

FRANCIS  ARTHUR  SCRATCHLEY,  M.D., 
was  born  in  St.  Charles  Parish,  Louisiana, 
on  July  13,  1858,  the  son  of  George  and  Mary 
Minor  (Humphreys)  Scratchley.  His  father  was 
a  practicing  physician  of  high  repute,  and  his 
grandfather.  Dr.  James  Scratchley,  was  the  author 
of  The  London  Dissector,  a  work  which  ran  through 
at  least  eight  editions.  Other  ancestors  were  the 
Rev.  John  Brown,  once  Rector  of  Liberty  Hall 
Academy,  afterward  Washington  and  Lee  Univer- 
sity, Lexington,  Virginia  ;  James  Brown,  who  as 
Minister  to  France  made  known  in  that  country 
tiie  Monroe  Doctrine  and  who  was  the  first 
Attorney-General  of  the  State  of  Louisiana ;  and 
Major-General  Sir  Peter  Scratchley,  K.C.M.G., 
R.E.,  Special  High  Commissioner  to  New  Guinea. 
Dr.  Scratchley  was  at  first  sent  to  school  in  New 
Orleans,  Louisiana,  thence  to  Washington  and 
Lee  University,  where  he  was  graduated  in  1877, 
and  to  the  University  of  Louisiana,  where  he  was 
graduated  in  1878.  Finally  he  came  to  New  York 
University,  and  was  graduated  from  its  Medical 
Department,  with  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine 
in  1 88 1.  His  practice  of  the  medical  profession 
dates  from  1881.  He  served  in  the  Charity 
Hospital  in  New  Orleans.  He  continued  his  work 
in  the  New  York  Cit}'  Hospital  for  the  Insane, 
1886-1890;  the  Hudson  River  State  Hospital, 
1890;  the  State  Emigrant's  Hospital,  1890;  etc. 
His    work   as   an    Instructor    began    in    1889,  as 


UNIVERSITIES   JND    THEIR    SONS 


191 


Clinical  Assistant  to  the  Chair  of  Mental  and 
Nervous  Diseases,  in  the  Medical  1  )e])artMient  of 
New  York  University.  Tutor  Materia  Medica, 
etc.  This  work  was  continued  until  1899,  in 
the  consolidated  University  and  ]5e!levue  Hospital 
Medical  College.  Then,  in  the  latter  institu- 
tion, he  became  Chief  of  the  Clinic  of  Dis- 
eases of  the  Nervous  System,  and  Instructor 
in  F^lectro-Diagnosis  and  I'-lcctro-Therapeutics. 
These  places  he  still  tills.  He  is  also  at  the 
present  time  Attending  Physician  in  Nervous 
Diseases  in   the   Out   Door  Department  of   Belle- 


FRANCIS  A.  SCRATCHLEY 

vue  Hospital,  and  in  the  University  Clinic ; 
Attending  Physician  in  General  Medicine  at  the 
Northwestern  Dispensary  ;  and  Consulting  Neurol- 
o£fist  at  the  New  York  Home  for  Incurables. 
Dr.  Scratchley  is  a  member  of  various  professional 
organizations,  including  the  New  York  County 
Medical  Society,  the  New  York  County  Medical 
Association,  the  American  Medical  Association, 
and  the  Medical  Society  of  the  Greater  New  York. 
In  College  he  was  a  member  of  the  Sigma  Chi 
Fraternity,  and  he  now  belongs  to  the  Southern 
Society,  the  Democratic  Club,  and  other  organiza- 
tions of  New  York.  He  is  married  to  Bella 
Kenner,  daughter  of  George  Harding,  the  well 
known  patent  lawyer  of  Philadelphia.         w.  f.  j. 


FERRIS,  Albert  Warren,  1856- 

Assistant  to  Chair,  Principles  and  Practice  Medicine,  1898- 

Born  in  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  1856  ;  early  education  Adel- 
phi  Academy,  Newark  Latin  School,  and  Hasbrouck 
Institute  ;  A.B.  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1878;  M.D.  College  Phys. 
and  Surg.  N.  Y.  City,  1882;  A.M.  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1885; 
Interne  Kings  Co.  Hosp.,  1883-85;  Physician  to  San- 
ford  Hall,  1885-91;  private  practice  since  1891  ;  Asst. 
Neurology,  Columbia  Univ.,  since  1893;  an  Editor  of 
Am.  Medico-Surgical  Bulletin,  189496;  an  Editor 
Year  Book  of  International  Cyclopedia,  1898,  1899,  1900; 
Asst.  to  Chair  of  General  Medicine,  Univ.  and  Bellevue 
Hosp.  Med.  Coll.  since  1898. 

ALBERT  WARREN  FERRIS,  M.D.,  was 
born  in  Brooklyn,  New  York,  December  3, 
1856.  He  is  the  son  of  Richard  B.  Ferris,  Class 
of  1844,  New  York  University,  Vice-President  of 
the  Bank  of  New  York ;  grandson  of  Isaac  Ferris, 
D.D.,  LL.D.,  Class  of  18 16,  Columbia,  Chancel- 
lor of  New  York  University,  1852-1870;  and  a 
lineal  descendant  of  John  Ferris,  one  of  the  first 
Patentees  of  the  town  of  West  Chester  under 
Governor  Nichols  in  1667,  and  a  grantee  under 
Indian  Deed  of  1692.  His  mother  was  Sarah  A. 
(Demarest)  Ferris.  He  received  his  early  educa- 
tion at  the  Adelphi  Academy  of  Brooklyn  ;  the 
Newark,  New  Jersey,  Latin  School ;  and  the  Has- 
brouck Institute,  Jersey  City,  New  Jersey ;  and 
entered  New  York  University  in  1874.  He  was  a 
Junior  E.xhibition  Orator  and  an  Editor  of  the 
University  Quarterly ;  he  represented  the  Uni\er- 
sity  in  the  Intercollegiate  Literary  Association  as 
Senior  Regent  in  1877-1878,  and  as  contestant  in 
Greek  in  1878.  He  was  graduated  President 
of  the  Senior  Class  with  the  Greek  Salutatory, 
with  the  Second  Fellowship  Prize  ($200),  and  with 
the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts  in  1878.  In  the 
spring  of  1879,  after  a  year's  teaching,  he  entered 
the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  Medical 
Department  of  Columbia,  graduating  in  1882. 
From  1883  to  1885  he  was  Interne  at  Kings 
County  Hospital,  Flatbush,  Long  Island,  and  dur- 
ing the  following  six  years  was  Resident  and 
Assistant  Physician  at  Sanford  Hall,  a  private 
insane  asylum  at  Flushing,  Long  Island.  Since 
1 89 1  he  has  been  engaged  in  the  private  practice 
of  his  profession  in  New  York  City,  also  holding 
his  position  as  Assistant  in  Nervous  Diseases  at 
the  Vanderbilt  Clinic  of  Columbia  University  since 
1893,  and  his  present  connection  with  the  New 
York  University  and  Bellevue  Hospital  Medical 
College  since    1898.     He    was    Secretary    of   the 


192 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


Alumni  Association  of  the  University  in  1893- 
1895  and  1895-1896,  and  has  been  President  of  the 
New  York  University  Historical  Society  since  its 
foundation  in  1900.  Dr.  Ferris  was  Editor  in  col- 
laboration of  the  American  ]\Iedico-Surgical  Bul- 
letin during  1894,  1895  and  1896;  Physician-in- 
charge  of  Dr.  Choate's  Hduse.  Pleasantville,  New 
York,  in  1896;  and  an  Editor  of  the  Year  Book 
of  the  International  Cyclopedia  in  1898,  1899  and 
1900,  as  well  as  the  Medical  Editor  of  the  Cyclo- 
pedia in  1 90 1.  Dr.  Ferris  was  Trustee  and  Treas- 
urer of  Rutgers  Female  College,  New  York  City, 
189 1-1892,   and  has  been  Trustee  and  Financial 


ALBERT    WAKREX    FERRIS 

Secretarj'  of  the  Pringle  Memorial  Home  since 
its  foundation  in  1899.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
African  Colonization  Society,  the  New  York 
County  Medical  Society,  the  Medical  Associa- 
tion of  Greater  New  York,  the  New  York  Neuro- 
logical Society  and  the  New  York  Delta  Upsilon 
Club,  and  a  fellow  of  the  New  York  Academy 
of  Medicine,  in  which  he  was  Chairman  of  the 
Section  on  Neurology'  and  Psychiatry  from  1897 
to  1898.  He  is  also  a  member  of  the  Delta 
Upsilon  Fraternity  and  the  Phi  Beta  Kappa 
Society.  He  married,  September  29,  1897.  Juliet 
Anne  Gavette.  w.  v.  ]. 


MacCRACKEN,  John  Henry,  1875- 

Assistant  Professor  Philosophy,  1898-99- 

Born  in  1875 ;  studied  Lyon's  Collegiate  School 
N.Y,;  graduated  A. B.  N.  Y.  Univ., 1894;  won  Butler  Fel 
lowship  and  Bennet  Prize  ;  engaged  in  post-graduate 
study  in  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1894-95;  and  at  Univ.  of  Halle, 
1895-96;  A.M.  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1897;  visited  Halle  in  1899, 
completed  his  course,  and  received  degree  of  Ph.D.; 
Instr.  Phil.  N.Y.  Univ.,  1896-1898;  Asst.  Prof.  Phil., 
1898-99;  Pres.  Westminster  Coll.,  Mo.,  since  1899. 

JOHN  HENRY  MacCRACKEN,  the  eldest  son 
of  Chancellor  Henry  Mitchell  MacCracken, 
of  New  York  University,  was  bom  on  September  30, 
1875.  He  was  prepared  for  College  from  1886  to 
1890,  under  principal  M.  B.  Lyon,  of  the  Collegiate 
School,  New  York  City.  He  entered  New  York 
l^niversity  in  1890  in  the  classical  course  and  was 
graduated  in  1894.  He  won  the  Cla.ssical  entrance 
prize,  was  Class  President  in  his  Senior  year,  and 
valedictorian,  and  Editor  of  the  University  Quar- 
terly, and  President  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association.  He  won  the  Butler  Fellowship  (of 
Three  Hundred  Dollars)  in  Philosophy,  and  the 
James  Gordon  Bennett  Prize  for  his  essay  on  the 
Interstate  Railway  Commission.  He  spent  the  year 
1 894- 1 895  in  graduate  study  in  New  York  Uni- 
versity ;  and  the  year  1895- 1896  in  the  University 
of  Halle,  Germany.  He  returned  to  the  latter 
University  in  May  1899,  and  completed  his  work 
for  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Philosophy.  His  the- 
sis, written  in  the  German  language,  discussed  the 
idealism  of  Jonathan  Edwards,  and  has  been  pub- 
lished. In  1896  he  became  Instructor  in  Philos- 
ophy in  New  York  University  and  continued  three 
years  in  this  work,  being  advanced  the  third  year 
to  the  position  of  Assistant  Professor  of  Philosophy. 
At  the  Commencement  in  1897  he  delivered  the 
Master's  Oration  by  appointment  of  the  Faculty,  on 
The  Scope  of  Ethics.  In  May  1899,  he  was  elected 
to  the  Presidency  of  Westminster  College,  Missouri. 
His  election  was  bi ought  about  by  facts  that 
were  as  old  as  the  Civil  Wax.  The  Pre.sbyterians 
of  Missouri  at  that  time  split  into  two  parties,  and 
the  Westminster  C'ollege,  which  was  well-estab- 
lished and  flourishing,  was  carried  by  its  Trustees 
into  the  Southern  Synod.  \\\i\\  the  close  of  the 
century,  after  thirty-five  years,  the  College  resolved 
to  win  back  the  Northern  Synod  if  possible  to  its 
support.  To  this  end  they  decided  to  elect  a  North- 
ern man  President,  with  the  further  conditions 
that  he  must  be  so  young  a  man  that  he  could  not 


UNII  KKsrriE^   y/NI)    77//'./ A'    SONS 


'93 


remember  llie  war.  and  thai  lie  iiuinI  he  a  la\iiiaii 
and  not  a  clergyman  thai  lie  nii^ht  l)e  tlie  less  iden- 
tified with  any  ecclesiastical  b(xly,  north  or  south. 
With  these  conditions  and  with  the  senior  member 
of  the  Faculty  an  alumnus  of  New  York  University, 
turning  inquiries  towards  his  own  College,  the  Tru.s- 
tees  of  Westminster  agreed  upon  Dr.  MacCracken. 
During  his  first  year  he  was  called  to  address  the 
Synods  north  and  south,  with  the  result  that  apian 
has  been  agreed  on  by  which  the  Board  of  Trus- 
tees is  to  be  equally  apportioned  between  members 
of  the  two  bodies.  'I'his  joint  ownership  will  se- 
cure new  and  powerful  su])port  for  the  institution. 


JOHN   H.   MacCRACKEN 

In  the  meantime  he  has  addressed  graduates  and 
friends  of  the  College  in  St.  Louis,  St.  Charles, 
Kansas  C'ity,  St.  Joseph,  and  other  important  cities 
of  the  state.  More  than  one  hundred  citizens, 
chiefly  in  the  above  cities,  were  persuaded  to  place 
in  his  hands  sufficient  means  for  a  Hall  of  Science 
which  is  already  near  completion.  Westminster 
College  ranks  among  the  first  seven  Colleges  in 
the  State  of  Missouri.  Unlike  nearly  all  the  re- 
mainder, it  rejects  co-education  and  is  a  College 
for  men  only.  The  ideals  of  its  youthful  President 
are  indicated  in  the  published  reports  of  recent 
addresses  made  by  him.  His  theory  of  the  work 
to  which  he  has  been  called  is  indicated  in  the  fol- 


lowing remarks  found  in  the  Christian  Observer  of 
I'ebruary  7,  lyoi  : 

"'I'lii;  policial  |)ro|)()siti()n  that  the  small  Collone,  tlie 
country  Collegt;,  the  Christian  ('oliege,  (loos  a  work  in  de- 
veloping and  training  strong,  independent  thinking  men, 
which  cannot  be  done  hy  other  institutions,  needs  no  de- 
fence." 

"When  numbers  are  few,  the  .student  comes  into  per- 
sonal contact  with  the  Professor,  and  enjoys  the  I'rofessor's 
personal  interest  and  regard." 

"The  country  ('ollege,  removed  from  the  dominating  in- 
fluence of  the  world  of  business  and  of  fashion,  is  more  apt 
to  be  the  home  of  thorough,  searching,  independent  thought- 
The  man  will  learn  to  rely  more  on  himself,  less  on  his  fel- 
lows, consecpiently  it  is  from  the  small  country  College  that 
the  leaders  of  future  thought  and  action  are  likely  to  go 
forth." 

"Education  cannot  fulfill  its  highest  aim  when  it  is  arbi- 
trarily prevented  from  caring  for  the  religious  nature,  as  in 
our  State  in.stitutions.  No  education  can  ecjuip  a  man  for 
life  which  does  not  give  him  some  positive  faith  or  stand- 
point, according  to  which  he  can  order  his  views  of  life. 
Teaching  demands  some  sort  of  faith.  Religion  will  always 
manifest  itself  in  the  schools,  whether  the  faith  be  that  of 
Christianity  or  agnosticism." 

Dr.  MacCracken 's  view  of  the  mission  of  his  Col 
lege  in  bringing  together  the  divided  Synr)ds  of 
Missouri,  is  indicated  in  a  .speech  at  a  dinner  be- 
fore their  committees  in  St.  Louis,  reported  at 
length  in  the  Globe-Democrat  of  St.  Louis,  Febru- 
ary 22,  1 901  : 

"When  the  son  of  a  Presbyterian  elder  told  me  some  time 
since  that  he  was  never  so  liappy  as  when  he  was  fighting, 
I  said  to  myself,  here  is  good  stuff  out  of  which  to  make 
a  Presbyterian.  But  if  there  is  one  thing  a  Presbyterian 
loves  more  than  a  fight  it  is  a  'making  up,'  a  reconcilia- 
tion. As  you  read  the  history  of  the  recent  successful  move- 
ments toward  union  among  the  Presbyterians  of  Scotland 
you  will  be  amazed  at  the  enthusiasm  and  emotion  displayed 
by  men,  commonly  stern  and  immovable.  The  fighter  who 
hits  hard  and  resolutely,  generally  gives  his  heart  with  his 
hand  after  the  conflict." 

"  Missouri  Presbyterianisni  has  not  chosen  strife  and  di- 
vision. It  has  suffered,  as  every  border  land  must  suffer,  when 
the  warring  forces  of  the  lands  before  and  behind  join  battle 
in  its  territory." 

"  But  now  the  conflict  is  over,  and  we  may  congratulate 
ourselves  that  it  has  not  left  the  borderland  dotted  on  this 
side  and  on  that  with  frowning  castles  like  the  Rhine  bor- 
deriand.  We  have  no  need  of  an  Ehrenbreitstein  or  of 
miles  of  grass  covered  rampart." 

"  There  is,  however,  one  remaining  bit  of  rampart  built 
during  the  border  raids  with  which  we  are  es^pecially  con- 
cerned. It  has  been  a  source  of  annoyance  and  inconve- 
nience for  almost  a  generation,  and  has  greatly  injured  the 
country  it  was  erected  to  protect,  cutting  off  needed  supplies 
and  preventing  through  lines  of  communication.     Thee.xist- 


194 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR   SONS 


ence  of  this  wall  is  no  new  discovery,  nor  have  the  dwellers 
under  its  shadow  failed  to  recognize  in  the  past  the  impor- 
tance of  having  it  razed  to  the  ground."  (This  obstructing 
wall,  he  goes  on  to  show,  is  the  rule  that  shut  out  the  Nor- 
thern Synod  from  a  share  in  the  College.)  "  The  question 
now  before  us  is  on  the  complete  removal  of  this  wall. 
Two  attempts  have  been  made.  This  is  the  third,  and  ac- 
cording to  the  old  saying,  the  '  you  will  conquer,'  goes  with 
the  third  try." 

In  closing  this  argument  he  said : 

"  It  is  with  great  hopes  that  we  turn  our  thoughts  toward 
the  future  and  think  of  a  new  Westminster.  The  eyes  of 
the  world  were  fixed  last  week  on  that  great  group  of  build- 
ings from  which  our  College  indirectly  derives  its  name. 
The  palace  of  Westminster  witnessed  for  the  first  time  in 
many  years  all  the  brilliant  pageantry  and  gay  trappings 
which  were  designed  to  image  the  power  and  rank  of  those 
who  participated  in  the  ceremonies  attending  the  beginning 
of  the  new  reign.  And  to  the  world  as  it  watched,  it  seemed 
an  anachronism.  Power  no  longer  resides  principally  in 
splendid  physique  or  in  anything  that  appeals  to  the  eye. 
Thought  rules  the  world  to-day  as  never  before.  If  we  seek 
power,  we  shall  find  it  in  mind,  and  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
if  wise  in  its  day  and  generation,  discerning  the  signs  of  the 
time,  will  mightily  resolve  to  have  for  itself  a  share  in  the 
great  instruments  of  education." 

The  practical  and  business  side  of  an  American 
College  was  presented  in  this  same  address  in  the 

following  illustration  : 

"It  is  said  that  in  the  early  days  St.  Louis  received  from 
its  neighbors  the  name  '  pain  court,'  which  may  be  freely 
rendered  '  short  loaf,'  because  it  was  not  an  agricultural 
community  but  depended  on  the  surrounding  district  for  its 
supplies.  It  would  be  an  appropriate  name  for  any  College. 
No  true  College  is  or  can  be  self-sustaining.  The  higher 
education  costs  three  or  four  times  what  students  pay  in 
tuition  fees.  Permanent  endowment  is  then  essential  to 
higher  education."  E.  G.  S. 


QUACKENBOS,  Henry  Forrest,  1870- 

Demonstrator  Anatomy,  1898- 
Born  in  New  York  City,  1870;  attended  Univ.  of  Va., 
and  Columbia  College ;  graduated  Bellevue  Hospital 
Medical  College,  1893;  Demstr.  Anatomy  Bellevue 
College,  1896-98;  Demstr.  Anatomy  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1898 
to  present  time ;  Physician  and  Surgeon  to  various 
hospitals. 

HENRY  FORREST  QUACKENBOS,  M.l)., 
was  born  in  New  York  City,  February  18, 
1870,  son  of  Dr.  Henry  Feltus  and  Margaret 
Rogers  Ross  (Jack)  Quackenbos.  His  paternal 
grandfather  was  Nicholas  I.  Quackenbos,  A.M., 
M.D.  He  had  early  training  in  the  Columbia 
Grammar  School  of  New  York  City  and  St.  Paul's 
School    in  Garden  City,  Long  Island.     His  Aca- 


demic College  work  was  performed  at  three  insti- 
tutions :  the  Pennsylvania  Military  College,  the 
University  of  Virginia  and  Columbia  College. 
Professionally  he  was  educated  at  the  Bellevue 
Hospital  Medical  College,  where  he  took  the 
Doctor  of  Medicine  degree  in  1893.  In  that 
year  he  was  appointed  House  Physician  to  the 
Infants'  Hospital  and  in  1894  House  Surgeon  to 
the  Randall's  Island  Hospital.  Dr.  Quackenbos 
has  made  hospital  work  a  particularly  active  fea- 
ture of  his  professional  career,  his  further  appoint- 
ments being :  Assistant  Physician  to  the  New 
York  Nose  and  Throat    Hospital  in    1894- 1895  ; 


llENKV     V.     yU.ACRENlJO.S 

Physician  to  the  Amity  Di.spensary  in  1894-1895  ; 
and  Surgeon  to  the  same  in  1896-1897.  He  was 
also  Assistant  in  General  Medicine  at  the  New 
York  Post  Graduate  Hospital  and  Medical  School 
from  1893  to  1895.  Since  1896  he  has  been  an 
Examiner  in  Lunacy.  He  became  an  Assistant 
Demonstrator  of  Anatomy  in  the  Bellevue  Hospital 
Medical  College  in  1896,  continuing  as  Demon- 
strator from  1897  to  1898;  and  in  the  latter  year, 
upon  tlie  union  of  the  Bellevue  College  with  the 
Medical  Department  of  New  York  University,  he 
was  re-appointed  to  the  same  position  in  the  Uni- 
versity. Dr.  Quackenbos  was  the  collaborator  of 
the  department  of  General    Medicine,   Pathology 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR    SONS 


195 


and  Hacteriology  in  tlie  American  iMcclico-Surgicai 
Bulletin  for  1893,  ICS94  and  1895.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  Medical  Society  of  the  County  of 
New  York,  the  Phi  Delta  Theta,  and  Phi  Alpha 
Sigma  (medical)  fraternities  and  the  Holland  So- 
ciety of  New  York.  He  was  also  a  member  of  the 
American  (leographical  Society  from  1895  to 
1897.  He  was  married,  June  5,  1895,  to  Mary 
Grace  Winterton.  * 


permanent  Trustee  of  \\'illiams  College  for  the 
past  ten  years  ;  he  is  also  a  Trustee  of  Atlanta 
University,  in  (Jeorgia;  a  member  of  the  Council 
of  Columbia  University;  and  since  1898  has  been 
one  of  the  honorary  and  advisory  members  of  the 
New  York  University  Senate.  In  1899  Dr.  Hall 
was  appointed  by  Chicago  University,  Barrows 
Lecturer  to  India  on  the  Haskell  Foundation,  in 
succession    to    the    Rev.    Principal     Fairbairn    of 


HALL,    Charles   Cuthbert,    1852- 

Honorary  Member  Senate,  1898- 

Born  in  New  York  City,  1852  ;  graduated  'Williams, 
1872;  member  Class  of  1875  at  Union  Theol.  Sem.; 
went  abroad  to  attend  lectures  at  Presby.  College, 
London,  and  at  Free  Church  College,  Edinburgh; 
ordained  and  mstalled  Pastor  of  Union  Presby. 
Church  in  Newburg,  N.  Y.,  1875 ;  went  to  First 
Presby.  Church,  of  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  1877;  received 
D.D.  from  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1880,  and  from  Harvard, 
1897;  Pres.  of  Union  Theol.  Sem.  since  1877;  mem- 
ber of  the  Council  of  Columbia  University  since 
1897;  honorary  member  Senate  of  N.  Y.  Univ.  since 
1898. 

CHARLKS  C:UTHBERTHALL,  D.D.,  Pres- 
ident of  the  Union  Theological  Seminary, 
was  born  in  New  York  City,  September  3,  1852. 
After  early  instruction  under  a  private  tutor  he 
entered  Williams  College,  where  he  graduated 
with  the  Class  of  1872.  The  same  year  he  entered 
the  institution  of  which  he  is  now  President  for 
the  study  of  theology.  He  was  there  a  member 
of  the  Class  of  1875,  but  he  left  in  the  autumn  of 
1874  and  went  abroad  for  a  course  of  lectures  at 
the  Presbyterian  College  in  London,  and  at  the 
Free  Church  College  in  Edinburgh.  Upon  his 
return  to  America  in  the  summer  of  1875  he  was 
called  to  the  Pastorate  of  the  Union  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Newburgh,  New  York,  where  he  was 
duly  ordained  and  installed  the  following  December. 
Here  he  remained  for  two  years  until  called  in  the 
spring  of  1877  to  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of 
Brooklyn,  New  York,  where  he  was  installed  May 
10  of  that  year.  In  1890  New  York  University 
conferred  upon  him  the  honorary  degree  of  Doctor 
of  Divinity,  and  he  enjoyed  the  same  honor  again 
in  1897  when  he  was  elected  President  of  Union 
Theological  Seminary,  and  Harvard  conferred  the 
Doctor's  degree,  President  Eliot  happily  describing 
him  as  "  eloquent  divine,  judicious  hymnologist, 
lover  of    sacred   music."     Dr.    Hall    has    been    a 


CHARI,E.S    C.    HALL 

Mansfield  College,  Oxford.  This  appointment 
matures  in  the  autumn  of  1901,  when  it  is  expected 
that  Dr.  Hall  will  visit  India  and  the  far  East  in 
the  fulfillment  of  this  duty.  Dr.  Hall  has  published 
several  volumes,  among  them  :  a  volume  of  ser- 
mons ;  Into  His  Marvellous  Light ;  The  Gospel  of 
the  Divine  Sacrifice  ;  and  Qualifications  for  Minis- 
terial Power,  being  the  Carew  Lectures  at  Hart- 
ford Theological  Seminary.  * 


HOFFMAN,    Eugene   Augustus,    1829- 

Honorary  Member  Senate,  1898. 

Born  in  New  York  City,  1829;  graduated  Rutgers, 
1847;  A.B.  Harvard,  1848;  studied  at  General  Theol. 
Sem.;  Rector  Christ  Church,  Elizabeth,  N.  J.,  1853-63; 
St.  Mary's,  Burlington,  N.  J.,  1863-64;  Grace  Church, 
Brooklyn   Heights,  1864-69;    St.   Marks,  Philadelphia, 


196 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


1869-79;  Dean  of  General  Theol.  Sem.  New  York 
City,  since  1879;  honorary  member  of  Senate  N.  Y. 
Univ.,  i8g8- 

EUGENE  AUGUSTUS  HOFFMAN,  D.D. 
(Oxon.),  LL.D.,  D.C.L.,  Dean  of  the  Gen- 
eral Theological  Seminary  of  New  York  City  was 
born  in  that  city,  March  21,  1829,  son  of  Samuel 
Verplanck  and  Glorvina  Rossell  (Storm)  Hoffman. 
On  the  paternal  side  he  traces  his  ancestry  back 
through  five  generations  to  Martin  Hoffman,  a 
native  of  Revel,  Sweden,  who  emigrated  to  America 
about  1657,  and  whose  wife's  maiden  name  was  Em- 
merentje  DeWitt.     Nicolaes  Hoffman,  son  of  Mar- 


E.    A.     HOFFMAN 

tin,  married  Janetje  Crispel,  daughter  of  Antoine 
Crispel,  a  Huguenot  "  in  whose  veins  flowed  some 
of  the  best  blood  in  France,"  and  the  eldest  of 
their  children.  Colonel  Martinus  Hoffman,  born  in 
1706,  married  Tryntje  Benson,  daughter  of  Robert 
and  Cornelia  (Roos)  Benson.  Harmanus  Hoffman 
(son  of  Martinus),  born  in  1745,  married  for  his 
third  wife,  Catherine  Verplanck,  daughter  of  Philip 
and  Eftie  (Beekman)  Verplanck,  and  a  descendant 
of  the  Van  Cortlandt,  Schuyler  and  Provoost  fami- 
lies. Samuel  Verplanck  Hoffman,  Dr.  Hoffman's 
father,  born  in  1802,  was  united  in  1828  in  marriage 
with  Glorvina  Rossell  Storm,  daughter  of  Garrit 
and  Susan  (Gouverneur)  Storm.     Eugene  A.  Hoff- 


man prepared  for  College  at  the  Columbia  Grammar 
School,  New  York,  and  after  graduating  at  Rutgers 
(1847)  he  studied  a  year  at  Harvard,  taking  the 
Bachelor's  degree  there  with  the  Class  of  1848. 
In  the  same  year  he  joined  a  scientific  expedition 
under  Professor  Louis  Agassiz,  organized  for  the 
purpose  of  exploring  the  then  unknown  wilderness 
lying  north  of  Lake  Superior.  Commencing  his 
Divinity  studies  immediately  after  his  return,  he 
pursued  the  regular  three  years'  course  at  the 
General  Theological  Seminary,  and  was  ordained 
Deacon  in  185 1,  entering  upon  missionary  work  in 
Grace  Church  Parish,  Elizabeth,  New  Jersey.  Or- 
dained Priest  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in 
1853  and  appointed  Rector  of  the  newly  organized 
Christ  Church,  Elizabeth,  he  retained  that  charge 
for  the  succeeding  ten  years,  during  which  time  he 
secured  the  erection  of  a  new  church  edifice, 
parish  school-house  and  rectory.  During  his 
Rectorship  at  Elizabeth  he  organized  the  Parish 
at  Milburn  and  built  St.  Stephen's  Church;  re- 
vived the  congregation  at  Woodbridge  which  he 
also  provided  with  a  place  of  worship,  and  can- 
celled the  debt  on  St.  James's  Church  in  Hacketts- 
town.  New  Jersey.  While  Rector  of  St.  Mary's 
Church,  Burlington,  New  Jersey,  (1863-1864)  he 
cleared  off  a  debt  of  $23,000  on  the  building  and 
placed  a  peal  of  bells  in  the  tower.  He  was  then 
called  to  the  Rectorship  of  Grace  Church,  Brooklyn 
Heights  where  he  remained  until  his  health  com- 
pelled him  to  seek  an  inland  parish,  and  from  1869 
to  1879  he  was  in  charge  of  St.  Mark's  Church  in 
Philadelphia.  In  the  latter  year  he  was  appointed 
Dean  of  the  General  Theological  Seminary  which 
position  he  has  filled  ever  since  with  honor  to  him- 
self and  benefit  to  the  institution.  Through  his 
instrumentality  the  Seminary  is  now  enjoying  a 
financial  prosperity  unknown  before  in  its  history, 
and  during  his  tenure  of  office  he  has  not  only 
raised  the  sum  of  $1,750,000  for  its  endowment 
and  equipment,  but  has  caused  the  erection  of  many 
new  buildings  and  established  two  new  Professor- 
ships and  five  Fellowships.  Three  important 
Chairs  and  the  office  of  Dean  have  been  amply  en- 
dowed by  himself  and  members  of  his  family. 
The  average  attendance  of  the  Seminary  has  been 
nearly  doubled  during  his  administration.  By 
reason  of  his  eminent  position  and  high  attainments 
and  his  constant  interest  in  the  welfare  of  New 
York  University  Dr.  Hoffman  occupies  a  place  on 
the  Board  of  Honorary  and  Advisory  Members  of 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR    SONS 


197 


the  ITniversity  Senate.  From  1856  to  1864  lie  was 
Secretary  of  the  Diocesan  Convention,  and  of  the 
Standing  Committee  of  the  Diocese  of  New  Jersey, 
and  a  Trustee  of  Burhngton  College,  and  of  St. 
Mary's  Hall.  Me  was  President  of  the  Stand- 
ing Committee  of  the  Diocese  of  Long  Island, 
1 864-1 869,  and  a  Trustee  of  the  Church  Charity 
Foundation  during  the  same  period.  From  1869  to 
1879  he  was  a  Trustee  of  the  Episcopal  Hospital, 
the  Episcopal  Academy,  the  Diocesan  and  City 
Missions,  and  the  Prayer-book  and  Tract  societies, 
all  of  Philadelphia;  and  since  1879  ^'^^  been  a 
member  of  the  Board  of  Managers  of  the  Domestic 
and  Foreign  Missionary  Society  of  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  States,  of  the 
Clergyman's  Retiring  Fund  Society,  of  the  Society 
for  Promoting  Religion  and  Learning  in  the  State 
of  New  York,  and  of  the  Corporation  for  the  Re- 
lief of  Widows  and  Children  of  Clerg}-men  ;  Presi- 
dent of  Trinity  School ;  Chairman  of  the  Building 
Committee  of  the  Cathedral  of  St.  John  the  Divine  ; 
Deputy  from  the  Diocese  of  New  York  to  the  Gen- 
eral Convention  seven  times  ;  member  of  the  Joint 
Commission  for  the  Revision  of  the  Constitution 
and  Canons  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  ; 
member  of  the  New  York  Genealogical  and  Bi- 
ographical Society  ;  and  Foreign  Corresponding 
Secretary  of  the  New  York  Historical  Society. 
He  is  also  a  member  of  the  Archaeological  Institute 
of  America,  the  American  Institute  of  Christian 
Philosophy,  the  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art,  the 
American  Geographical  and  Botanical  Society,  the 
New  York  Numismatical  Societ}-,  the  Century 
Association,  the  Riding  Club,  the  South  Side 
Sportsmen's,  Jekyl  Island,  Restigouche,  Robin's 
Island  and  St.  Nicholas  clubs,  and  the  Huguenot 
Society.  He  is  a  fellow  of  the  American  Museum 
of  Natural  Histor)',  to  which  he  recently  presented 
a  valuable  collection  of  American  butterflies.  The 
degree  of  Master  of  Arts  was  conferred  upon  him 
by  Har\-ard  in  1851  ;  that  of  Doctor  of  Divinity 
by  Rutgers  in  1864,  Racine  in  1882,  General 
Theological  Seminary  in  1885,  Columbia  in  1886, 
Trinity  in  1895,  and  Oxford  in  1895;  that  of 
Doctor  of  Laws  by  the  University  of  the  South  in 
1 89 1  and  by  Trinity,  Toronto,  in  1893;  that  of 
Doctor  of  Civil  Laws  by  Kings  College,  Nova 
Scotia,  in  1890.  On  April  19,  1852,  Dr.  Hoffman 
married  Mary  Crooke  Elmendorf.  His  children 
are :  Susan  Matilda,  now  wife  of  the  Rev.  J.  H. 
Watson ;  Mary  Louisa,  now  wife  of  the  Rev.  T.  W. 


Nickerson,  Jr.;  Margaret  Kui)hemia,wife  of  Charles 
L.  Hackstaff ;  Eugene  Augustus,  born  in  1863  and 
died  in  1891  ;  and  Samuel  Verplanck  Hoffman, 
who  marled  Louisa  N,  Smith.  * 


SMITH,  'William  Wheeler,  1838 

Member  of  Council,  1897 
Born  in  New  York,  1838;  educated  in  N.  Y.  Schools 
and    Univ.  of    London,    England  ;   architect    in    N.   Y. 
since    1864;    Member   of   Council,    N.  Y.    Univ.    since 
1897. 

WILLIAM  WHEELER  SMITH  was  born 
in  New  York  C'ity  on  June  12,  1838,  the 
son  of  John  Lewis  and  Elizabeth  (Wheeler) 
Smith  ;  and  comes  of  an  ancestry  settled  in 
Orange  county.  New  York,  two  hundred  years, 
and  coming  from  the  North  of  Ireland  and  the 
South  of  England.  He  received  a  good  academic 
education  in  private  schools  in  New  York  City. 
His  professional  studies  were  begun  in  the  office 
of  James  Renwick,  of  New  York,  one  of  the  fore- 
most architects  of  his  day  and  the  designer  and 
builder  of  many  of  the  most  noteworthy  edifices  in 
that  city,  and  continued  at  tiie  University  of 
London  and  on  Continent  of  Europe.  Mr.  Smith 
began  his  architectural  studies  in  1857,  and  began 
the  practice  of  his  profession  in  1864.  He  has 
been  constantly  engaged  in  architectural  and 
building  pursuits  in  New  York  since  that  time. 
He  has  been  a  member  of  New  York  L^niversity 
Council  since  1897.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
LTnion  League,  Grolier  and  Lawyers'  clubs  and  of 
the  Geographical  Society,  and  is  a  life  member 
of  the  Historical  Society  and  of  the  Museums  of 
Natural  History.  He  was  married  in  1888  to 
Catherine  H.  Brower.  w.  f.  j. 


BENEDICT,  Charles  Sumner,  1856- 

A  Founder  of  University  Heights. 
Born  in  New  York  City,  1856  ;  graduated  A.B.,  N.  Y. 
Univ.,  1880;  M.D.  Univ.  of  Vermont,  1882;  M.D. 
N.  Y.  Univ.,  1883  ;  House  Surgeon  St.  Vincent's  Hosp. 
N.  Y.,  1882-83;  Assistant  to  Prof,  of  Surgery  N.  Y. 
Post  Graduate  School  and  Hosp.,  1883-90;  Inspector, 
etc.,  N.  Y.  Dept.  of  Health,  1886- ;  a  Founder  of  Uni- 
versity Heights,  and  Pres.  Alumni  Association,  N  Y. 
Univ.,  1900-01. 

CHARLES  SUMNER  BENEDICT,  M.D., 
was  born  in  New  York  City,  December  9, 
1856,  the  son  of  Joseph  and  Mary  (Goldey)  Bene- 
dict.    His  education  was  begun  in  public  school 


198 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR    SONS 


No.  15  of  Brookljm.  Thence  he  went  successively 
to  the  Chappaqua  Mountain  Institute,  at  Chappa- 
qua,  Westchester  county,  New  York,  and  to  the 
Centenary  Collegiate  Institute  at  Hackettstown, 
New  Jersey.  In  these  admirable  secondary  schools 
he  was  prepared  for  entrance  to  New  York  Uni- 
versity, where  he  pursued  the  regular  course  in  the 
School  of  Arts,  and  was  duly  graduated  in  1880 
with  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts.  He  entered 
the  Medical  Department  of  the  New  York  Univer- 
sity in  the  following  fall,  and  was  graduated  there 
in  1883  with  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine. 
Simultaneously  he   attended  two  summer  courses 


CHARLES   S.    BENEDICT 

of  lectures  at  the  University  of  Vermont,  from 
which  College  he  was  also  graduated  in  July  1882, 
with  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine.  In  Octo- 
ber 1882,  he  became  an  Interne  of  St.  Vincent's 
Hospital  in  New  York  City,  serving  as  House 
Surgeon  until  October  1883,  when  he  began 
private  practice  in  New  York  City.  From  1883 
to  1890  he  served  as  Assistant  to  the  Professor  of 
Surgery.  Meantime,  in  1886,  he  entered  the  service 
of  the  New  York  City  Department  of  Health,  and 
became  successively  Inspector,  Diagnostician  and 
Chief  Inspector  of  the  Division  of  Contagious 
Diseases.     While  an  undergraduate  in  New  York 


Universit)'  he  was  an  enthusiastic  member  of  the 
Psi  Upsilon  Fraternity,  and  in  after  years  has 
remained  one  of  the  most  loyal  and  efficient  of  its 
alumni  members,  being  particularly  active  in  the 
building  of  the  Delta  Chapter  House  at  University 
Heights.  He  is  a  member  of  the  American 
Medical  Association,  New  York  State,  and  New 
York  County  Medical  Associations,  New  York 
County  Medical  Society,  Westchester  County 
Medical  Society,  of  \\hich  he  was  President  in 
1887,  Harlem  Medical  Association,  and  of  the 
Physicians'  Mutual  Aid  Association.  He  was 
President  of  the  National  Sanitary  Association  of 
the  United  States  in  1898-1899.  He  has  reached 
the  highest  degrees  in  Masonr)'  and  is  an  active 
member  of  the  Supreme  Council  of  the  Royal 
Arcanum.  \\'hen  the  "  uptown  movement  "  was 
begun,  and  several  departments  of  New  York 
University  were  removed  from  Washington  Square 
to  University  Heights,  Dr.  Benedict  gave  his 
cordial  co-operation  and  support  and  was  one  of 
the  Founders  of  University  Heights.  He  has  ever 
been  active  in  the  affairs  of  the  alumni  of  the 
University,  and  in  1900  was  elected  President  of 
the  Alumni  Association.  He  was  married  on 
October  20,  1886,  to  Hannah  Augusta,  daughter 
of  Anthony  D.  and  Hannah  (Thompson)  Leaycraft, 
and  has  three  children :  Helen  Story,  Sumner 
Leaycraft  and  Dorothy  Holton  Benedict.       w.  v.  j. 


BRAINERD,   Cephas,  Jr.,    1859   1898. 

A  Founder  of  University  Heights. 

Born  in  Cromwell,  Conn.,  1859;  studied  at  Mt. 
Washington  Collegiate  Institute,  N.  Y.;  A.  B.  N.  Y. 
Univ.,  1881  ;  began  law  practice,  1883,  and  continued 
therein  until  his  death  ;  for  seven  years  a  lecturer  in 
the  Public  School  Free  Lecture  Courses;  member  of 
Republican  County  Com.  and  active  in  politics  ;  mem- 
ber of  International  Com.  of  Young  Men's  Christian 
Assoc,  and  active  in  its  work  and  in  church  duties;  a 
Founder  of  University  Heights  ;  died  1898. 

CEPHAS  BRAINERD,  Jr.,  the  son  of  Cephas 
and  Eveline  Hutchinson  Brainerd,  was  of 
old  New  England  stock.  Born  at  Cromwell,  Con- 
necticut, December  28,  1859,  he  spent  the  greater 
part  of  his  life  in  New  York  City,  where  his 
father  was  a  practicing  lawyer.  He  prepared  for 
College  at  the  old  Mount  Washington  Collegiate 
Institute,  on  Washington  Square,  New  York,  and 
went    thence   to    the    University   of    the    City   of 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


199 


New  York,  now  New  York  University.  He  was 
Junior  Orator,  Class  Orator  and  Commencement 
Speaker,  graduating  with  the  degree  of  Bachelor 
of  Arts  in  i88i,  and  receiving  the  degree  of 
Master  of  Arts  in  1884.  Entering  upon  the  study 
of  the  law  in  his  father's  office,  he  was  admitted  to 
the  Bar  in  two  years  and  began  in  1883  the 
practice  of  his  profession,  in  which  he  actively 
continued  until  his  death.  Mr.  lirainerd  was  one 
of  the  most  popular  lecturers  in  the  free  lecture 
courses  of  the  New  York  Public  School  system, 
among  his  subjects  being  The  Constitution  of  the 
United    States,    Daniel    Webster,    and    The    Civil 


CEPHAS     BRAINERD,  JR. 

War.  He  was  deeply  interested  in  the  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association,  and  was  a  member 
of  the  Committee  of  Management  of  its  Twenty- 
third  Street  branch  in  New  York,  and  member 
of  the  International  Committee.  At  sixteen,  he 
became  a  member  of  the  Congregational  Church 
in  Haddam,  Connecticut.  He  was  active  for 
many  years  in  the  Fourth  Avenue  Presbyterian 
Church,  then  under  the  charge  of  the  Chancellor 
of  the  University,  Dr.  Howard  Crosby.  For  the 
last  twelve  years  of  his  life  he  was  a  member  of 
the  Broadway  Tabernacle,  and  energetic  in  the 
work  of  the  church  and  of  its  Bethany  Mission. 


In  politics  Mr.  Brainerd  was  a  Republican,  a 
member  of  the  County  ('ommitlee  of  New  York 
and  earne.st  in  party  work.  ]Ie  belonged  to  the 
Delta  Upsilon  P'raternity,  was  President  of  the 
Philomathean  Society  in  New  York  University, 
and  the  enthusiastic  Secretary  of  the  Alumni 
Association.  He  became  a  member  of  the  liar 
Associations  of  the  city  and  the  state,  the  Repub- 
lican C'lub,  the  New  England  Society,  and  tiie 
Society  of  Colonial  Wars.  Mr.  Brainerd  was 
married,  October  4,  1888,  to  Harriet  Tyler  Arnold, 
of  Haddam,  Connecticut,  and  liad  one  son,  ("ephas 
Brainerd  4th.  He  died  in  New  York,  July  26, 
1898.  * 


BULKLEY,  Edwin  Muhlenberg,  1862- 

A  Founder  of  University  Heights. 

Born  in  Groton,  Mass.,  1862;  studied  at  High  School 
of  Plattsburg,  N.  Y.,  and  for  two  years  at  N.  Y.  Univ. ; 
engaged  in  banking  in  New  York  since  1881  ;  Direc.  and 
Trustee  of  various  corporations  and  philanthropic  or- 
ganizations ;  a  founder  of  University  Heights. 

EDWIN  MUHLENBERG  BULKLEY  comes 
of  an  ancestry  highly  distinguished  in  both 
America  and  Europe.  The  Bulkley  family  is 
traced  back  to  Robert  de  Bulkley,  of  England,  in 
1200,  whose  descendants  still  possess  one  of  the 
ancestral  seats  in  that  country.  The  pioneer  of 
the  line  in  this  country  was  the  Rev.  Peter  Bulklev, 
who  came  hither  from  Odell,  England,  in  1634.  to 
escape  the  persecution  which  was  directed  against 
him  because  of  his  earnest  preaching  and  his  out- 
spoken opposition  to  ecclesiastical  tyranny.  In 
the  New  England  colonies  he  became  one  of  the 
foremost  men  of  his  day.  He  was  the  founder  of 
Concord,  Massachusetts,  and  Pastor  of  its  first 
church.  In  that  church  the  first  Provincial  Con- 
gress was  held,  and  there  were  made  those  stirring 
speeches  by  Adams,  Hancock  and  others  which 
hastened  the  outbreak  of  the  Revolution.  Mr. 
Bulkley  was  also  one  of  the  founders  of  Harvard 
College,  and  his  son  married  a  daughter  of  Presi- 
dent Chauncey  of  that  institution.  In  a  funeral 
sermon  Cotton  Mather  spoke  of  Mr.  Bulkley "s 
noble  ancestr)-,  and  praised  his  bene\olence  in 
spending  his  wealth,  his  eminent  learning,  and  his 
devoted  piet\-.  On  the  maternal  side  the  subject 
of  this  sketch  is  descended  from  Henry  Melchior 
Muhlenberg,  the  Patriarch  of  the  Lutheran  Church 


200 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


in  America,  and  rhe  father  of  the  two  Muhlenberg 
brothers  of  Revolutionary  fame — Henry  Augustus 
Muhlenberg,  first  speaker  of  the  First  Congress, 
in  New  York,  and  General  Peter  Muhlenberg, 
whose  statue  has  been  placed  by  the  State  of 
Pennsylvania  in  the  rotunda  of  the  Capitol  at 
Washington.  Edward  Muhlenberg  Bulkley,  son  of 
the  Rev.  Edwin  A.  Bulkley,  D.D.,  and  Catherine 
Frederica  (Oakely)  Bulkely,  was  born  at  Groton, 
Massachusetts,  on  September  lo,  1862.  His  pre- 
paratory education  was  gained  at  the  High  School 
of  Plattsburg,  New  York,  whence  he  proceeded  to 
the  University  of  the  City  of  New  York,  and  there 


EDWIN    M.    BULKLEY 

spent  two  years  as  a  member  of  the  Class  of  1882. 
He  left  College  without  graduating,  and  entered 
business  life.  For  a  short  time  he  was  in  the  ser- 
vice of  the  American  Exchange  National  Bank, 
and  then  entered  that  of  the  well-known  banking 
firm  of  Spencer  Trask  &  Company.  With  the 
latter  house  he  has  ever  since  remained,  and  for 
the  last  ten  years  he  has  been  a  partner  in  it.  He 
is  also  a  Director  or  Trustee  of  various  Railroads 
and  other  corporations,  and  of  a  number  of  phil- 
anthropic organizations.  In  the  University  Mr. 
Bulkley  was  a  member  of  the  Psi  Upsilon  Frater- 
nity, and  he  is  now  also  a  member  of  the  Lawyers' 
Club  and  of  the  Midday  City  Club.     In  politics  he 


is  an  independent  Republican,  but  he  has  taken  no 
public  part  in  political  affairs.  He  was  married 
on  June  12,  1895,  to  Lucy  Warren,  daughter  of 
A.  M.  Kidder,  the  well-known  banker  of  New 
York,  and  has  three  children :  Harold  Kidder, 
Katharine  Frederica  and  Lucy  Kidder  Bulkley. 
Mr.  Bulkley  aided  materially  in  the  founding  of 
University  Heights,  and  is  enrolled  among  its 
P^ounders.  w.  f.  j. 


BONNER,    Robert,    1824-1899. 

A  Founder  of  University  Heights. 
Born  in  Ramelton,  Ire.,  1824;  came  to  America, 
1839 ;  learned  printer's  trade ;  owner  of  New  York 
Ledger;  owner  of  Maud  S.,  Sunol  and  other  cele- 
brated horses ;  one  of  the  founders  of  University 
Heights;  died  1899. 

ROBERT  BONNER,  Publisher,  was  born  at 
Ramelton,  near  Londonderry,  Ireland, 
April  28,  1824,  and  died  in  New  York,  July  6, 
1899.  He  emigrated  to  America  in  1839  at  the 
suggestion  of  a  brother  of  his  mother  who  was  a 
prosperous  farmer  near  Hartford,  Connecticut. 
He  was  apprenticed  to  the  printer's  trade  and 
worked  on  the  Hartford  Courant  to  1844  when 
he  came  to  New  York  and  became  assistant 
foreman  on  The  New  York  Mirror,  then  edited 
by  N.  P.  Willis.  After  a  few  years  Robert  Bonner 
purchased  The  Merchants'  Ledger,  a  financial 
periodical,  which  he  gradually  changed  to  a 
family  paper,  substituting  in  1855  the  name  of 
New  York  Ledger.  His  bold  enterprise  became 
the  talk  of  the  country  and  added  enormously  to 
the  circulation  of  his  paper;  thus  he  paid  $100 
per  column  to  Fanny  Fern;  $10,000  for  a  series 
of  weekly  articles  by  Edward  Everett,  the  money 
to  go  to  the  Mt.  Vernon  Association ;  Henry 
Ward  Beecher  received  $30,000  for  his  novel 
Norwood,  Charles  Dickens  $5,000  for  his  story 
Hunted  Down,  Tennyson  $5,000  for  a  single  poem, 
and  Longfellow  $3,000  for  the  same  amount  of 
literary  work.  He  produced  a  series  of  articles 
on  Advice  to  Young  Men  from  the  Presidents  of 
our  leading  Universities ;  another  series  by 
twelve  of  the  most  prominent  United  States 
Senators  ;  others  on  familiar  topics  by  such  men 
as  Horace  Greeley,  George  W.  Childs,  George 
Bancroft  and  Bishop  Clark.  He  induced  Dr. 
Stephen  H.  Tyng  to  write  a  novel  for  The  Ledger. 
The  matter  which  he  published  anonymously  was 
of     equally    high    quality,    even    the    Answers   to 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


201 


Correspondents  bciny  written  by  such  men  as 
Dr.  John  Hall,  Kdwarcl  Everett  and  James  Parton. 
In  1887  Mr.  Bonner  gave  the  paper  to  his  three 
sons.  Mr.  Bonner's  noted  devotion  to  trotting 
horses  originated  in  medical  advice,  which  sug- 
gested to  him  driving  and  riding  as  a  form  of 
out-door  exercise.  Thus  he  gradually  became  the 
owner   of    horses    of  national    renown,  such    as 


ROBERT    BONNER 

Dexter,  Rarus,  Maud  S.  and  Sunol.  The  death 
of  one  of  his  sons  and  of  his  pastor,  the  Rev.  John 
Hall,  seems  to  have  hastened  his  physical  decline. 
His  surviving  descendants  were  his  sons,  Robert 
Edwin  and  Frederick  Bonner,  and  his  daughter, 
Mrs.  Francis  Forbes.  Mr.  Bonner  was  a  generous 
contributor  to  the  founding  of  University  Heights. 

E.    G.    s. 


DOREMUS,   Robert  Ogden,   1824- 

A  Founder  of  Bellevue  Hospital  Medical  College,  1861- 

Born  in  N.  Y.  City,  1824;  entered  Columbia  Coll., 
1838;  grad.  N.  Y.  Univ.  A.B..  1842  ;  A.  M.,  1845  ;  Univ. 
Med.  Coll.  M.D.,  1850;  Asst.  to  Dr.  John  W.  Draper, 
N.  Y.  Univ.,  1843-50;  studied  in  Paris,  1847;  Prof. 
Chemistry,  N.  Y.  Coll.  of  Pharmacy,  1859;  a  founder 
N.  Y.  Med.  Coll.,  1850,  and  founder,  at  his  own  ex- 
pense, of  first  Analytical  Chemical  Laboratory  for 
medical  students  in  the  United  States ;  Prof.  Natural 


History  Coll.  of  City  of  N.  Y.,  1853;  a  founder  Long 
Island  Hospital  Med.  Coll.,  1859,  and  Professor  for 
several  years  ;  founder  and  Prof.  Chemistry  and  Toxi- 
cology in  Bellevue  Hosp.  Med.  Coll.,  1861-98;  Prof. 
Chemistry  and  Physics  Coll.  of  City  of  N.  Y.,  since 
1863;  Pres.  N.  Y.  Board  of  Examiners  in  Pharmacy, 
1871  ;  lecturer,  inventor  and  chemical  expert;  LL.D. 
N.  Y.  Univ.,  1874. 

ROBERT  OGDEN  DOREMUS,  M.D.,  LL.D., 
is  the  son  of  Thomas  Cornelius  Doremus,^ 
one  of  the  foremost  merchants  of  New  York  in 
the  early  part  of  the  last  century,  and  of  Sarah 
Piatt  (Haines)  Doremus,  his  wife.  Mrs.  Doremus 
was  a  daughter  of  Elias  Haines,  and  a  grand- 
daughter of  Robert  Ogden,  an  eminent  lawyer  and 
member  of  a  distinguished  New  Jersey  family ; 
she  was  herself  a  noted  philanthropist,  being  one 
of  the  founders  of  the  institution  for  discharged 
female  convicts  now  known  as  the  Isaac  T.  Hopper 
Home,  and  of  the  Woman's  Hospital  in  New  York, 
of  which  latter  she  was  President  for  many  years 
down  to  her  death  in  1877;  she  was  also  promi- 
nent in  hospital  work  in  the  Civil  War,  in  mission- 
ary and  Bible  work,  in  relief  work  for  Irish  famine 
sufferers,  in  the  promotion  of  education  among  the 
poor,  and  in  innumerable  other  noble  enterprises. 
One  of  the  nine  children  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Dore- 
mus was  Robert  Ogden  Doremus,  who  was  born 
in  New  York  City  on  January  11,  1824.  After  a 
careful  preparation,  and  some  preliminary  study  in 
Columbia  College,  he  entered  New  York  Uni- 
versity, or  the  University  of  the  City  of  New  York, 
as  it  was  then  called,  and  was  graduated  with  the 
degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts  in  1842.  He  came 
strongly  under  the  influence  of  that  illustrious 
scientist,  John  W.  Draper,  and  in  the  year  follow- 
ing his  graduation  became  his  assistant  in  the 
Medical  Department  of  the  University,  and  filled 
that  place  for  seven  years.  He  was  thus  asso- 
ciated w  ith  many  of  the  researches  and  achieve- 
ments in  light  and  heat  which  made  Dr.  Draper 
famous.  He  went  to  Europe  in  1847  and  studied 
Chemistry  and  Electro-Metallurgy  in  Paris  and 
elsewhere.  On  his  return  to  New  York  in  1848 
he  founded  a  Chemical  Laboratory  for  giving 
instruction  in  Analytical  Chemistry  and  also  for 
commercial  work.  The  next  year  he  was  elected 
Professor  of  Chemistry  in  the  New  York  College 
of  Pharmacy;  and  began,  in  his  own  laborator}', 

•  In  1630,  his  ancestor,  Cornelius  Thomas  Doremus,  with  two 
sons,  came  from  Holland  to  New  .Amsterdam,  in  the  same  vessel  with 
Rolof  Jans  and  Anneke  Jans.  A  grandson  of  his  married  one  of  the 
latter's  grand^iaughters. 


202 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


his  notable  series  of  popular  lectures  on  Chemistry 
and  allied  sciences.  At  the  same  time  he  was 
pursuing  medical  studies,  and  in  1850  he  received 
the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine  from  the  Uni- 
versity of  the  City  of  New  York.  He  was  in  1850 
one  of  the  founders  of  the  New  York  Medical 
College,  and  at  his  own  expense  equipped 
the  first  laboratory  in  the  United  States  for  the 
instruction  of  medical  students  in  Analytical 
Chemistry.  He  was  elected  in  1853  Professor  of 
Natural  History  in  the  Free  Academy,  now  College 
of  the  City  of  New  York,  and  in  1859  was  one  of 
the  founders  of  the  Long  Island  Hospital  Medical 


R.  OGDEN  DOREMUS 

College,  in  which  latter  institution  he  was  a  Pro- 
fessor for  a  number  of  years.  In  1861  he  was 
one  of  the  founders  of  the  Bellevue  Hospital  Medi- 
cal College  and  Professor  of  Chemistry,  Toxicol- 
ogy and  Medical  Jurisprudence,  and  held  that 
place  until  that  College  was  consolidated  with 
New  York  University.  During  the  Civil  War  he 
studied  the  subject  of  explosives,  and  patented 
with  his  assistant.  Doctor  B.  L.  Budd,  the  use 
of  compressed  granulated  gunpowder.  This  dis- 
pensed with  the  serge  envelopes  of  cartridges  for 
muzzle-loading  cannon,  and  avoided  delay  of  spong- 
ing the  cannon.  For  small  arms  the  powder  was 
attached   to   the  bullet,  and  rendered  water-proof 


with  collodion.  Millions  of  the  cartridges  were 
made  by  Dupont  and  Hazard  for  the  United  States 
Army  and  Navy.  This  method  was  adopted  by 
the  French  Government.  Doctor  Doremus  demon- 
strated their  superiority  at  the  Bois  de  Vincennes, 
before  Emperor  Napoleon  III,  and  his  generals. 
He  also  introduced  it  in  Italy.  The  Mont  Cenis 
Tunnel,  eight  miles  in  length,  was  blasted  with 
compressed  powder.  While  in  Paris  he  was 
chosen  to  fill  the  Chair  of  Chemistry  and  Physics 
in  the  College  of  the  City  of  New  York,  which 
place  he  continues  to  hold.  He  has  for  many 
years  ranked  as  one  of  the  foremost  chemical 
experts  in  the  world,  and  has  been  called  upon  to 
testify  as  an  expert  in  many  important  murder 
cases  in  which  poison  was  used,  and  in  other  cases. 
In  1858  he  established  the  first  Toxicological 
Laboratory.  He  was  appointed  in  187  i  President 
of  a  municipal  board  for  examining  druggists  and 
their  clerks.  Doctor  Doremus  has  long  been 
known  as  a  brilliant  and  scholarly  lecturer  on 
scientific  topics,  and  as  the  inventor  of  various 
chemical  devices  and  processes,  both  industrial 
and  sanitary.  His  course  of  illustrated  lectures 
on  the  Agreement  between  the  Mosaic  Account 
of  Creation  and  that  of  Modern  Science  was  first 
delivered  in  1852,  in  the  New  York  Medical  Col- 
lege, then  at  the  opening  of  the  New  York  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association,  also  at  Hartford, 
Connecticut,  and  at  Chautauqua.  An  illustrated 
lecture  on  Light  was  given  in  the  New  York  Acad- 
emy of  Music,  1854,  for  the  Church  of  the  Deaf 
Mutes.  Three  illustrated  lectures  on  the  Progress 
of  Science  were  delivered  in  1865,  for  the  Brook- 
lyn Mercantile  Library,  at  the  Brooklyn  Academy 
of  Music.  The  experiments  cost  several  thousand 
dollars.  He  published  many  articles  in  scientific 
and  in  popular  journals  on  Expert  Testimony, 
Toxicology,  the  Microscope,  History  of  the  Lique- 
faction of  Gases,  etc.  He  strenuously  opposed  the 
New  York  Board  of  Health,  in  the  courts  and  in 
scientific  articles,  in  the  sole  use  of  the  "  lactom- 
eter and  the  senses  "  in  testing  commercial  milk, 
advocating  the  chemical  analysis  of  milk,  as  the  law 
now  demands.  He  has  delivered  three  lecture 
courses  at  Chautauqua,  tons  of  apparatus  being 
used  for  illustrations,  and  published  a  number  of 
addresses  and  papers,  including  the  noteworthy 
address  delivered  by  him  at  the  unveiling  of  the 
Humboldt  statue  in  Central  Park.  He  had  the 
Obelisk  in  Central  Park  protected  from  "  weather- 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR  SONS 


203 


ing  "  by  a  coating  of  paraffine  wax.  lie  was  en- 
trusted with  the  chemical  dehnitions  in  The  Stand- 
ard Dictionary.  In  1865,  by  authority  of  Mayor 
Gunther,  he  disinfected  the  ship  Atlanta  (sixty 
passengers  had  died  of  cholera)  by  using  enor- 
mous volumes  of  chlorine  gas.  This  was  applied 
also  to  other  ships,  and  to  disinfecting  Bellevue 
and  other  hospitals.  Doctor  Doremus  is  a  member 
and  ex-President  of  the  Philharmonic  Society  of 
New  York,  and  of  the  Medico-Legal  Society ;  a 
fellow  of  the  Academy  of  Sciences,  and  of  the 
American  Geographical  Society ;  and  a  member  of 
the  Union  League  Club,  the  St.  Nicholas  Society 
and  other  organizations.  He  married  Estelle  E., 
daughter  of  Captain  Hubbard  Skidmore,  and  a 
descendant  of  the  famous  colonial  Captain  John 
Undcrhill.  She  has  borne  him  eight  children,  the 
eldest  of  whom.  Dr.  Charles  Avery  Doremus, 
has  attained  eminence  as  a  chemist,  serving  as 
Professor  of  Chemistry  for  five  years  in  Buffalo 
Medical  College,  Assistant  Professor  at  Bellevue 
Medical  College  and  in  the  College  of  the  City  of 
New  York.  w.   f.  j. 

DURYEA,   Samuel  Bowne,   1845-1892. 

Benefactor. 
Born  in  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  1845;  educated  at  Poly- 
technic Inst.,  Brooklyn,  and  N.  Y.  Univ.  ;  graduated 
N.  Y.  Univ.,  1866;  studied  at  Yale  Theol.  Sem.  ;  en- 
tered business  life  as  manager  of  inheritated  estate ; 
Major,  National  Guard,  1865-66 ;  prominent  leader  of 
Republican  party  in  Brooklyn  ;  Pres.  of  Tree  Planting 
Society  and  of  Children's  Parks  and  Playgrounds 
Society,  of  Brooklyn  ;  Direc.  of  Brooklyn  Library,  of 
Brooklyn  Art  Association,  and  of  Y.  M.  C.  A.  ;  collec- 
tor of  books  and  MSB.  ;  benefactor  by  bequest,  of  N. 
Y.  Univ.  and  other  institutions;  philanthropist;  died 
1892. 

SAMUEL  BOWNE  DURYEA,  a  fine  t>'pe  of 
the  public  spirited  citizen,  came  of  Huguenot 
and  Dutch  ancestrj^  His  Huguenot  ancestors 
were  exiled  from  France  because  of  their  faith, 
and  found  refuge  in  Holland,  where  they  inter- 
married with  the  Dutch.  In  1675  one  of  them, 
Joost  Durie,  came  to  this  country,  and  settled  at 
New  Utrecht,  which  is  now  a  part  of  the  Borough 
of  Brooklyn,  City  of  New  York.  In  later  genera- 
tions the  spelling  of  the  name  was  changed  to 
Duryee,  and  to  Duryea,  as  more  correctly  expres- 
sive of  the  pronunciation  of  the  original  French 
Huguenot  name.  A  grandson  of  Joost  Durie, 
named  Abraham  Duryea,  was  in  Revolutionary 
times   a  member  of  the  Provisional  Committee  of 


One  Hundred  in  New  York.  John  Duryea,  a 
great-grand.son  of  Joost  Durie,  married  Jannetta, 
daughter  of  Cornelius  Rapelyea,  a  member  of  one 
of  the  original  Dutch  families  of  Long  Island  ;  and 
their  son,  Cornelius  Rapelyea  Duryea,  was  the 
father  of  Harmanus  Barkaloo  Duryea,  who  became 
Brigadier-General  of  the  National  Guard  of  the 
State  of  New  York.  General  H.  B.  Duryea  mar- 
ried Elizabeth  Ann  Bowne,  whose  father,  Samuel 
Bowne,  of  Brooklyn,  was  descended  from  an 
English  Quaker  family,  and  who  was  also  de- 
scended from  the  Pell  and  Rodman  families  of 
Westchester   county.   New  York.     Samuel    Bowne 


S.AMUEL     B.     DURYEA 

Duryea,  the  son  of  General  Harmanus  B.  and 
Elizabeth  Ann  (Bowne)  Duryea,  was  born  in 
Brooklyn,  New  York,  March  27,  1845,  and  re- 
ceived his  early  education  in  the  schools  of  that 
city.  He  was  prepared  for  College  at  the  Brook- 
lyn Polytechnic  Institute,  and  then  entered  the 
Universit}^  of  the  City  of  New  York,  as  New  York 
University  was  at  that  time  known,  and  was  duly 
graduated  with  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts  in 
1866.  His  inclinations  led  him  toward  theo- 
logical studies,  and  he  accordingly  entered  the 
Theological  Seminary  of  Yale  Universit)',  but  was 
presently  called  away  therefrom  to  manage  the 
large  estate  inherited    from    his    maternal  grand- 


204 


UNIVERSITIES  JND    THEIR   SONS 


father,  Samuel  Bowne.  Thereafter  he  devoted 
his  life  chiefly  to  literary  and  philanthropic 
pursuits,  being  for  many  years  a  generous  ad- 
vocate of  many  good  causes  of  public  interest. 
Some  idea  of  his  activities  may  be  formed  from 
the  record  of  his  connection  with  various 
public  associations.  Thus  he  was  President  of 
the  Tree  Planting  Society  of  Brooklyn,  and  of 
the  Children's  Parks  and  Playgrounds  Societ}-  of 
the  same  cit}f.  He  was  a  Director  of  the  Brooklyn 
Library,  of  the  Brooklyn  Art  Association,  and  of 
the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  in  Brook- 
lyn. He  was  also  an  active  member  of  the 
Franklin  Literary  Society,  of  the  Kings  County 
Temperance  Societ}',  of  the  Long  Island  Histori- 
cal Society,  of  the  Brooklyn  Institute,  and  of  the 
New  York  Society  for  the  Suppression  of  Vice. 
He  devoted  much  attention  to  the  discriminating 
collection  of  books,  especially  of  those  on  art  and 
architecture,  and  also  of  missals  and  other  manu- 
scripts. These  valuable  collections  he  bequeathed 
to  the  Long  Island  Historical  Societ)'.  In  politics 
he  was  an  earnest  member  of  the  Republican 
party,  and  was  for  years  a  member  of  its  General 
Committee  in  Kings  county,  and  of  the  Executive 
Committee  thereof.  He  did  not  seek  public 
office,  however,  and  held  none,  save  that  of  Major 
on  the  staff  of  his  father,  General  Duryea,  of  the 
National  Guard,  in  1 865-1 868.  Mr.  Duryea  was 
a  member  of  the  Delta  Upsilon  Fraternity  in  New 
York  University,  and  in  later  life  was  a  member  of 
the  Holland  Society  of  New  York,  the  St.  Nicho- 
las Society  of  New  York,  the  Hamilton  Club 
of  Brooklyn,  the  Union  League  Club  of  Brook- 
lyn, the  Crescent  Athletic  Club  of  Brooklyn, 
and  the  Robin's  Island  Shooting  Club.  He  was 
married  on  September  23,  1869,  to  Kate  Flan- 
ders, of  Milwaukee,  Wisconsin,  and  he  died  June 
7,  1892.  Mr.  Dur)'ea's  bequest  of  his  library  to 
the  Long  Island  Historical  Society  has  already 
been  mentioned.  He  devised  to  nine  other  insti- 
tutions and  societies  a  landed  estate  which  realized 
for  each  of  them  the  sum  of  $4,500.  These  bene- 
ficiaries were  New  York  University,  the  Brook- 
lyn Polytechnic  Institute,  the  Yale  Theological 
Seminary,  the  Brooklyn  Library,  the  Brooklyn  Art 
Association,  the  Brooklyn  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association,  the  New  York  Society  for  the  Sup- 
pression of  Vice,  the  Memorial  Fund  of  Plym- 
outh Church,  Brooklyn,  and  the  National  Tem- 
perance   Society.     As    a  result   of   this   legacy,   a 


Samuel   B.  Duryea  Fellowship  has  been  founded 
at  New  York  University. 


GOULD,  Jay,   1836-1892. 

Benefactor. 
Born  in  Roxbury,  N.Y.,  1836;  learned  and  practiced 
surveying  at  an  early  age  ;  attended  Albany  Academy ; 
published  a  History  of  Delaware  County,  1856;  con- 
ducted lumber  business  until  1857  ;  in  brokerage  busi- 
ness in  N.  Y.  City ;  Pres.  of  Erie  Railroad,  resigning 
in  1872;  acquired  control  of  Union  Pacific  Railroad, 
and  later  of  Missouri  Pacific  and  connecting  lines  ; 
Pres.  Western  Union  Telegraph  Co. ;  had  controlling 
interest  in  elevated  system  of  N.  Y.  City ;  a  liberal 
benefactor  of  New  York  University;  died  1892. 

JAY  GOULD,  Financier,  was  born  in  Roxburjf, 
New  York,  May  27,  1836 ;  died  in  New 
York  City,  December  2,  1892.  This  sketch  of 
Jay    Gould,    one    of    the    principal    founders    of 


JAY    GOULD 
A  t  Tu*ettty  Years. 

University  Heights,  will  employ  original  sources 
in  treating  of  his  school  career,  ending  in  his 
nineteenth  year  (1854);  also  in  treating  of  his 
relation  to  New  York  University  in  the  closing 
years  of  his  life  (1890-1892).  The  outline  that 
will  be  given  of  the  intervening  years,  which  were 
years  of  strenuous  business  activit)%  is  drawn  from 
accredited    publications.      These    thirty-six    years 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    'I'llEIK    SONS 


205 


belong  to  tlic  history  of  American  coninicrce  and 
finance,  which  is  yet  to  be  written.  The  early 
years  of  Jay  Gould  arc  unique  in  the  zeal  for 
study  that  is  shown,  and  the  devotion  to  school 
and  teacher.  The  renewal  by  him  in  later  years 
of  attention  to  education  is,  therefore,  the  less 
remarkable.  Few  men  of  business,  indeed  few 
men  of  any  calling,  are  favored  in  the  degree  in 
which  Mr.  Gould  is  favored  by  the  preservation 
of  early  letters  to  the  comrades  and  teachers  of 
their  boyhood.  The  attempt  after  the  death  of 
Mr.  Gould,  made  by  a  crafty  woman,  old  in  crime, 
to  prove  him  to  have  been  married  at  sixteen 
years  of  age,  led  to  the  careful  gathering,  by  his 
older  daughter,  of  his  schoolboy  letters.  It  more- 
over brought  to  the  witness-stand  one  of  his  early 
teachers  and  certain  of  his  schoolmates.  This 
testimony  in  court,  and  these  youthful  epistles, 
which  were  printed  in  full  as  part  of  the  judicial 
process,  constitute  an  unusually  complete  and 
interesting  picture  of  the  progress  of  a  schoolboy 
from  thirteen  years  of  age  until  he  was  seventeen. 
Such  a  portrait  is  of  a  decided  educational  value. 
Jay  Gould  was  the  only  son  of  John  Burr  Gould, 
of  a  family  settled  in  New  England  since  1636 
and  in  Delaware  county.  New  York,  since  1789  ; 
and  of  Mary  More,  of  a  Delaware  county  family 
of  Scotch  extraction.  In  1849,  ^^  thirteen  years 
of  age,  he  became  a  pupil  of  James  Oliver,  who 
taught  a  school  in  West  Settlement,  a  community 
four  miles  west  of  Roxbury  in  Delaware  county, 
New  York.  This  school  was  known  as  Beech- 
wood  Seminary,  and  had  been  recently  built  by 
the  Gould  family  together  with  two  neighboring 
families,  for  the  education  of  their  children. 
Teacher  and  pupil  were  separated  after  two  years, 
when  the  boy's  father  removed  from  the  farm  to 
Roxbury,  but  letters  passed  between  them  for  four 
years  more.  Mr.  Oliver,  who  was  in  later  life  a 
merchant  in  Kansas,  preserved  these  letters  of  his 
pupil,  and  presented  them  in  the  court  proceed- 
ings already  referred  to,  held  at  Albany  in  1897. 
Before  coming  under  Mr.  Oliver  the  school  life  of 
the  boy,  according  to  the  testimony  in  court  of  an 
older  sister,  consisted  of  going  for  one  summer,  a 
mile  "over  the  hill,"  at  five  years  of  age,  to 
"  Meeker's  Hollow,"  attending  an  occasional 
"  quarter  "  nearer  home,  and  early  in  1849  attend- 
ing for  a  few  months  Hobart  School,  several 
miles  away,  returning  home  for  each  Sunday.  His 
more  earnest  school  life  began  in  the  autumn  of 


1849,  with  Mr.  Oliver,  as  his  letters  to  this  teacher 
unconsciously  establish.  His  time  after  leaving 
Oliver's  School  was  divided  for  a  period  between 
his  father's  hardware  shop  in  Roxbury,  and  the 
private  study  of  surveying,  in  which  he  had  the 
help  of  the  instruments  of  a  Roxbury  neighbor. 
He  was  next  employed  by  a  country  surveyor  in 
an  adjoining  county.  When  ntjt  quite  sixteen 
(May  II,  1852),  he  writes  his  first  letter  to  his  old 
teacher.  The  exact  punctuation  and  spelling  of 
the  original  documents  are  given  in  the  printed 
testimony,  and  need  far  less  correction  than  the 
manuscript  of  the  average  College  graduate  of 
to-day : 

"  RESPECTEn  Friend,  —  It  is  by  the  silent  speech  of 
the  pen  alone  that  we  can  hold  converse  together;  time, 
which  threw  us  together,  has  also,  in  her  turn  separated  us; 
a  few  short  weeks  has  changed  the  situation  of  us  both.  It 
has  greatly  changed  my  own,  whether  for  better  or  worse, 
tlie  future  must  decide.  Change  seems  to  me  to  be  the 
one  great  prerogative  of  human  nature. 

"I  have  been  from  home  now  four  weeks.  It  is  the 
longest  time  I  have  ever  been  from  there  but  thanks 
to  my  good  star  I  have  not  been  homesick  yet.  I  might 
have  been,  had  it  not  been  for  the  resolution  I  formed 
before  I  left  Ro.xbury.  I  cannot  say  I  am  disappointed 
in  my  engagement  with  Mr.  Snyder.  He  has  a  good 
deal  of  job  surveying  to  do  all  over  the  country,  to  do 
which,  we  are  obliged  to  postpone  the  commencement  of 
the  map  survey.  Last  week,  the  live-long  week  we  sur- 
veyed on  the  mountains  of  Sullivan  ;  whole  days  we  traveled 
without  as  much  as  seeing  one  friendly  clearing,  hut  or 
shanty,  to  cheer  the  solitude  of  the  one  unbroken  wilder- 
ness from  morning  till  night. 

"  It  is  after  a  half  day's  march  like  this,  that  I  can  sit 
down  under  the  overhanging  branches  of  the  lofty  oak,  by 
some  cool  stream  of  water,  and  make  a  hearty  repast  as  the 
heart  could  wish,  on  a  piece  of  cold  pork  and  a  potato, 
which  we  are  wise  enough  to  store  away  in  our  knap- 
sacks, and  what  lover  of  nature  would  not  envy  us  such  a 
repast  ? 

"  We  have  one  job  of  twenty-seven  hundred  acres  of 
woodland  of  which  we  are  to  commence  the  survey  the 
24th  of  May.  It  will  take  us  near  three  weeks,  and  through 
a  country  infested  with  rattle  and  black  snakes  to  the  brim. 
In  fact,  people  do  not  pretend  to  venture  into  the  woods 
without  dangling  to  their  boots  some  white  ash  bark  or 
leaves.  This  is  poison  to  them,  and  they  will  not  trouble 
you." 

Besides  mountain  surveys,  he  worked  for  his 
employer  upon  a  map  of  Ulster  count)*.  The 
following  is  his  accurate  description  of  his  appara- 
tus and  method  :  — 

"  I  must  now  try  to  give  you  a  description  of  the  '  modus 
operandi  *  of   the   map  which  is  somewhat    different  from 


2o6 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


what  I  expected  when  I  came  here.  In  addition  to  the  com- 
pass, we  use  an  odometer,  an  instrument,  the  only  thing  I 
can  liken  it  to  is  a  wheel-banow,  only  there  is  a  little  more 
work  about  it,  and  it  is  got  up  on  a  little  nicer  scale.  The 
wheel  is  half  a  rod  in  circumference  to  indicate  the  revolu- 
tions of  the  wheel.  There  is  a  complication  of  clock-work 
and  a  dial  with  three  hands  attached,  one  of  which,  as  often 
as  the  wheel  goes  one  rod,  moves  from  one  to  two,  etc.,  and 
in  the  same  manner  the  other  two  give  the  distance  in  chains 
and  miles  respectively.  The  cost  of  this  machine  is  $25, 
and  the  advantage  gained  is  evident.  One  person  with  his 
odometer  and  compass  forms  a  company  within  himself. 
As  we  go  through  the  county,  we  make  a  sort  of  a  pano- 
rama sketch  of  the  whole  county,  laying  down  every  man's 
house,  shops,  school-houses,  tanneries,  public  houses,  and 
churches,  also,  correctly  noting  down  the  courses  of  the  dif- 
ferent roads  and  streams.  Then  these  notes  which  we  have 
taken  during  the  day,  we  plot  into  a  map  at  night,  and  to 
this  add  each  day's  work  for  a  week.  Perhaps  then  we 
make  our  returns  to  him  (Snyder),  and  his  business  is  to 
compile  them  all  into  his  general  map." 

He  is  already  a  student  of  natural  resources  and 
of  means  of  transportation ;  he  dwells  upon  the 
valley  of  the  Esopus  : 

"  Since  I  begin  to  get  acquainted  with  these  Dutch  here, 
I  begin  to  like  the  country  better.  We  live  half  a  mile 
from  the  Delaware  and  Hudson  Canal,  the  great  thorough- 
fare for  the  coal  and  produce  from  eastern  Pennsylvania; 
and  then  here,  within  gunshot  is  the  greatest  millstone 
quarry  in  the  United  States,  and  this  county  e.xports  more 
cement  than  all  the  State  besides ;  then  too,  the  farmers  of 
this  county  possess  advantages  far  beyond  those  of  Dela- 
ware County,  in  lime  and  plaster,  which  cost  many  of  them 
comparatively  nothing.  A  good  deal  of  the  land  has  a 
loamy  soil,  easy  of  cultivation,  and  yielding  abundant  har- 
ve.sts  of  grain,  which  fetches  the  highest  market  price,  at  the 
option  of  the  farmer  to  sell." 

This  boy,  not  yet  sixteen,  closes  this  letter  by  a 
discussion  of  the  treatment  of  his  old  teacher  by 
the  Beechwood  district  after  the  removal  from  the 
neighborhood  of  his  father's  family.     He  says :  — 

"  I  at  last  received  a  letter  from  home  last  week.  I 
began  to  think  I  had  been  forgotten,  and  I  hope,  by  the 
way,  I  shall  not  be  disappointed  in  hearing  from  you  soon 
in  an  answer  to  this  letter.  Letters  come  like  oases  in  a 
desert,  always  welcome.  I  have  heard  of  the  disgraceful 
stigma  the  West  Settlement  Distnct,  by  their  proceedings, 
brought  upon  ihemselves  and  that  district,  which  was  the 
first  in  the  town,  and  which  heretofore  has  been  justly  noted 
for  the  energy  as  well  as  liberality  with  which  it  has  sup- 
ported a  school.  This  is  a  shame.  Some  seem  to  prize  a 
few  jingling  dollars  more  than  the  education  of  their  chil- 
dren, and  more  than  their  reputation  as  a  District.  I  con- 
sider that  district  greatly  in  your  debt,  and  there  is,  I  trust, 
a  rising  generation,  who  by  their  honest  exertions  to  do 
good,  and  be  useful  to  the  world,  will  prove  to  you  their 


gratitude,  and  all  who  know  you,  know  this  is  the  brightest 
reward  you  would  ask." 

A  -week  later  he  writes  to  a  schoolgirl  friend  in 
the  village  of  Fergusonville  in  Delaware  county, 
now  studying  under  his  old  teacher  Mr.  Oliver. 
The  letter  shows  the  boy's  observation  of  nature  :  — 

"  I  must  confess  that  I  have  been  a  little  homesick  since 
I  came  to  Ulster.  The  first  two  weeks,  if  you  recollect, 
were  cold  and  stormy  after  I  got  here.  I  was  completely 
among  strangers,  even  to  Mr.  Snyder  I  had  to  introduce 
myself.  It  seemed  like  being  shut  up  from  the  world, 
friends  and  all.  But  now,  1  feel  contented,  the  weather  is 
warm  and  pleasant,  the  fields  of  grain  and  grass  are  coming 
fonvard  nourished  by  frequent  showers  of  rain.  Fruit  trees 
are  white  with  blossoms.  Everything  shows  pleasant  now. 
We  are  traveling  all  over  the  country  and  have  a  fine  chance 
to  see  the  beautiful  scenery.  The  only  thing  I  fear  are  the 
snakes.  Rattle  and  black  snakes  are  pretty  numerous,  espe- 
cially in  swamps  and  back  places. 

"  About  a  mile  from  here  is  a  beautiful  lake  on  the  tip 
top  of  a  high  mountain,  and  projecting  out  almost  to  the 
center  is  a  large  rock  called  High  Bluff.  From  this  rock 
there  is  a  beautiful  view  of  the  valley  of  the  Hudson,  and 
often  pleasure  parties  from  Kingston  and  Rondout  visit  it. 
Last  week  I  had  a  fine  sail  on  the  Fifth  Benna  Water. 
Between  Kingston  and  Rosendale  there  are  five  beautiful 
lakes  ;  these  they  call  the  Benna  Waters.  P'our  of  them 
have  no  outlets,  the  fifth  has  a  small  stream  running  from 
it.  You  can  imagine  nothing  more  beautiful  or  pleasant, 
than  a  sail  on  one  of  these  lakes  as  they  lay  there  in  the 
bosom  of  the  hills  their  smooth  surfaces  scarcely  ever  ruf- 
fled by  a  roving  breeze.  On  one  side  of  the  Fifth  there  is 
a  beautiful  walk  among  the  trees  and  on  the  other  the  bare 
rocks,  sometimes  white  like  marble  and  then  a  ridge  of 
cement.  In  one  of  the  rocks  there  is  a  beautiful  piazza 
shaded  by  a  grape  vine. 

"I  think  our  mapping  promises  very  interesting  employ- 
ment. I  think  too,  at  the  same  time,  I  am  learning  a  good 
deal.  My  employer  is  a  well-informed  man  and  a  good  sur- 
veyor. At  least,  there  is  a  fine  chance  to  learn  drawing, 
which  is  pleasant  if  not  very  profitable  business.  It  is  not 
very  hard  work  to  survey.  As  we  go  through  the  country, 
we  take  down  the  roads,  streams  of  water,  dwellings  and 
schoolhouses.  Every  dwelling  we  come  to,  we  must  ask, 
'  Who  lives  here  ? '  he  tells  his  name.  '  How  is  it  spelled  i  ' 
Write  it  down  and  then  off  toward  another.  We  have  to 
be  particular  about  spelling  the  names  and  then  it  is  a 
bother  to  make  out  some  of  these  long,  droll  Dutch  names. 
Some  of  them  are  very  particular,  and  ask  a  hundred  ques- 
tions before  you  can  get  their  names  at  all. 

"  I  suppose  by  this  time,  Mariah,  you  know  pretty  well 
how  you  are  going  to  like  your  school.  I  think  there  are 
not  nearly  so  many  there  as  at  Charlotteville,  although  the 
school  must  be  equally  as  good  ;  it  ought  to  be  better  since 
it  costs  more.  Likely  you  see  Mr.  Oliver  often.  He  is  a 
good  teacher.  I  expect  a  letter  from  him  before  long.  He 
wished  me  to  write  to  him  and  send  my  address.  This  I 
did  last  week,  and  I  hope  he  will  not  wait  to  answer  it  at 
farthest  any  longer  than  this  week." 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


207 


August  2,  1852,  he  writes  again  to  his  teacher. 
The  devotion  he  feels  toward  him  breaks  forth  in 
the  first  sentence :  — 

"My  dear  Friknd,  —  Your  letter  of  July  28th  has 
made  a  quick  trip  and  is  here  safely  in  my  possession,  and  1 
read  it  through  and  can  almost  repeat  it  by  heart.  I  hope 
you  will  excuse  this  speedy  answer,  as  the  way  I  am  com- 
pelled to  do  is  to  write  when  I  get  a  chance  sooner  or 
later  though  it  be.  I  do  not  often,  however,  have  the 
chance  to  write  upon  a  week  day,  and  once  in  a  while  I  am 
compelled  to  dispense  with  church  to  comply  with  my 
engagements  in  that  line.  This  I  suppose  I  could  not  do 
at  Fergusonville." 

He  gives  a  humorous  description  at  length,  of  the 
reception  which  the  Dutch  farmers  of  Ulster 
county  gave  him  as  he  went  through  their  neigh- 
borhoods, "  shoving  the  odometer."     They  ask  :  — 

"  What  sort  of  an  instrument  do  you  call  this  ere  thing? 
ha  I  ha !  It  looks  like  a  Wheel  Bar.  We  tell  them  the  name 
and  the  object.  Then  they  must  go  through  a  scrutinizing 
e.xamination  of  all  the  different  parts  of  the  machine  separ- 
ately, and  often  propound  the  following  questions. 

"  '  Is  this  ere  brass  wheel  solid  or  "holler  ?  "  How  far 
is  it  around  the  outside  ?  Does  it  wear  out  very  fast  ? '  If 
these  are  all  the  questions  they  ask  about  the  wheel,  you 
may  consider  yourself  fortunate.  The  distance  clock  next 
attracts  their  undivided  attention.  '  Well  I  do  say  what 
wont  they  contrive  next  for  speculation  ?  What  is  this  ani- 
mal anyway  ?  What  do  you  do  with  such  a  thing  as  this, 
tells  the  time  of  day,  or  what? '  Explain  to  them  its  object, 
and  as  night  follows  day,  so  as  a  natural  consequence  in 
quick  succession  comes  the  inquiries,  '  How  often  do  you 
wind  it  up?  How  often  does  it  strike?  Does  it  go  when 
you  stand  still  ?  Does  it  make  any  particular  difference 
whether  you  go  fast  or  slow?'  Next  coines,  'How  much 
do  you  get  a  day  for  this  business  ?  How  many  are  there 
out  at  work  ?  When  will  you  get  through  ?  Is  this  a 
County  or  State  expense?'  and  a  thousand  other  queries, 
and  these  in  a  thousand  different  forms  you  are  compelled 
to  answer,  I  was  going  to  say  a  thousand  times  every  day." 

Then  follow  certain  optimistic  reflections  upon  the 
educational  benefits  he  is  receiving. 

"  But  after  all,  this  business  is  to  my  notion  at  the  same 
time  one  of  the  most  agreeable  as  well  as  one  of  the  most 
instructive  employments  that  any  person  can  engage  in.  It 
is  a  great  field  for  a  person  to  engage  in.  If  the  object  of 
school  is  to  improve  the  memory  or  discipline  the  mind, 
the  greatest  gawk  cannot  fail  to  do  it  here,  and  besides  this, 
no  one  can  be  insensible  to  the  benefit  derived  from  con- 
tinually being  questioned  and  questioning  continually  wth 
different  natures.  It  is  the  only  sure  remedy  for  the  effec- 
tual cure  of  bashfulness  which  disappears  as  suddenly  as 
mist  before  the  morning  sun.  And  you  may  believe  that 
this  is  no  lightly  e.xpressed  opinion,  as  I  could  easily  con- 
vince you  by  telling  you  a  little  history  of  my  experience  in 
Ulster." 


But  a  closing  paragraph  of  the  letter  to  his  old 
teacher  is  pathetic  in  the  longing  that  the  boy  of 
sixteen  has  to  get  away  so  as  to  escape  from  the 
long  dull  day's  work  of  the  surveyor,  to  the  school- 
room and  the  companionship  of  his  old  school- 
mates. 

"  I  was  very  much  pleased  to  get  a  letter  from  Johnny 
and  more  so  to  think  that  he  is  making  such  fine  progress 
in  his  studies.  J5ut  to  speak  of  school  seems  to  fire  every 
feeling  in  my  soul.  It  tells  me  that  while  my  schoolmates 
are  boldly  advancing  step  by  step  up  the  ladder  of  learning, 
I  have  to  hold  both  hands  fast  to  keep  myself  upon  the 
same  round  where  I  stood  over  fourteen  months  ago,  since 
which,  you  recollect,  I  have  not  been  at  school  a  day." 

In  September  he  is  still  tramping  over  ULster 
county,  and  writes  his  old  teacher  now  in  Char- 
lotteville,  September  12,  1852: 

"  Not  only  is  change  working  great  changes  with  you, 
which  you  allude  to  in  your  letter,  but  with  me  his  cease- 
less march  is  ever  visible.  Within  the  last  weeks,  he  has 
been  uncommonly  attentive  in  his  visits.  Perhaps  you  are 
thinking  that  now  I  am  in  the  employment  of  John  J. 
Snyder,  but  this  is  not  the  case.  Mr.  Snyder  could  not 
support  the  expenses  of  the  survey,  and  the  whole  concern 
was  likely  to  fall  to  the  ground,  when  Mr.  Brink,  the  other 
gentleman  surveying,  and  myself  stepped  in  and  took  the 
respon.sibility  of  completing  it.  We  quick  found  another 
partner,  a  Mr.  Tillson  of  Rosendale.  This  is  the  secret  of 
my  going  to  New  York  and  Philadelphia.  At  New  York 
we  secured  a  copyright  and  at  Philadelphia  procured  the 
proper  information  and  instruments  to  complete  the  map, 
but  all  the  time  I  was  sensible  we  were  running  a  great  risk 
if  it  should  prove  unsuccessful.  It  would  cast  an  odious 
damper  on  all  of  our  after  undertakings.  I  anxiously  looked 
for  a  favorable  opportunity  to  dispose  of  my  interest  in  the 
map,  nor  was  I  long  in  realizing  the  fulfillment  of  my 
wishes. 

"  I  made  a  sale  of  my  surveys  to  the  other  gentlemen,  at 
the  rate  of  nine  shillings  per  day,  and  have  hired  to  them 
at  the  rate  of  thirty  dollars  per  month  and  found,  until  the 
map  is  complete,  or  until  I  see  fit  to  leave  them  although 
there  are  chances  of  making  a  fine  thing  out  of  the  map,  if 
they  should  succeed  according  to  their  imaginations  yet  I 
think  I  have  abundant  reasons  to  justify  the  step  I  have 
taken.  It  is  more  of  an  enterprise  perhaps,  than  they  or  I 
imagine.  To  speak  plain,  I  tremble  now  at  their  chances  of 
success  considering  their  youth  and  inexperience,  although 
I  am  determined  to  do  evervthing  in  my  power  to  help 
them,  and  I  have  a  chance  of  observing  at  the  same  time, 
without  risking,  whether  it  is  a  business  that  will  warrant  a 
safe  employment  to  those  who  would  wish  to  make  a  little 
money. 

"  I  took  the  money  I  had  spent  to  go  to  Philadelphia, 
and  which  they  refunded  to  me,  and  last  week  I  took  a 
little  trip  to  the  State  Fair,  and  I  have  come  home  with  a 
satisfied  heart,  for  if  I  was  a  farmer  I  would  not  let  a  single 
summer  slip  over  my  head  but  I  would  go  and  obser\-e  the 
improvements   and   inventions   they   are   making  in  other 


2o8 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


parts  of  this  great  State  to  lighten  the  manual  labor  of  the 
farmers.  Sure  we  have  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  State  a 
monopoly  of  the  great  cities,  rivers,  seaports  and  railroads, 
but  there  is  no  for^vard  movement  to  improvement  like  we 
see  in  the  west.  I  was  charmed  completely  by  the  beautiful 
scenery  afforded,  by  the  broad  fertile  valley  of  the  Mohawk. 
It  surpasses  description  and  is  well  worth  a  voyage  to  see 
it.     I  saw  nothing  from  Delaware  or  Ulster  at  the  fair. 

Certainly  Fergusonville  will  miss  you  teachers,  at  least 
in  my  way  of  thinking,  and  I  guess  it  may  make  a  consider- 
able difference  in  the  number  of  scholars,  although  I  don't 
know.  By  the  way  I  should  like  one  of  your  catalogues  if 
it  would  not  be  too  much  trouble. 

"  I  appreciate  highly  your  kind  advice.  My  youth  or  inex- 
perience are  no  excuses  to  sanction  my  falling  into  degraded 


JAY    GOULD 

A  t  fifty  years 
habits,  or  for   yielding   to  delusive  temptations.     When  I 
have  such  friends  and  good  advice  before  me,  he  is  deeply 
trifling  with    himself   who  remains   unaltered,  senseless  to 
such  reasonable  advice." 

In   December   he  writes   his  friend,  Oliver,   now 
teacher  of  the  Charlotteville  Academy : 

"  My  dear  friend,—  I  have  not  heard  from  you  since 
I  saw  you  at  our  house  during  vacation,  but  I  imagine  to  a 
certainty  that  these  several  weeks  have  found  you  fulfilling 
your  duties  at  Charlotteville  Academy.  The  time  must 
pass  quickly  with  you  I  think,  at  school,  else  it  does  not 
keep  pace  with  me,  for  the  plain  truth  is  I  am  growing  old 
too  fast ;  my  years  are  getting  the  advance  of  what  of  all 
things  I  value  most,  an  education. 

There  is  something  in  the  idea  of  possessing  a  refined 


and  cultivated  mind ;  of  its  noble  and  mighty  influence,  con- 
trolling the  human  destiny  ;  in  yielding  happiness  and  enjoy- 
ment to  its  possessor,  in  placing  him  where  he  is  capable  of 
speaking  and  acting  for  himself  without  being  bargained 
away  and  deceived  by  his  more  enlightened  brothers ; 
something  in  the  thought,  I  say,  that  is  calculated  to 
awaken  and  nourish  resolutions  that  are  worthy  of  a  home 
in  the  human  breast.  I  have  determined  (not  concluded) 
as  soon  as  I  can  earn  the  means  to  place  within  my  reach  a 
liberal  education." 

The  closing  paragraph  of  this  letter  shows  the  boy 
again  hungering  for  school : 

"  We  finished  surveving  the  next  week  after  I  was  home, 
and  have  ever  since  been  plotting,  but  we  intend  to  finish 
in  two  weeks  or  less,  and  then  I  have  not  decided  to  a 
certainty  what  I  shall  drive  at;  in  all  probability  go  to 
school  the  best  part  of  the  winter." 

A  few  weeks  later,  when  he  was  approaching  his 
seventeenth  birthday,  he  has  executed  his  long- 
cherished  plan  in  so  far  that  he  has  entered  the 
academy  in  Albany.  Busy  with  his  studies,  he 
delays  writing  to  his  old  friend  until  March  6. 
He  then  writes : 

"My  dear  friend,  —  Your  kind  and  very  welcome 
letter  of  March  3d,  I  have  just  received  and  with  it,  the 
double  conviction  of  my  negligence  in  letter  writing.  I 
received  your  other  letter  just  before  I  emigrated  from 
Ulster  County,  and  I  would  answer  that  in  this,  but  it  is  so 
long  ago  that  I  must  ask  your  forgiveness  for  I  do  sincerely 
promise  never  to  be  so  negligent  again  for  I  do  estimate 
your  friendship  as  beyond  an  earthly  price.  I  know  that  I 
am  indebted  to  you,  although  I  might  have  learned  more 
and  conducted  myself  better." 

He  writes  of  the  illness  of  his  sister,  Avho  had 
become  engaged  to  Mr.  Oliver,  but  died  not  long 
after,  before  their  marriage  : 

"  You  speak  of  Polly's  illness.  You  may  well  imagine 
my  feelings  as  I  waited  in  anxious  suspense  from  day  to 
day  for  a  whole  week;  the  time  that  intervened  between 
my  first  being  apprised  of  her  illness  until  I  heard  she  was 
getting  better.  They  did  not  tell  me  half  how  sick  she  was 
or  I  would  not  have  slept  until  I  had  seen  Roxbury,  but 
thanks  to  a  kind  Providence  she  has  recovered  her  health. 
Sickness  will  even  make  the  resolution  of  the  veteran  of  a 
hundred  battles  tremble." 

He  records  his  school  progress  in  brief  terms,  but 
it  may  be  a  question  whether  any  boy  ever  ac- 
quired the  elements  of  Latin  more  quickly  when 
he  was  at  the  same  time  pursuing  half  a  dozen 
other  studies.     He  says  : 

"  By  the  way,  what  progress  do  you  think  I  have  made 
in  Latin .'  I  commenced  ten  days  before  the  term  closed. 
The  Latin  class  that  had  studied  for  two  terms  Bullion's 
Grammar  had  luckily  just  commenced  a  rapid  review.  In 
this  class  I  went,  and  this  quarter  we  took  up  the  reader 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    TIlEIR    SONS 


iog 


and  are  now  translating  fables  from  iEsop ;  also  last  quar- 
ter I  reviewed  algebra,  arithmetic,  etc.  This  term  I  have 
Latin,  Greek,  History  of  Rome,  and  Book-keeping,  double 
entry." 

He  is  lookin<r  forward  to  Colleg-e,  hut  his  fate  de- 
pends  on  whether  the  Legislature  at  Albany  pro- 
vides for  certain  map  making  which  is  to  give  him 
employment  for  a  year  or  two,  and  the  means  to 
go  to  College.  He  describes  the  pedagogic 
objects  intended  by  these  maps : 

"  It  provides  for  furnishing  each  school  house  in  the 
State  with  a  map  of  its  own  County,  and  a  map  of  the 
State,  for  Nine  dollars,  per  district.  Now  in  the  State  there 
are  about  one  hundred  less  than  twelve  thousand  school 
districts  making  a  sum  total  of  5107,000.  The  bill  does 
not  ask  a  direct  tax  to  procure  this  survey,  but  the  use  of  a 
fund  already  established  and  devoted  to  kindred  purposes, 
the  library  fund,  which  yearly  amounts  to  $55,000,  and 
which  in  the  two  years  required  to  complete  the  survey  will 
amount  to  $110,000,  thus  covering  the  whole  e.xpense.  I 
think  the  use  of  these  maps  is  self-evident.  In  Albany 
County,  the  survey  from  the  returns  of  the  town  superin- 
tendents, shows  that  of  the  twenty  thousand  scholars  annu- 
ally taught,  only  fifteen  were  found  who  could  bound 
correctly  their  County,  and  give  the  number  and  names  of 
the  towns.  The  reason  is,  they  have  no  map  to  serve  as  a 
guide,  and  therefore  a  total  ignorance  prevails,  which  I 
think  a  good  map  will  obviate,  and  therefore  be  of  more 
benefit  than  the  two  years'  library  money  expended  for 
books.  If  this  bill  passes,  I  think  I  will  realize  enough  to 
see  me  through  Vale  College,  and  that  is  the  extent  of 
my  hopes.  Perhaps  it  is  an  idle  dream,  but  a  vision 
of  imagination.  I  say  there  is  no  room  for  idle  specula- 
tions when  they  conflict  with  a  deep  resolution  to  accom- 
plish a  worthy  end,  and  I  hope  that  a  kind  providence  that 
has  thus  far  sheltered  me  under  her  wing,  will  crown  my, 
at  least  honest  exertions  with  a  sphere  of  usefulness." 

In  this  same  letter  he  describes  his  first  serious 
attempt  in  elaborate  engineering. 

'•  I  have  done  one  job  of  surveying  and  engineering  since 
I  got  to  Albany.  I  think  I  made  quite  a  debut.  When 
I  engaged  to  survey  the  route  for  a  plank  road  from  Albany 
to  Shakers,  I  did  not  think  they  intended  I  should  do  the 
engineering,  but  still  I  thought  there  was  nothing  very 
difficult  about  the  common  level,  and  as  they  depended 
upon  me  to  do  it,  I  said  nothing,  but  wrote  off  the  descrip- 
tion of  adjustment  of  the  V  level  in  a  neat  little  form, 
particularly  calculated  as  a  reference  on  the  field,  ruled  my 
field  book,  etc.,  and  all  the  time  I  had  not  seen  my  partner 
elect,  nor  did  I,  until  I  got  down  to  the  Troy  Road,  opposite 
General  Van  Rensselaer's,  where  the  Albany  and  Mohawk 
plaitk  road  now  leaves  it.  Imagine  my  surprise  when  one  of 
the  directors  came  bringing  up  a  monstrous  theodolite  with 
its  complication  of  screws  and  what  not ;  the  identical  one 
that  served  an  apprenticeship  on  the  Hudson  River  Railroad, 
and  for  its  valuable  service  there  was  afterwards  promoted 
to  Generalship  on  the  Northern  Railroad.     I  could  not  for 


a  good  while  even  unloose  the  needle,  much  less  adjust  the 
instrument.  I  was  completely  knocked  in  the  head,  but 
the  snow  turned  to  rain  just  as  we  got  ready  to  commence. 
I  managed  to  lake  one  or  two  courses,  when  as  I  appre- 
hended, the  motion  was  made  to  disperse  and  unanimously 
carried.  I  took  the  theodolite  home,  and  it  was  two  days 
before  the  weather  would  allow  us  to  resume  our  opera- 
tions, when  l)y  the  assistance  of  Davies,  LL.I).  I  had  got 
pretty  conversant  with  the  instrument  and  succeeded  in 
satisfactorily  taking  the  survey ;  then  came  the  profiles, 
maps,  and  all  the  after  pieces  new  to  me.  I  succeeded  in 
everything  without  any  trouble  until  I  came  to  making  the 
estimate  of  cost,  embankments,  excavations,  and  culverts, 
especially  the  e.xcavations  and  embankments,  when  I  came 
near  being  a  second  time  floored,  but  luckily  just  then 
Gillespie  stepped  in  with  his  '  Roads  and  Railroads,'  where 
I  found  the  proper  information,  and  this  is  the  story  of  my 
debut." 

Notwithstanding  study  and  wage  earning,  he  finds 
time  for  reading : 

"  I  spend  two  or  three  hours  at  the  Capitol  every  day, 
Saturdays  all  day.  I  think  it  can  be  done  with  good  result 
in  the  State  Library." 

He  has  also  visited  the  Normal  School,  attending 
their  closing  exercises.  The  boy  of  sixteen  has  his 
friendships  with  Legislators,  and  his  opinion  of 
them  at  the  same  time  : 

"  I  think  Albany  has  a  good  many  charms,  but  the  Maine 
Liquor  Law  I  hardly  think  will  pass,  although  I  sincerely 
hope  it  will.  One  reason  predominant  in  forming  my  opin- 
ion is  that  too  many  of  those  on  whom  its  destiny  hangs 
would  be  punishing  themselves.  Vou  know  Mr.  Stewart 
is  our  Assemblyman,  and  he  is  a  type  of  other  members 
present,  although  he  and  I  have  got  to  be  quite  cronies." 

In  June  1853,  when  he  had  just  pas.sed  his  seven- 
teenth birthday,  he  writes  again  to  his  old  teacher, 
thatiking  him  for  a  letter  of  advice  : 

"Nothing  do  I  weigh  more  carefully  than  the  ad\nce  of 
those  who  are  competent  and  advanced  in  life,  and  I  think 
that  every  opportunity  of  conversing  with  the  wise  that  is 
thrown  away,  will  be  answered  for  hereafter.  Vou  know- 
when  anyone  starts  in  the  world  they  are  apt  to  think  they 
know  more  than  any  one  else,  and  would  take  a  piece  of 
wholesome  advice  from  a  superior  as  an  insult  more  than  a 
desire  to  do  a  benefit. 

I  think  I  have  learned  one  thing  this  winter  from  actual 
observation,  although  undoubtedly  you  found  it  out  long 
ago,  that  happiness  consists  not  so  much  in  indulgence  as 
in  self-denial.  I  think  too,  I  can  support  that  to  a  certain 
extent  from  my  own  experiment,  and  I  think  if  this  opinion 
had  a  general  ascendency  in  the  minds  of  persons,  there 
would  be  less  dissipation  than  there  is  now." 

He  refers  in  this  letter  to  a  visit  that  he  had  made 
to  the  World's  Fair,  in  New  York  Cit}-.  the  first  of 
April.     It  was  not  his  first  visit  to  the  metropolis, 


2IO 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


since  he  had  bought  goods  in  New  York  when  he 
was  but  sixteen  j-ears  of  age,  for  the  hardware 
store  in  Roxbury.  It  was  on  this  visit  that  he  did 
a  fihal  service  to  his  aged  grandfather,  by  enter- 
ing a  pet  invention  of  the  old  man's  in  the  World's 
Fair.  On  this  same  visit  he  made  a  tour  of  in- 
spection to  four  Colleges,  Rutgers,  Yale,  Brown 
and  Harvard,  of  which  he  writes  April  4,  1853,  to 
"  Friend  Champlin  :  "  ^ 

"  I  took  quite  a  trip  about  a  week  ago,  went  first  to 
Saugerties,  then  to  New  York,  from  there  to  New  Bruns- 
wick, New  Jersey,  back  to  New  York  through  to  New  Haven, 
and  lastly  from  there  through  Providence,  Rhode  Island,  to 
Boston  and  Cambridge,  and  then  back  to  Albany.  I  had  a 
fine  time  of  it,  visited  four  Colleges  and  the  Crystal  Palace, 
New  York." 

On  a  second  visit  to  the  World's  Fair,  taking  with 
him  his  grandfather's  invention,  he  had  the  same 
stolen  from  the  street-car  platform  by  a  thief. 
Immediately  he  leaped  from  the  car,  overtook  him, 
handed  him  to  the  police  and  secured  his  punish- 
ment by  a  Magistrate.  The  beginning  of  his 
eighteenth  year  brought  him  to  a  decision  that 
College  was  out  of  his  reach,  with  absolutely  no 
help  from  home  or  friends,  but  on  the  other  hand 
with  an  obligation  to  his  family  in  which  he  is  the 
older  son.  He  gives  himself  first  to  a  map  of 
Albany  county  which  he  has  been  studying,  and 
next  to  a  map  and  history  of  his  home  county, 
Delaware.  He  includes  an  educational  purpose 
in  publishing  these  maps.  He  writes  to  a  friend 
Champion,  the  editor  in  Bloomville  : 

"The  Supervisors  ought  to  encourage  it  by  buying  maps 
for  each  of  the  School  Districts.  I  want  you  to  give  me  an 
editorial  to  this  effect. 

The  ignorance  prevailing  through  our  public  schools 
generally  concerning  the  disposition  of  the  County  and 
towns  is  certainly  surprising,  but  unquestionably  such  a 
map  hung  in  the  school  house  for  the  scholars  to  be  drilled 
upon,  would  obviate  this  difficulty  entirely." 

He  goes  home  to  little  Roxbury,  hires  the  rooms 
above  his  father's  shop  and  begins  his  sur\-ey  and 
study  of  his  native  county.  His  elder  sister  testi- 
fies before  the  Court : 

"  He  had  formed  his  plan  for  the  survey  of  Delaware 
County,  and  had  his  whole  arrangements  completed  before  he 
disclosed  them  to  his  sisters.  .  .  .  But  his  plan  of  gathering 

1  J.  W.  Champlin  was  his  comrade  for  the  next  two  sum- 
mers in  mapping  their  native  County.  Later  Champlin  was 
Chief-Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Michigan,  and  a 
witness  in  the  Court  proceedings  above  referred  to. 


the  items  of  knowledge  for  compiling  the  history  of  Dela- 
ware County  was  his  own.  When  they  were  surveying 
they  would  stop  at  night  among  the  rural  people  in  the 
county  and  get  items  of  information." 

His  friend,  the  editor,  testifies : 

"  He  remained  with  me  at  Bloom\ille  night  after  night, 
and  _we  slept  in  the  office  together,  and  I  slept  and  walked 
with  him  often  and  knew  him  very  well  as  a  crony,  and  as 
boys  do  we  laid  out  plans  to  build  bridges  across  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  and  planned  a  road  to  the  Pacific,  made  up  our 
minds  when  we  got  money  enough  to  build  it.  He  was 
going  to  be  the  engineer  and  I  was  going  to  be  the  con- 
ductor. He  said  we  could  build  a  railroad  anywhere  where 
we  could  get  a  solid  foundation,  and  money  enough  to  hire 
the  men  to  work  it,  and  he  believed  it  could  be  done.  .  .  . 
He  said  life  was  too  short  to  go  to  College,  and  he 
thought  he  could  jump  by  reading  and  getting  posted  up 
and  attending  lectures,  and  by  observation  sooner  than  by 
going  through  College.  He  was  going  to  get  his  education 
he  said  as  fast  as  he  could  and  accomplish  his  object  as  an 
engineer.    That  seemed  to  be  his  aim  and  his  business." 

But  he  had  not  yet  wholly  given  up  education. 
He  writes  his  old  teacher  a  few  months  later : 

"  But  I  have  something  far  nearer  my  heart  than  all  this 
to  write  about,  and  I  hardly  know  where  to  begin,  so  fear- 
ful that  my  object  will  meet  your  objection,  and  can  you 
guess  what  it  is  ?  " 

His  object  is  to  persuade  him  to  establish  a 
private  school  in  Roxbur)-.     He  says  : 

"  I  am  very  confident  that  if  you  will  come  here  and 
commence  a  school,  it  will  be  the  commencement  of  a  new 
era  in  Ro.\bury.  If  you  think  of  coming  you  must  write 
that  you  will  come  and  board  with  me  and  it  shall  not  cost 
you  anything,  and  besides  I  have  a  horse  and  wagon  which 
will  be  as  free  to  you  as  they  are  to  me. 

If  you  will  wnte  that  you  have  the  faintest  idea  that  you 
will  come,  I  will  come  out  immediately  and  see  you,  and 
besides  I  will  pay  you  e.xtra  to  recite  to  you.  I  want  to 
look  over  my  old  studies  a  little,  and  nothing  shall  be  left 
undone  that  will  conspire  to  make  it  pleasant." 

His  friend  did  not  come,  and  here  seems  to  have 
ended  before  he  was  eighteen  years  of  age,  his 
last  effort  to  go  to  school,  but  not  his  intense 
interest  in  school  matters.  The  last  day  of  1854, 
having  just  risen  from  an  almost  fatal  illness  of 
five  months,  he  writes  from  Roxbury  to  his  old 
teacher : 

"  I  am  j  ust  recovering  from  a  violent  attack  of  inflamma- 
tion of  the  lungs,  and  able  to  do  nothing  else  but  write,  I 
hasten  to  answer  your  kind  favor.  .  .  . 

I  am  much  obliged  for  your  pressing  invitation  to  come 
to  Fergusonville  and  shall  certainly  improve  it.  I  have 
awoke  at  last  to  the  necessity  of  repose  from  business,  at 
least  for  a  season. 

I  think  the  debates  are  a  very  interesting  feature  of  your 


UNJyERSirJES   AND    'lllhAR    SONS 


21  I 


school.  I  would  rertainly  think  them  worth  going  a  good 
ways  to  hear.  The  debate  of  the  propriety  of  the  destruc- 
tion of  CIraytown,  I  think  could  be  better  discussed  when 
the  whole  matter  is  laid  before  Congress.  I  think  however, 
they  cannot  fail  to  justify  the  course  of  the  Executive.  .  .  . 
Our  .school  is  progressing  finely,  it  numbers  fifty  scholars. 
.  .  .  There  is  a  project  on  foot  to  raise  ;?5,ooo  to  build  a 
boarding  hall.     I  hope  it  may  succeed." 

A  prospectus  of  the  Roxbiiry  Acadiiny,  dated  a 
little  before  his  nineteeiitli  birthchiy,  makes  the 
following  announcement : 

"  The  trustees  have  secuied  the  services  of  Mr.  Jay 
Gould  as  teacher  of  surveying,  who  is  supplied  with  a  set 
of  excellent  instruments.  Young  gentlemen  wishing  a 
practical,  as  well  as  theoretical  knowledge  of  surveying, 
will  here  find  facilities  not  inferior  to  the  best  and  more 
expensive  schools." 

So  far  as  appears,  this  was  his  only  personal 
endeavor  as  a  teaciier.  He  is  urged  by  some  of 
his  friends  to  become  a  lawyer.  He  replies  that 
he  is  not  well  enougii  educated.  He  believes  not 
only  in  schools  but  newspapers  as  a  means  of 
education.  On  his  twentieth  birthday  May  27, 
1856.  he  writes  his  friend  the  editor: 

"De.vr  C"ii.\mi', — Today  is  my  birthday,  or  rather  the 
anniversary  of  that  imi)ortant  event,  and  it  is  almost  the 
only  leisure  moment  I  have  taken  for  a  month. 

How  very  long  it  seems  since  we  iiave  enjoyed  one  of 
our  friendly  visits  together,  and  when  indeed  will  we  meet 
again?  I  should  like  to  come  over  very  much.  Can't  you 
come  over  here  ? 

Enclosed  please  find  a  kind  of  a  birthday  gift  to  the 
'  Mirror.'  It  is  small  indeed,  but  I  will  promise  to  do 
better  in  future.  By  the  way,  I  think  the  friends  of  our 
paper  ought  to  do  something  in  order  to  sustain  the  enlarge- 
ment without  an  increase  of  price.  Vou  may  put  me 
down  for  a  S5.00  annually  and  duiing  the  political  catu- 
paign.  I  will  send  you  a  list  of  some  of  the  poorer  fami- 
lies to  have  the  Mirror  sent  to  them." 

All  this  while,  from  1853  to  1856,  he  is  pushing 
forward  his  map  and  history  of  his  nati\e  county, 
and  serving  his  neighborhood  and  family.  As 
might  be  expected,  he  lays  out  many  a  possible 
plan  for  railways  to  connect  that  region  of  valley 
and  mountain  with  the  outside  world.  His  last 
letters  that  appear  in  the  court  reports,  refer  to 
the  fate  of  his  history,  the  fruit  of  his  three  years 
of  labor.  He  writes  to  James  Oliver,  April  29, 
1856: 

"I  am  under  the  unpleasant  necessity  of  informing  vou 
of  the  total  destruction  by  fire,  of  my  history  of  Delaware 
County.  I  suppose  the  plates  of  Fergusonville  have  met 
the  common  fate.  I  shall  leave  for  Philadelphia  in  the 
morning,  to  ascertain  the  exact  state  of  affairs.     If  nothing 


less  can  be  clone,  I  shall  set  myself  hard  to  work  to  rewrite 
it.  As  you  know,  I  am  not  in  the  habit  of  backing  out  of 
what  I  undertake,  and  I  shall  write  night  and  day  until 
it  is  completed.  .Should  the  views  of  Fergu.sonville  prove 
to  be  burned,  I  will  get  a  sufficient  number  at  my  own 
expense." 

A  monlli  later,  May  22,  1856,  lie  writes  again 
to  his  old  teacher : 

"  I  am  nnu  h  obliged  for  your  sympathy  in  the  little 
misfortune  1  have  met  with.  My  loss  is  only  about  eight 
hundred  dollars,  and  no  insurance.  Rather  better  than  I 
anticipated,  and  I  succeeded  in  recovering  portions  of  the 
work,  by  the  aid  of  which  the  little  additional  industry  I 
may  be  able  to  bestow  upon  it,  will  amend  it  in  due  time." 

With  the  completion  of  this  history,  the  .school 
period  of  this  youth  of  twenty,  may  be  considered 
ended.  The  National  Cyclopedia  says  of  this 
volume,  ••  Despite  the  hurried  work,  the  book  was 
and  still  remains  monumental  of  its  kind,  an 
authority  on  the  subject,  and  a  remarkable  pro- 
duction for  so  youthful  and  unpracticed  a  writer." 
Henceforth  he  devoted  his  chief  energies  to  busi- 
ness. At  twenty-one  he  organized  a  large  tan- 
nery in  eastern  Pennsylvania.  At  twenty-four  he 
acquired  the  controlling  share  of  a  railway  between 
Troy,  New  York,  and  Rutland,  Vermont,  and 
became  its  President.  At  twenty-six  he  married 
in  New  York  City,  wiiere  he  had  taken  up  his 
residence  and  become  a  member  of  a  firm  of 
brokers.  Later  he  was  President  of  the  Erie 
Railway,  and  after  the  close  of  the  war,  engaged 
in  deep  speculations.  Afterwards  he  acquired 
control  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad.  From  this 
he  withdrew  when  he  was  about  forty  years  of 
age,  to  take  charge  of  the  Missouri  Pacific  and  its 
connecting  roads,  comprising  about  ten  thousand 
miles.  At  about  forty-five  years  of  age,  he  became 
the  leader  in  the  consolidation  of  the  telegraphic 
companies  of  the  continent  with  the  \\'estern 
Union,  of  which  he  was  made  the  President. 
\Mien  about  fifty  he  was  the  largest  owner  and 
chief  controller  of  the  elevated  railways  of  New 
York  City.  A  writer  in  a  recent  popular  work, 
referring  to  the  spirit  of  daring  and  conquest  that 
marked  his  efforts,  believes  that  his  action  in 
disposing  of  paying  property  to  engage  in  doubt- 
ful experiments  can  be  explained  only  in  his  own 
words :  that  with  him,  railroads  were  a  hobby,  and 
he  took  tiiem  as  a  sort  of  a  plaything  to  see  what 
could  be  done  with  them,  more  even  than  as  a 
means  of  making  money.  A  prominent  lawyer, 
the  counsel  to  great  railway  corporations,  has  said 


21  2 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR   SONS 


that  Mr.  Gould  cared  more  to  win  the  game  than 
to  accumulate  wealth.  The  earliest  expression  of 
interest  by  Mr.  Gould  in  New  York  Universit)' 
was  given  in  r888.  The  writer  of  this  article, 
then  making  his  summer  home  in  Scarsdale,  in 
Westchester,  on  an  afternoon  drive,  asked  a  friend, 
Mr.  Charles  Butler,  to  visit  Lyndhurst  and  intro- 
duce him  to  its  owner.  It  chanced  that  Mr. 
Gould  was  found  at  home,  and  ready  to  devote  an 
afternoon  to  his  \isitors.  The  chief  topic  was 
College  education  and  its  condition  in  New  York 
City.  It  was  not.  however,  till  after  1890.  when  a 
new  era  in  New  York  University  was  begun  by  the 
uptown  movement,  that  the  financial  needs  of  the 
University  were  presented  by  the  writer  to  Mr. 
Gould,  in  the  same  way  as  to  some  two  hundred 
citizens  of  New  York.  Among  this  number,  none 
was  more  hearty  in  his  reception  of  the  appeal. 
He  put  a  morning  hour,  for  an  indefinite  period, 
at  the  command  of  the  Chancellor,  for  a  discus- 
sion of  education  in  general.  He  asked  for  com- 
plete financial  reports  of  New  York  Uni\ersity, 
and  very  soon  comprehended  its  entire  material 
interests  as  well  as  any  member  of  its  corporation. 
Towards  the  fund  of  two  hundred  thousand  dollars 
for  a  first  payment  on  the  new  uptown  site,  he 
promptly  subscribed  the  one-eighth  part,  and 
promised  to  pay  at  least  an  equal  sum  towards  the 
remainder  of  the  purchase  price.  He  opposed 
earnestly  encumbering  an  educational  plant  with 
debt,  saying  that  it  did  not  belong  to  education  so 
long  as  any  party  had  a  mortgage  on  it.  He 
showed  special  sympathy  with  Professors,  whom 
he  counted  in  general  to  be  but  illy  provided  for 
in  the  matter  of  support.  He  suggested  that  New 
York  University  should  aim  to  acquire  sufficient 
ground  to  accommodate  Professors'  houses  at  some 
time  in  the  future.  During  his  protracted  stay  in 
the  far  Southwest,  in  the  summer  of  1892,  he 
maintained  his  interest  in  the  uptown  movement. 
Upon  his  return,  he  resumed  the  discussion  of 
plans  with  the  Chancellor  for  University  Heights, 
to  which  the  University  had  taken  title  July  i, 
1892.  A  portion  of  the  holiday  of  October  14, 
.which  celebrated  the  four  hundredth  anniversary 
of  the  discover}'  of  America,  was  devoted  by  him 
to  this  subject.  It  was  made  also  a  matter  of 
serious  discussion  with  trusted  business  associates 
upon  what  proved  to  be  his  final  visits  to  his 
downtown  office.  In  November  1892,  he  indi- 
cated to  his  trusted  legal  counsel  his  purpose  to 


undertake  the  endowment  of  educational  work 
upon  a  liberal  scale,  without  defining  the  exact 
form  which  he  would  choose.  He  requested  cer- 
tain legal  investigations  to  be  made  in  order  to 
prepare  the  way.  Before  any  report  could  be 
rendered,  Mr.  Gould  was  attacked  by  his  fatal 
illness.  Mr.  Gould's  interest  in  education,  and  in 
particular  in  New  York  University,  has  been  care- 
fully remembered  by  his  daughter,  Helen  Miller 
Gould.  The  personal  service  and  liberal  founda- 
tions given  by  her  to  more  than  one  school  of  the 
University,  owed  their  first  suggestion  to  her  rev- 
erence and  deep  affection  for  her  father.  Miss 
Gould  is  at  this  date  an  active  member  of  the 
Woman's  Advisory  Committee  of  New  York  Uni- 
versity, and  a  Director  of  the  Woman's  Legal 
Education  Society.  She  is  also  an  officer  of  either 
organization.  Mr.  Frank  Jay  Gould,  the  youngest 
son  of  Mr.  Jay  Gould,  is  a  member  of  the  Council 
of  the  University,  having  taken  his  seat  in  1898. 

H.    M.    M. 

INMAN,   John    Hamilton,    1844-1896. 

A  Founder  of  University  Heights. 
Born  in  Jefferson  County,  Tenn.,  1844;  commenced 
business  career  as  clerk  in  a  Georgia  bank  ;  removed 
to  New  York  City,  1865;  founded  firm  of  Inman, 
Swann  &  Co.,  cotton  dealers,  1870;  a  founder  of  Uni- 
versity Heights  ;  died    1896. 

JOHN  HAMILTON  INMAN  was  born  in 
Jefferson  county,  Tennessee,  October  23, 
1844,  His  father  was  a  business  man  of  that  sec- 
tion, engaged  in  banking  and  farming,  and  young 
Inman  was  started  in  business  at  the  age  of  fifteen 
in  the  employ  of  a  bank  in  Georgia.  He  served 
throughout  the  Civil  War  with  the  Confederate 
Army,  and  at  the  beginning  of  the  reconstruction 
period,  finding  the  family  resources  impoverished 
by  the  war,  he  removed  to  New  York  City,  and 
obtained  employment  in  a  cotton  house.  In  1870 
he  founded  the  firm  of  Inman,  Swann  &  Com- 
pany, associating  with  himself,  in  the  cotton  trade, 
his  former  employers.  The  business  was  at  once 
successful,  and  so  rapid  was  the  extension  of  the 
firm's  dealings  that  within  but  a  few  years  John 
H.  Inman  had  accumulated  a  fortune  of  several 
millions  of  dollars.  As  a  financier  he  turned  his 
efforts  to  the  development  of  Southern  interests, 
personally  influencing  the  direction  of  more  than 
one  hundred  millions  of  dollars  to  Southern  enter- 
prises. Over  five  millions  of  this  was  invested  in 
the  transactions  of   the  Tennessee  Coal,  Iron  & 


UNiyEKSITIES   AND    THEIR   SONS 


213 


Railroad  Company,  incliulin^  the  working  of  tlie 
bituminous  coal  mines  in  J^irmingham,  Alabama, 
the  blast  furnaces  in  that  city,  and  the  IJessemer 
steel  works  in  Ensley  City,  Alabama.  He  was 
Director  in  several  important  railway  lines.  Mr. 
Inman  was  a  founder  of  University  Heights,  con- 
tributing to  the  fund  that  made  possible  the 
re-establishment  of  New  \'()rk  University  on  its 
present  site.      He  died  on  N()\cml)fr6,  uSyG.   * 


IRELAND,  John  Busteed,  1823- 

A  Founder  of  University  Heights. 

Born  in  1823;  educated  in  private  schools,  spent 
Freshman  year  at  Columbia  Coll.,  entered  Univ.  of 
City  of  N.  Y.,  1838,  and  was  graduated,  A.  B.,  1841  ; 
studied  law,  and  was  admitted  to  the  Bar  in  1845  '<  prac- 
ticed law  in  New  York;  travelled  extensively  through- 
out the  world,  1851-56  ;  published  in  1859,  Wall 
Street  to  Cashmere;  a  Founder  of  University  Heights 
and  a  frequent  benefactor  of  New  York  University. 

JOHN  BUSTEED  IRELAND  was  born  on  Sep- 
tember 7,  1823,  near  Watkins,  Schuyler  (now 
Steuben)  county,  New  York.  His  father,  Joim 
Lawrence  Ireland,  a  graduate  of  Columbia  Col- 
lege, and  a  successful  farmer,  was  descended  from 
Sir  John  de  Ireland,  one  of  the  Barons  who  accom- 
panied William  the  Conqueror  to  England,  and 
who  received  from  that  sovereign  a  grant  of  an 
estate  called  "  The  Hutt,"  on  the  Mersey  River 
about  thirty  miles  from  Liverpool.  Sir  John's 
eldest  son  married  Avena  Holland,  only  child  of 
Sir  Robert  Holland,  owner  of  the  adjoining  estate, 
called  Hale  Hall.  In  the  days  of  Cromwell  the 
"  de  "  was  dropped  from  the  name,  and  the  family 
has  since  been  known  simply  as  Ireland.  One  of 
the  line,  a  second  son,  about  1630,  married  Mar- 
garet de  Courcy,  only  sister  of  Almericus  de 
Courcy,  twenty-third  Lord  of  Kinsale,  and  settled 
in  Ireland.  The  great  Sir  Gilbert  Ireland,  who 
died  about  1690,  was  the  last  titled  member  of  the 
family.  Mr.  Ireland's  grandfather,  John  Ireland, 
was  a  schoolmate  of  a  son  of  Lord  Howe,  Ad- 
miral in  the  British  navy.  Young  Howe  also 
entered  the  navy,  and  through  his  persuasions, 
John  Ireland  became  a  midshipman.  Just  before 
the  Revolutionary  \Yar  young  Ireland  was  sent 
with  his  ship  to  Boston,  and  while  in  that  harbor 
was  injured  and  had  to  be  sent  ashore  an  invalid. 
While  thus  ashore,  he  became  engaged  and  was 
married  to  Fair  Aikens  on  the  ver\'  day  of  the 
Battle  of  Lexington.     Being  married,  Ireland  could 


not  well  rejoin  his  ship,  and  so,  through  young 
1  lowe's  influence,  he  was  transferred  to  the  Commis- 
sary Department  of  the  Navy,  and  was  presently 
transferred  to  New  York,  the  headquarters  of  the 
British  Army  and  Navy.  During  the  war  his  wife 
died,  and  in  February  1789,  he  married  Judith 
Lawrence,  daughter  of  Jonathan  Lawrence  of  New 
York,  a  member  of  the  Continental  C!ongress  and 
afterward  a  member  of  first  State  Senate  in  New 
York.  The  son  of  John  and  Judith  Lawrence 
Ireland  was  John  Lawrence  Ireland,  who  married 
Mary   Floyd   and   tli rough    her   was   the  father   of 


JOHN     K.      IRELAND 

the  subject  of  this  sketch.  Mary  Floyd  was  a 
granddaughter  of  General  William  Floyd,  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Continental  Congress,  signer  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  and  a  State  Senator 
in  the  first  Legislature  of  the  State  of  New  York. 
Coming  from  such  parentage  and  ancestrj-,  John 
Busteed  Ireland  grew  up  to  be  a  true  New  Yorker. 
He  was  educated  in  the  private  school  of  Shepard 
Johnson,  and  in  September  1837,  entered  the 
Freshman  Class  of  Columbia  College.  In  that 
institution  he  spent  one  year,  and  then.  In  Septem- 
ber 1838,  entered  the  Sophomore  Class  of  the 
I'niversity  of  the  City  of  New  York,  which  had 
then  only  lately  been  established  as  the  germ  from 
which  was  destined  to  spring  in  later   years  the 


214 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


present  New  York  Univ^ersity.  He  completed  his 
course  in  the  University,  and  in  June  1841,  was 
graduated  with  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts. 
He  then  entered  the  law  office  of  the  Hon.  Seth 
P.  Staples  as  a  student,  and  in  January  1845,  was 
admitted  to  practice  at  the  Bar.  He  opened  an 
office  in  New  York,  with  the  Hon.  Benjamin 
Nicoll,  and  began  a  prosperous  career  as  a  lawyer. 
In  April  1851,  he  set  out  upon  a  noteworthy  tour 
in  foreign  lands.  His  first  objective  was  the  great 
World's  Fair  of  that  year  in  London.  Thence  he 
proceeded  to  Egypt,  the  Holy  Land  and  Asia  Minor, 
on  the  way  travelling  through  all  the  countries  of 
Europe.  His  journey  was  extended  to  all  parts  of 
India,  and  Cashmere,  to  Java  and  China.  He  re- 
turned to  Europe  by  the  way  of  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope,  stopping  at  the  Isle  of  France  and  St.  Helena, 
and  finally  reached  New  York  again  in  the  summer 
of  1856.  Three  years  later,  in  1859,  he  was  pre- 
vailed upon  to  publish  some  of  the  most  interest- 
ing parts  of  his  journal,  which  he  did  under  the 
title  of  Wall  Street  to  Cashmere.  The  book 
has  gone  through  three  large  editions.  Mr.  Ire- 
land has  held  no  political  office  of  any  kind,  nor 
indeed  any  public  place  save  that  of  Vestryman  of 
the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  of  the  Ascension, 
in  New  York,  for  twenty  years,  and  that  of  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Board  of  Managers  of  The  Society  of 
the  Sons  of  the  Revolution  for  about  ten  years. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  Union  and  Church  clubs, 
the  Sons  of  the  Revolution,  the  St.  Nicholas,  His- 
torical, Geographical,  Biographical  and  Archaeo- 
logical societies,  the  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art, 
the  American  Museum  of  Natural  History,  the 
Botanical  Garden  and  the  Academy  of  Sciences. 
He  was  married  on  December  23,  1863,  to  Adelia 
Duane,  only  daughter  of  Robert  Livingston  Pell 
and  Maria  Louise  Brinkerhoff  Pell,  his  wife. 
Miss  Pell  was  also  a  great-granddaughter  of  the 
Hon.  James  Duane,  a  member  of  the  Continental 
Congress  and  the  first  Mayor  of  New  York  after 
the  Revolutionary  War.  She  was  also  a  great- 
granddaughter  of  Colonel  Robert  Troup,  who  was 
made  Lieutenant-Colonel  by  Act  of  Congress  for 
valuable  services  at  the  battles  of  Stillwater  and 
Saratoga.  The  children  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ireland 
are  as  follows  :  John  de  Courcy,  born  1865.  and 
married  to  Elizabeth  Maud  Gallatin,  great-grand- 
daughter of  Albert  Gallatin,  and  died  1895  ; 
Robert  Livingston,  born  1867,  and  married  to 
Kate  Benedict  Hanna,  daughter  of  the  Hon.  How- 


ard M.  Hanna,  of  Cleveland,  Ohio  ;  Maria  Louisa, 
born  1870,  and  married  to  the  Rev.  E.  Earl  Ma- 
deria  ;  Adelia  Avena,  born  1872  ;  Augustus  Floyd 
Ireland,  born  1874  ;  Laura  Duane,  born  1876,  and 
married  to  Louis  Henri  Junod,  of  Neuchatel,  Swit- 
zerland ;  and  James  Duane  Ireland,  born  1878. 
All  the  sons  were  educated  and  graduated  at  Yale. 
Down  to  1879  ^'^^-  Ireland  lived  on  Washington 
Square,  New  York,  on  property  that  had  belonged 
to  his  family  since  1796.  In  April  of  that  year  he 
removed  to  his  present  residence.  Mr.  Ireland 
was  one  of  the  founders  of  University  Heights,  and 
has  in  various  ways  frequently  interested  himself 
in  the  afi^airs  of  New  York  University  for  its 
benefit.  w.  f.  j. 

ISAACS,   Isaac   Samuel,    1845- 

A  Founder  of  University  Heights. 

Born  in  New  York  City,  1845 ;  graduated  N.  Y. 
Univ.,  1865;  A.M.,  1867;  LL.B.  Columbia,  1867;  ad- 
mitted to  Bar,  New  York  City,  1867;  practicing  lawyer; 
a  founder  of  Univ.  Heights. 

ISAAC    SAMUEL    ISAACS  was  born  in   New 
York  City,  November  i,  1845,  son  of  Samuel 
M.   and  Jane    Symons  Isaacs.     His    early  educa- 


I.    S.    ISAACS 


tion  was  received  chiefly  in  ^^'illiam   Forest's  Pri- 
vate School,  and  after  preparation  there  he  entered 


UNiyERsrriEs  jnd  tiikir  sons 


2'5 


the  Academic  Department  of  New  NOrk  I'liiver- 
sity,  from  which  he  received  the  degree  of  Bache- 
lor of  Arts  in  1865,  and  the  Master's  degree  two 
years  hiter.  Mr.  Isaacs  was  grachuited  at  the  ( "ohim- 
bia  Law  School  in  1867  and  in  the  same  year  was 
admitted  to  the  Bar  of  New  York  City,  at  whicii 
lie  lias  since  continued  to  practice  as  a  member  of 
the  firm  M.  S.  «S:  1.  S.  Isaacs.  He  was  one  of 
the  contributors  to  the  movement  leading  to  the 
])urchase  of  the  site  and  the  erection  of  buildings 
at  University  Heights,  in  the  leading  Hebrew 
interests  of  the  city  he  has  been  for  many  years  an 
active  and  prominent  worker.  He  was  President 
of  the  Young  Men's  Hebrew  Association  from 
1875  to  1879,  and  was  one  of  the  founders; 
President  of  the  l^nion  of  Jewish  C'ongregations, 
1898  to  1900;  Vice-President  of  the  National 
Conference  of  Jewish  Charities,  1899  to  1900; 
President  of  the  \\'est  End  Synagogue,  1898  to 
1900;  and  since  1878  he  has  been  Secretary  of 
the  United  Hebrew  Charities,  and  President  of 
the  Hebrew  Benevolent  Fuel  Association.  He  is 
also  President  of  the  Class  of  1865  of  New  York 
University,  and  a  member  of  the  Phi  Beta  Kappa 
Society,  and  the  Republican  and  Freundschaft 
clubs.  Mr.  Isaacs  was  married  in  1878  to  Fstelle 
Solomon,  who  died  a  year  later,  leaving  one 
daughter  :  Isabel  Estelle  Isaacs.  * 


MORGAN,   John   Pierpont,    1837- 

A  Founder  of  University  Heights. 
Born  in  Hartford,  Conn.,  1837;  graduated  English 
High  School,  Boston,  Mass.  ;  studied  at  Univ.  of 
Gottingen  ;  commenced  business  life  in  banking  house 
of  Duncan  Sherman  &  Co.,  New  York;  since  1864  has 
conducted  general  banking  and  financiering  business 
in  that  city ;  philanthropist ;  one  of  the  founders  of 
University  Heights. 

JOHN  PIERPONT  MORGAN  was  born  in 
Hartford,  Connecticut,  on  April  17,  1837. 
The  Morgan  family  trace  their  descent  back  to 
Miles  Morgan,  a  native  of  Wales,  who  remo\ed  to 
Massachusetts  in  1636.  The  grandfather  of  the 
present  financier  was  Joseph  Morgan,  a  farmer 
and  early  settler  of  Springfield,  Massachusetts. 
His  mother  was  Juliet,  daughter  of  the  Rev.  John 
Pierpont,  of  Boston.  His  father  was  the  distin- 
guished banker.  Junius  Spencer  Morgan.  The 
latter,  after  a  successful  business  experience  both 
in  the  dry  goods  and  banking  business  in  Hartford 
and  Boston,  finally  became  the  partner  of  George 


Peabody,  the  banker  and  philanthropist  of  I.ond(/n. 
In  1864  he  succeeded  Mr.  l'eal)ody  in  l)usiness, 
the  resulting  firm,  J.  S.  .Morgan  &  Company, 
becoming  one  (jf  the  leading  banking  houses  of 
Europe.  His  son,  John  Pierpont  Morgan,  after 
graduating  from  the  Boston  English  High  .School, 
took  a  course  of  study  at  the  Universit\-  of 
(Jottingen,  (Germany.  Returning  to  America  at 
the  age  of  twenty,  he  entered  the  banking  house 
of  Duncan  Sherman  iV  Company  in  New  York 
City,  in  order  to  obtain  a  thorough  knowledge  of 
the  banking  business.  in  1864  he  formed  a 
partnership    under    the     lirm    name    of     Dabney, 


J.    PIERPONT    MORGAN 

Morgan  &:  Company.  They  confined  their  atten- 
tion to  safe  investment  secmities,  soon  becoming 
known  for  con.servatism  and  ability.  In  1861  Mr. 
Morgan  was  appointed  .American  agent  and  attor- 
ney for  George  i'eabody  iv  Company  of  London, 
a  relation  which  he  later  retained  with  J.  S. 
Morgan  &:  Company.  The  firm  and  its  London 
connection  rendered  substantial  assistance  to  the 
Government  during  the  Ci\il  War.  In  187  i  Mr. 
Morgan  associated  him.self  with  .\nthony  J.  Drexel 
of  Philadelphia,  under  the  firm  name  of  Dre.xel, 
Morgan  &  Company.  Mr.  Dre-xel  died  in  1893, 
and  on  January  i.  1895.  the  firm  style  was  changed 
to  its  present  form  of  J.  P.  Morgan  &  Company. 


2l6 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR   SONS 


Mr.  Morgan  is  also  at  the  present  time  senior 
partner  in  tlie  firm  of  J.  S.  Morgan  &  Company, 
London;  Morgan,  Harjes  &  Company,  Paris  ;  and 
])rexel&  Company,  Philadelphia.  The  New  York 
firm,  located  in  its  building  on  Wall  and  Broad 
streets,  has  long  been  regarded  as  one  of  the  power- 
ful influences  for  good  on  the  street.  It  has  stood 
resolutely  against  all  forms  of  chicanery  and  stock- 
jobbing, and  in  times  of  panic  and  financial 
distrust  has  proved  a  tower  of  strength.  For 
over  twenty-five  years  J.  Pierpont  Morgan  has 
been  the  actual  head  of  the  firm,  and  the  name 
Morgan  has  long  been  a  talisman  of  success, 
the  mere  fact  of  his  connection  with  an  enterprise 
invariably  causing  an  appreciation  of  its  values. 
Through  his  powerful  clientele  in  this  country 
and  in  lunope,  together  with  the  prestige  of  an 
unbroken  series  of  successful  operations,  he  has 
achieved  a  success  of  enormous  proportions. 
One  success  has  followed  another  with  startling 
rapidity;  the  history' of  his  financial  operations 
would  fill  a  volume,  and  it  is  possible  within  the 
limits  of  this  article  to  mention  only  the  more 
important  undertakings  with  which  he  has  been 
identified.  in  1869  he  obtained  control  of  the 
Albany  <&  Susquehanna  Railroad,  which  had  fallen 
into  the  hands  of  Fisk  &  Gould.  In  1876  and 
1878  the  firm  was  prominently  identified  with 
the  floating  of  the  United  States  (Government 
Itonds.  In  1879  Mr.  Morgan  purchased  stock 
of  the  New  York  Central  Railroad  amounting  to 
twenty-five  million  dollars,  and  disposed  of  the 
same  at  a  substantial  advance,  by  this  brilliant 
stroke  cementing  the  already  confidential  relations 
existing  between  the  Yanderbilt  interests  and 
himself.  In  1885  he  gained  control  of  the  rival 
West  Shore  Railroad,  and  subsequently  made  it 
a  part  of  the  New  York  Central  System.  P"or 
his  services  in  the  connection  he  was  presented 
by  the  directors  of  the  road  with  a  gold  and 
silver  dinner  service  of  three  hundred  pieces, 
valued  at  fifty  thousand  dollars.  Again  in  1895 
he  obtained  control  of  the  New  York  City  and 
Northern  Railway,  which  was  also  made  a  part 
of  the  New  York  Central  System.  I  le  reorgan- 
ized the  Chesapeake  &  Ohio  Railroad  in  1888, 
and  soon  after  placed  the  Big  Four  System  on 
a  solid  basis.  In  1891  he  took  up  the  decrepit 
Richmond  Terminal,  which  through  consolidation 
and  intelligent  development  has  grown  into 
the  splendid  structure  of  the    Southern  Railway. 


He  reorganized  the  Erie  System  in  1895,  and 
in  the  same  year  accomplished  a  similar  work 
for  the  Reading  System.  His  services  to  the 
coal  roads  have  been  of  inestimable  value,  and 
he  has  also  been  active  in  negotiations  con- 
cerning the  Lehigh  Valley  System  and  the  Balti- 
more lSc  Ohio  Railroad.  In  1896  he  obtained 
control  of  the  New  England  Railroad,  and  then 
leased  it  to  the  New  York.  New  Haven  &  Hartford 
Railroad  with  which  he  has  long  been  identified.  In 
1897  he  undertook  the  reorganization  of  the  North- 
ern Pacific  which,  with  the  aid  of  German  capital 
and  a  satisfactory  understanding  with  its  rival,  has 
been  placed  on  a  substantial  basis.  In  this  work 
of  reorganization  Mr.  Morgan  has  enlisted  the 
active  assistance  of  powerful  allied  interests. 
He  is  at  present  the  controlling  power  in  the 
directorate  of  the  following  railroad  systems: 
New  \ork  Central ;  New  York,  New  Haven  & 
FLartford ;  Southern  Railway;  "The  Big  Four"; 
Erie  ;  Chesapeake  «.^  Ohio  ;  Baltimore  &  Ohio  ; 
Northern  Pacific;  Reading;  and  Lehigh  Valley. 
He  is  also  largely  interested  in  the  {General  Elec- 
tric Company,  in  various  ferry  companies,  in  the 
Boston  Elevated  Railway  Company,  and  in  many 
other  important  corporations.  The  important 
part  which  he  played  in  the  purchase  of  the 
Government  Bond  issue  of  1895  is  well  remem- 
bered by  the  public  ;  in  the  sunnner  following  the 
Bond  sale  he  made  his  annual  trip  to  Euro]3e. 
and  through  his  personal  exertions  in  the  placing 
of  American  securities  on  the  Continent,  was  an 
important  factor  in  the  returning  tide  of  prosper- 
ity. Mr.  Morgan  inherited  a  large  estate  from 
his  father,  but  his  own  fortune  had  been  safely 
established  long  before  that  time  by  his  own 
exertions,  and  in  each  succeeding  year  has  been 
recorded  the  widened  scope  and  increased  value 
of  his  interests.  As  a  public  benefactor  he  has 
become  well  known  for  his  abundant  generosity, 
many  charitable  and  other  public  institutions 
having  been  liberally  benefited  by  his  gifts.  He 
was  one  of  the  subscribers  for  the  grounds  and 
buildings  of  New  York  University  at  Univer- 
sity Heights.  His  princely  gifts  of  one  million 
dollars  to  the  Society  of  the  Lying-in  Hospital 
of  the  City  of  New  York,  of  five  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars  to  the  New  York  Trade  Schools, 
of  the  Steamer  Stonington  during  the  cholera 
scare,  and  his  gifts  to  the  American  Museum 
of  National  History,  to  the  Metropolitan  Museum 


UNIFERSITIES  AND    'I'HEIK    SONS 


21  7 


of  Art,  to  tlie  Hroiix  Hotanital  (larden,  to  llie 
Hartford  I'ublic  Library  and  to  many  oilier 
public  institutions,  are  fittinj;  evidences  of  tiie 
munificence  of  iiis  philanthropy.  Mr.  Morgan  is 
an  enthusiastic  yachtsman,  being  Commodore  of 
the  New  York  Yacht  C'lul),  owner  of  the  steam 
yacht  Corsair,  and  member  of  the  Seawanhaka 
Club.  He  is  prominent  in  the  social  life  of  New 
York  City,  is  a  patron  of  the  arts,  and  a  member 
of  the  following  clubs :  Metropolitan,  Union, 
Knickerbocker,  Union  League,  Century,  Lawyers', 
Tuxedo,  Racquet,  Riding  and  Players.  He 
married  Francis  Louisa,  daughter  of  Charles 
Tracy  ;    they  have  three  daughters  and  one  son.    * 


OTTENDORFER,   Oswald,   1826-1900. 

Benefactor,  Founder  of  Germanic  Library. 

Born  in  Zwittau,  Moravia,  Austria,  1826;  studied 
at  Universities  of  Prague,  Heidelburg  and  Vienna; 
active  in  the  civil  troubles  of  1848  49;  came  to  U.  S. 
in  1850;  became  proprietor  of  the  Staats  Zeitung ;  en- 
dowed charitable  institutions  in  Zwittau ;  established 
Germanic   Library  at  N.  Y.  Univ. ;   died  1900. 

OSWALD  OTTENDORFKR  was  Ixjrn 
February  12,  1826,  in  Zwittau,  Moravia, 
Austria,  the  son  of  a  cloth-manufacturer.  Havinsr 
graduated  from  the  gymnasium  near  his  native 
city  he  entered  the  University  of  Prague  and 
subsequently  that  of  Vienna,  studying  philosophy, 
national  economy  and  law.  In  the  enthusiastic 
movement  of  March  1848,  against  the  narrow 
fetters  of  absolutism  the  \'ienna  students  were 
preeminent,  and  soon  Oswald  Ottendorfer  joined 
a  Freischaar,  a  liand  of  patriotic  volunteers  who 
actively  joined  in  the  contest  of  Holstein  and 
Schleswig  against  Denmark.  In  October  1848, 
he  was  back  in  Vienna  actively  sharing  in  the 
conflicts  against  the  army  of  investment  com- 
manded by  Prince  \\'indischgraetz.  When  the 
city  was  at  last  taken,  Mr.  Ottendorfer  was 
fortunate  enough  to  escape  with  his  life,  being 
concealed  for  several  days  by  a  second-hand  book 
dealer  in  a  most  generous  manner.  Soon  after 
he  succeeded  in  escaping  through  the  lines  and 
passirig  the  Saxon  frontier.  Half  a  year  later, 
in  May  1849,  he  shared  in  the  revolutionary 
rising  in  Dresden,  escaping  to  Baden.  Here, 
however,  he  was  prevented  from  anv  further 
military  exploits  by  a  severe  attack  of  typhoid 
fever  and  when  at  last  he  regained  his  health  he 
was   not     spared     the    sense    of    depression    and 


reaction  which  succeeded  to  the  revolutionary 
enthusiasm  of  tiie  preceding  period.  .After 
resuming  University  work  at  Heidelberg  for  a 
while  he  quietly  made  his  way  to  Vienna.  I5ut 
when  he  learned,  immediately  upon  his  reaching 
the  Austrian  capital,  that  his  own  name  had  been 
placed  on  the  list  of  those  who  were  subject  to 
summary  trial  by  the  military  court  if  found,  he 
quit  Vienna  for  the  third  time,  reached  Bremen 
by  a  round-about  route  and  sailed  for  America, 
arriving  in  New  York  in  tiie  .spring  of  1850. 
After  a  year  of  various  hardships  he  became 
associated  with  the  New  Yorker  Staats  Zeitung,  at 


OSWALD    OTTENDORFER 

that  time  issued  by  Jacob  V\\\  and  Mrs.  I'hl.  a 
woman  of  rare  energy  and  wisdom.  Not  very 
long  afterward  Mr.  LIhl  died,  when  Mr.  Ottendor- 
fer's  judgment  and  management  in  the  develop- 
ment of  the  publication  became  at  once  more 
important  and  productive.  When  in  1859  Mrs. 
LHil  married  Mr.  Ottendorfer  the  Staats  Zeitung 
rapidly  rose  in  efificiency  and  journalistic  resources, 
Mr.  Ottendorfer  becoming  joint  proprietor  of  the 
paper.  The  paper  joined  the  Associated  Press, 
correspondents  and  contributors  in  all  parts  of 
America  and  in  Europe  were  secured,  and  much 
was  done  to  present  original  matter  in  the 
departments      devoted      to     entertainment      and 


2l8 


'UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR    SONS 


instruction,  all  the  achievements  of  mechanical 
aids  in  presswork  were  secured  as  they  were 
developed  by  the  improvements  of  invention. 
Thus  the  paper  maintained  the  preeminence 
which  Mr.  Ottendorfer's  farsighted  enterprise  and 
incisive  judgment  had  secured  for  it,  and  the 
decisive  importance  of  it  in  many  of  the  most 
important  movements,  both  municipal  and  national, 
is  a  fact  familiar  to  all  students  of  contemporary 
American  political  history  from  the  beginning  of 
the  Civil  War  to  the  beginning  of  the  20th  century, 
the  date  of  this  sketch.  In  April  1884,  Mrs. 
Ottendorfer  died,  a  severe  blow  not  only  to  Mr. 
Ottendorfer  himself  but  to  wide  spheres  of  New 
York  life,  for  Mrs.  Ottendorfer  had  established  a 
Polyclinic,  while  Mr.  Ottendorfer  had  founded 
and  endowed  a  free  library  contiguous  to  the 
former.  A  siiort  time  before  her  death  Mrs. 
Ottendorfer  had  been  honored  by  a  decoration 
and  a  personal  letter  from  the  Empress  Augusta, 
a  mark  of  appreciation  of  the  philanthropic 
service  of  the  recipient.  Mr.  Ottendorfer  greatly 
enriched  the  charities  of  his  native  city  of 
Zwittau  by  extensive  and  well-endowed  founda- 
tions, a  home  for  the  aged,  a  hospital,  a  free 
library  and  a  monumental  fountain.  One  of  the 
most  noted  charities  of  Mr.  Ottendorfer  is  the 
Isabella  Ileiniath  for  the  aged.  This  foundation 
was  begun  by  Mrs.  Ottendorfer  herself  and  named 
for  a  beloved  daughter  wlio  died  in  youthful  age. 
Mr.  Ottendorfer  transferred  this  charity  from 
A.storia  and  established  it  in  a  very  beautiful  site 
near  the  northern  extremity  of  Manhattan  Island 
near  Fort  George,  and  endowed  it  for  permanent 
service.  In  1880  the  Staats  Zeitung  was  changed 
into  a  stock  company.  On  the  occasion  of  Mr. 
Ottendorfer's  seventieth  birthday,  in  February 
1896,  the  writers  on  his  staff  presented  a  con- 
gratulatory memorial,  which  closed  with  this 
paragraph  :  "  No  one  is  more  fitted  than  we,  the 
collaborators  of  Oswald  Ottendorfer,  to  appre- 
ciate the  lofty  conception  of  the  mission  of  the 
press  by  which  his  management  of  the  Staats 
Zeitung  is  distinguished,  and  which  has  secured 
for  that  paper  an  authority  and  an  influence 
rarely  enjoyed  by  any  other  paper.  He  has 
maintained  the  position  that  a  German  paper 
must  preserve  its  place  in  the  press  of  the  country 
not  only  by  the  language  itself  but  also  by  foster- 
ing German  culture,  and  he  has  with  all  his 
power  opposed  the  evil  tendency  of  contemporary 


journalism,  viz.,  to  capture  momentary  successes 
at  the  cost  of  sound  journalistic  ethics."  We  have 
in  chapter  eight  of  the  History  of  New  York 
University  in  general  outlines  spoken  of  the  rare 
gift  and  establishment  of  a  Germanic  Library  in 
connection  with  New  York  University,  a  collection 
made  with  the  cooperation  of  bibliographical 
experts  in  Germany,  and  embracing  all  the 
dialects  and  linguistic  forms  of  utterance  assign- 
able to  the  great  Germanic  branch  of  speech, 
embracing  old  Saxon,  Gothic,  Old-  Middle-  and 
New-High  German,  the  Icelandic  and  other 
Scandinavian  tongues  and  Dutch  ;  the  periodical 
publications  of  learned  societies  or  individual 
scholars  devoted  to  German  language  and  litera- 
ture ;  lexical  and  grammatical  works  as  well  as 
those  devoted  to  the  history  of  literature ;  the 
classic  works  of  German  historiography ;  and  books 
dealing  with  philosophy  and  the  fine  arts.  Of  this 
endowment,  unique  in  the  history  of  American 
Universities,  Mr.  Ottendorfer  was  the  giver  and 
the  designer.  Mr.  Ottendorfer  consistently  re- 
fused for  himself  political  rewards.  In  1868, 
1884  and  1892  he  served  as  a  Presidential  Elec- 
tor in  the  State  of  New  York.  For  a  number  of 
years  he  served  as  member  of  the  Board  of 
Regents  of  the  University  of  the  State  of  New 
York.  In  1884  he  declined  a  seat  in  President 
Cleveland's  Cabinet,  but  named  Judge  Stallo  of 
Cincinnati  for  the  post  of  United  States  Minister 
at  the  court  of  King  Humbert  of  Italy,  \\hen 
the  eyes  of  the  lover  of  German  culture  have  sur- 
feited themselves  amid  the  superb  resources  of  the 
Germanic  collection  at  l^niversity  Heights  they 
sweep  at  a  glance  across  the  beautiful  Harlem 
valley  to  the  fine  site  of  the  Isabella  Heimath  —  apt 
reminders  of  noble  philanthropy  and  enlightened 
service  due  to  the  generosity  of  Oswald  Otten- 
dorfer.    He  died  December  15,  1900.      k.  c;.  s. 

STUART,    Mary  (Macrae),  1810-1891. 
Benefactress. 
Born  in   New  York  City,   1810;    wife  of    Robert    L. 
Stuart;  gave  large  sums  of  money,  fine  art  collection 
and  books  to  the  University;  died  1891. 

MARY  (MACRAE)  STUART  was  born 
in  New  York  City  in  18 10.  Her  father, 
Robert  Macrae,  was  one  of  the  wealthiest  merchants 
of  New  York  of  his  day.  She  married  about  1840 
Robert  L.  Stuart,  head  of  tlie  firm  of  noted  sugar 
refiners,  whose  product  was  noted  for  its  absolute 


UNIl  KRSiriES  AND    THEIR    SONS 


21  9 


purity.  The  couple  remained  childless.  In  1852 
Robert  and  his  brother  began  in  a  systematic  way 
the  work  of  bestowing  considerable  amounts  of 
money  on  charities.  From  1852  to  1879  the  part- 
ners and  brothers  gave  gifts  which  jointly  reached 
the  sum  of  Si. 39 1,000,  and  in  the  subsequent  three 
years  Robert  gave  more  than  half  a  million. 
Dying  in  1882  he  left  his  entire  estate,  about  six 
millions,  to  his  widow.  She  bequeathed  by  codicil 
the  sum  of  5 100.000  to  New  York  University,  a 
gift  of  tiiL'  most  eminent  timeliness,  made  on  tiic 
eve  of  the  movement  to  the  uptown  site  at  Univer- 
sity Heights.  To  the  Lenox  Library,  her  near 
neighbor,  she  gave  her  fine-art  collections,  valued 
at  half  a  million,  as  well  as  a  residuary  share  in 
her  estate  and  a  large  portion  of  her  library  witii 
the  provision  that  these  collections  should  never  be 
exhibited  on  Sundays.  To  mention  all  the  in- 
stitutions receiving  her  gifts  would  be  to  name  the 
most  important  and  beneficent  charities  of  the 
metropolis,  many  of  them  being  connected  with, 
and  directed  by,  the  Presbyterian  Church,  such  as 
the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  and  that  of  Home 
Missions,  the  Princeton  Theological  Seminary,  the 
Church  Extension,  the  Bible  Society  and  the  Ameri- 
can Tract  Society,  the  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association  of  New  York,  and  much  more  than  a 
score  of  others.  Almost  all  of  her  great  fortune 
was  thus  spent  for  spiritual  and  charitable  work. 

E.  G.  s. 


POST,    George    B.,    1837- 

A  Founder  of  University  Heights. 

Born  in  N.  Y.,  1837  ;  graduated  B.S..  N.  Y.  Univ., 
1858;  studied  architecture  with  Richard  M.  Hunt; 
Capt.  and  Col.  in  22nd  Regt.  N.  Y.  Nat.  Guard,  in 
Civil  War;  practicing  architecture  in  New  York  since 
1865,  and  designer  of  many  of  the  most  noteworthy 
modern  buildings  ;  a  founder  of  University  Heights. 

GKORGE  B.  POST  was  born  in  New  York 
in  1837,  the  son  of  Joel  B.  and  Abby  M. 
(Church)  Post.  Mr.  Post  was  educated  in  the 
Department  of  Arts  and  Sciences  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  the  City  of  New  York,  now  New  York 
University,  and  was  graduated  with  the  degree  of 
Bachelor  of  Science  in  the  Class  of  1868.  He 
then  began  the  study  of  architecture  under  that 
most  competent  instructor,  the  late  Richard  M. 
Hunt,  and  had  begun  practical  work  in  that  call- 
ing when  the  Civil  War  summoned  him  to  his 
country's    service.     He   went    both    in    1862   and 


1S63  to  the  front  as  a  Captain  in  the  Twenty- 
second  Regiment  of  the  New  York  National 
Cuard,  and  took  part  in  several  engagements, 
including  the  bloody  battle  of  Frederick.sburg, 
where  he  was  on  General  Burnside's  staff.  He 
was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  Colonel.  After  the 
war  he  continued  his  work  as  an  architect  in  New 
^'<)^k,  and  .soon  made  his  way  to  the  front  rank  of 
the  profession.  Many  of  the  best  known  and 
most  admired  of  the  buildings  erected  in  the  last 
tliird  of  a  century  are  to  be  credited  to  him. 
Among  these  may  be  mentioned  Chickering  Hall, 
the  Produce  Exchange,  the  Cotton  Exchange,  the 
New  York  Hospital,  and  the  Equitable,  Mills, 
Havemeyer,  St.  Paul  and  New  York  Times  build- 
ings, the  Cornelius  Vanderbilt  and  C.  P.  Hunting- 
ton dwellings,  the  Prudential  building  in  Newark, 
and  the  Manufactures  and  Liberal  Arts  Building, 
World's  Columbian  Exposition.  He  is  at  present 
engaged  upon  the  new  buildings  of  New  York  Stock 
Exchange  and  Department  of  Justice,  Washington, 
District  of  Columbia.  Mr.  Post  is  a  member  of 
the  Union,  Century,  and  other  clubs  of  New  York, 
and  of  the  Architectural  League  and  the  American 
Institute  of  Architects,  of  which  latter  two  he  has 
been  President.  Mr.  Post  has  been  decorated  a 
Chevalier  de  la  Le'gion  d'Honneur.  He  married 
Alice  M.,  daughter  of  William  W.  Stone,  in  1863, 
and  he  was  a  founder  of  University  Heights. 

w.    F,   J. 

REID,   John   Morrison,    1820-1896. 

A  Founder  of  University  Heights. 

Born  in  New  York  City,  1820;  graduated  College 
Dept.  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1839;  studied  in  Union  Theol. 
Sem.,  1839  42;  M.  E.  Pastor  in  various  churches  in 
Conn,  and  N.  Y. ;  Pres.  Genesee  College  mow  Syra- 
cuse Univ.),  1859-64;  a  founder  of  Univ.  Heights; 
secured  for  Syracuse  Univ.  the  Von  Ranke  Library; 
D.D.  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1858;  LL.D.  Syracuse  Univ.,  1881 ; 
author  and  editor;  died  1896. 

JOHN  MORRLSOX  REID.  D.D.,  LL.D., 
was  born  in  New  York  City,  May  30,  1820, 
son  of  John  and  Jane  (Morrison)  Reid.  He  gradu- 
ated in  Arts  at  New  York  University  in  the  Class 
of  1839,  receiving  the  Master's  degree  in  course. 
Aiter  graduation  he  was  for  a  time  Principal  of 
the  Mechanics'  Institute  School  of  New  York  City. 
In  1842,  after  two  years  of  study  in  the  L^nion 
Theological  Seminar)%  he  entered  the  ministr}-  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  continued  to 
preach  until  his  death  in   1896,  occupying  pulpits 


220 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


in  W'olcottsville,  Connecticut,  Middletown,  Con- 
necticut, Brooklyn,  New  York,  Bridgeport,  Connec- 
ticut, and  in  the  Seventh  Street  Church  in  New 
York  City.  From  1859  to  1864  he  was  President 
of  Genesee  College  in  Lima,  New  York,  now  Syra- 
cuse University.  Dr.  Reid  was  one  of  the 
contributors  to  the  founding  of  University  Heights, 
and  rendered  valuable  service  to  Syracuse  Uni- 
versity in  securing  for  that  institution  the  Library 
of  Professor  Leopold  von  Ranke,  the  German 
historian.  He  received  the  degree  of  Doctor  of 
Divinity  from  New  York  University  in  1858,  and  that 
of  Doctor  of  Laws  from  Syracuse  in  1881.  He  was 
Editor  of  The  Northwestern  Christian  Advocate,  a 
Chicago  publication,  from  1868  to  1872,  and  of 
The  Western  Christian  Advocate,'  of  Cincinnati, 
from  186410  1868.  He  also  occupied  the  office  of 
Secretary  of  the  Missionary  Society  of  the  Method- 
ist Episcopal  Church  from  1872  to  1888,  and  was 
then  made  Honorary  Secretary.  His  Missions 
and  Missionary  Societies  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church  (two  volumes)  was  published  in  New 
York  City  in  1880.  He  also  edited  Doomed 
Religions,  1884,  and  wrote  numerous  tracts  and 
short  articles.  Dr.  Reid  was  married,  May  3, 
1848,  to  Caroline  S.,  daughter  of  Thomas  B. 
Fanten.      He  died  May  16,  1896.  * 


a  member  of  the  Psi  Upsilon  Club  of  New  York, 
the  New  York  Athletic  Club,  the  Park  Club  of 
Plainfield,  New  Jersey,  and  the  Hillside  Tennis 
and  Golf  Club  of    Plainfield.     He    was    married, 


ROOME,   William   Journeay,    1857- 

A  Founder  of  University  Heights. 
Born  in  New  York  City,  1857;  attended  Univ.  Gram- 
mar School;  graduated  B.S.  N.  Y.  Univ.,  1878;  has 
been  engaged  in  real  estate  business  since  1878; 
Pres.  Excelsior  Savings  Bank  ;  a  founder  of  University 
Heights. 

WILLIAM  JOURNEAY  ROOME  was 
born  in  New  York  City,  June  20,  1857^ 
son  of  William  and  Mary  Adelaide  (Miller) 
Roome.  He  is  descended  from  Dutch  ancestors  — 
Peter  Willemse  Roome  and  Hester  Van  Gilder, 
who  were  married  in  New  York  in  1684.  Mr. 
Roome  was  prepared  for  C^oUege  at  the  University 
Grammar  School,  and  graduated  Bachelor  of  Sci- 
ence at  New  York  L^niversity  in  1878.  Since 
graduation  he  has  followed  a  commercial  life  in 
New  York  City,  conducting  a  succes.sful  business  in 
real  estate,  and  since  January  1900,  he  has  been  the 
President  of  the  Excelsior  Savings  Bank.  He  was 
one  of  the  founders  of  University  Heights,  contribu- 
ting to  the  fund  which  made  possible  the  removal  of 
New  York  University  to  that  site.     Mr.  Roome  is 


WII.LI.VM    J.    ROOME 

February  18,  1880,  to  Saidee  M.  Sandford  ;  their 
children  are:  William  J.,  Jr.,  Clarence  Sandford, 
Howard  LeChevalier  and  Reginald  Roome.       * 


SATTERLEE,  Francis  Le  Roy,  1840- 

A  Founder  of  University  Heights. 

Born  in  New  York  City,  1847;  attended  N.  Y.  private 
schools;  studied  in  Univ.  of  City  of  N.  Y.,  special 
course;  graduated  Univ.  of  City  of  N.  Y.  Ph.B.,  1865; 
Ph.D.,  1867;  Med.  Coll.,  M.D.,  1868;  assistant  to  John 
W.  Draper ;  Surg.  84th  Regt.  N.  Y.  Nat.  Guard,  with 
rank  of  Major ;  sixteen  years  medical  officer  N.  Y. 
Police  Dept.  ;  first  Prof.  Chemistry  Amer.  Vet.  Coll. ; 
since  1869  Prof.  Chemistry,  Materia  Medica  and  Ther- 
apeutics N.  Y.  Coll.  of  Dentistry;  Attending  Phys.  St. 
Elizabeth's  Hosp. ;  author  of  various  works ;  a  founder 
of  University  Heights. 

FRANCIS  Le  ROY  SATTERLEE,  Ph.D., 
M.D.,  was  born  in  New  York  City  on  July 
15,  1847,  the  son  of  George  Crary  and  Mary  Le 
Roy  (Livingston)  Satterlee.  On  the  paternal  side 
he  is  descended  from  Benedict  Satterlee,  who 
came  from   England  and  settled  at  New  London, 


UNIVERSITIES  JND    THEIR   SONS 


221 


Connecticut,  before  1682,  and  from  Lieutenant 
Henedict  Satterlee,  an  officer  in  the  French  and 
Indian  War.  His  father  was  a  leading  New  York 
merchant,  and  one  of  the  founders  and  President 
of  the  Washington  l'"ire  Insurance  Company.  On 
the  maternal  side  he  is  descended  from  the  famous 
Li\ingston  family,  which  included  Robert  and 
Philip  Livingston,  signers  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence.  He  studied  in  the  private  schools 
of  New  York,  and  then  entered  the  University  of 
the  City  of  New  York,  now  New  York  Universit}-. 
There  he  pursued  special  courses,  concluding  with 
a    course    in    the    Medical     Department,    and    he 


F.    Le    ROY    S.MTKRLEE 

received  from  the  University  the  degrees  of 
Bachelor  of  Philosophy  in  1865,  Doctor  of  Phi- 
losophy in  1867,  and  Doctor  of  Medicine  in  1868. 
He  also  served  in  Eellevue  Hospital,  and  received 
the  Mott  Medal  for  proficiency  in  Surgery.  Next 
he  went  abroad  and  studied  in  the  medical  schools 
of  England  and  France,  under  such  men  as  Sir 
Joseph  Lister,  Sir  James  Y.  Simpson,  Professor 
John  H.  Bennett  and  Sir  Erastus  Wilson.  Upon 
his  return  to  New  York  he  engaged  in  general 
medical  practice,  at  the  same  time  pursuing  addi- 
tional studies  in  the  University,  in  Therapeutics 
and  Chemistry  and  serving  as  an  assistant  of 
Dr.   John   W.   Draper.      He  was  also  Surgeon  of 


the  Eighty-fourth  Regiment  of  tiie  New  York 
National  (luard,  with  the  rank  of  Major.  At  tiie 
same  time  he  was  Attending  Physician  to  two 
dispensaries,  and  Medical  Director  of  two  life 
insurance  companies.  For  sixteen  years  he  was 
connected  with  the  New  York  Police  Department 
as  medical  officer,  and  was  for  some  years  retained 
by  the  Corporation  Coun.sel  as  a  medico-legal 
expert  adviser.  He  was  the  first  Professor  of 
Cliemistry  in  the  American  Veterinary  College, 
now  merged  into  New  York  University.  Since 
1S69  he  has  been  Professor  of  Physics,  Chemistry 
and  Metallurgy  in  the  New  York  College  of  Den- 
tistry. He  is  also  Attending  Physician  of  St. 
Elizabeth's  Hospital,  and  Consulting  Physician  of 
the  Midnight  Mission  ;  a  Trustee  and  Treasurer 
(if  the  New  York  College  of  Dentistry,  and  a 
Trustee  of  the  West  Side  Savings  Bank ;  a  fellow 
of  the  New  York  Academy  of  Medicine  and  of  the 
Academy  of  Sciences,  a  member  of  the  Medico- 
Legal  Society,  the  Medical  Society  of  the  County 
of  New  York,  the  New  York  Neurological  Society, 
the  American  Medical  Association,  the  New  York 
Historical  Society,  the  American  Institute  of 
Civics,  the  American  Geographical  Society,  the 
New  York  Genealogical  and  Biographical  Society, 
the  Society  of  the  Sons  of  the  Revolution  and 
the  Society  of  Colonial  Wars,  and  an  honorary 
member  of  the  Society  of  Arts,  of  London.  In 
1897  Dr.  Satterlee  was  President  of  the  Zeta  Psi 
Fraternity  of  North  America,  and  presided  at  the 
Semi-Centennial  Convention  held  in  New  York 
City.  He  has  written  a  number  of  works,  of 
which  A  Treatise  on  (iout  and  Rheumatism  and 
The  Treatment  of  Erysipelas  ha\e  attracted  wide 
attention.  Dr.  Satterlee  took  much  interest  in  the 
"  up-town  movement  "  of  his  Alma  Mater,  and  was 
one  of  the  founders  of  University  Heights. 

w.    F.   J. 


SCHWAB,   Hermann   Caspar,  1853-1898. 

A  Founder  of  University  Heights. 

Born  in  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  1853  ;  educated  in  Ger- 
many;  entered  business  in  Bremen,  Germany;  re- 
turned to  New  York  City,  1873;  became  partner  of 
firm  Oelrichs  &  Co. ;  a  founder  of  University 
Heights;  died  1898. 

HER>L\NN  CASPAR  SCHWAB,  the  second 
son  of  Gustav  Schwab,  was  born  in  Brook- 
Ivn,  January  5,  1853.  In  1864  he  was  sent  to  Stutt- 
gart, German)-,  where  he   attended    school   under 


222 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


the  supervision  of  Professor  Schwab,  his  father's 
brother.  Five  years  later,  at  the  age  of  sixteen, 
having  in  the  meantime  determined  to  become  a 
merchant,  he  commenced  his  mercantile  training 
in  an  office  in  Bremen  where  he  spent  four  years. 
Then  returning  to  New  York,  he  continued  this 
education  for  five  years  more  as  a  clerk  in  the 
office  of  Oelrichs  &  Company.  In  this  house,  then 
conducted  by  his  uncle  and  father  as  successors 
to  the  business  established  in  1798  by  his  great- 
grandfather, Caspar  Meier,  he  was  admitted  as 
partner  January  i,  1878,  and  afterward  took  a 
leading  part  until  his  death  on  March  6,  i8g8. 
He  was  for  many  years  a  resident  of  Morris 
Heights,  where  after  his  marriage  he  built  a  house 
near  that  of  his  father.  e.  g.  s. 


SHEPARD,    Elliott   Fitch,    1823-1893. 

Benefactor. —A  Founder  of  University  Heights. 

Born  in  Jamestown,  N.  Y.,  1833;  educated  in  N.  Y. 
Univ.;  admitted  to  Bar,  1858;  practicing  lawyer  in 
New  York  City  for  many  years;  active  in  organizing 
troops  during  Civil  War;  founded  N.  Y.  State  Bar 
Assn.,  1876 ;  became  proprietor  of  the  Mail  and  Express, 
1888;  a  founder  of  University  Heights;  died  1893. 

ELLIOTT  FITCH  SHKP.\RD  was  born  July 
25,  1833,  in  Jamestown,  C'hautauqua  county, 
New  York,  of  New  Fngland  ancestry,  the  founder 
of  the  American  branch  having  been  Thomas 
Shepard  of  Maiden,  Massachusetts.  Mr.  Shepard's 
mother  was  Irene  (Fitch)  Shepard,  a  direct  de- 
scendant of  the  founders  of  Fitchburg,  Massachu- 
setts, one  of  whose  ancestors  was  William  Bradford, 
second  Governor  of  Plymouth  Colony.  During  the 
Civil  War  period,  Elliott  F.  Shepard  was  active  in 
the  labor  of  enrolling  recruits,  being  an  aide-de-camp 
on  the  staff  of  Governor  E.  D.  Morgan,  forty-seven 
thousand  men  being  enrolled  under  his  direction 
at  Flmira.  The  Fifty-first  New  York  was  named 
the  Shepard  RiMes  in  his  honor.  At  the  close  of 
the  War  he  resumed  the  practice  of  the  law,  forming 
a  partnership  with  ex-Judge  Theron  G.  Strong  of 
the  Supreme  Court.  He  was  the  founder  of  the 
New  York  State  Bar  Association,  and  afterwards 
its  President.  In  later  years  he  was  widely  known 
as  proprietor  and  editor  of  The  Mail  and  Expres*. 
Colonel  Shepard  in  1868  married  Margaret  Louisa, 
the  eldest  daughter  of  William  H.  and  Mary  Louisa 
Vanderbilt.  Their  children  were  :  Florence,  who 
died  in  infancy  ;   Maria  Louisa,  the  wife  of  William 


Jay  Schieffelin  ;  Edith,  Alice  Vanderbilt,  Elliott 
Fitch  and  Marguerite  Shepard.  On  March  24, 
1893,  Colonel  Shepard  died  at  his  residence,  2  \Vest 
Fifty-second  Street,  New  York  City.  The  funeral 
took  place  on  Tuesday,  March  28th,  at  the  Fifth 
Avenue  Presbyterian  Church,  the  services  being 
conducted  by  the  Rev.  John  Hall,  D.D.,  Colonel 
Shepard  having  been  a  communicant  in  that  church. 
The  pall-bearers  were  the  Hon.  Chauncey  M. 
Depew,  John  Sloan,  James  McDonaugh,  John  A. 
Sleicher,  Logan  C.  Murray,  John  J.  McCook,  John 
S.  Kennedy,  Warner  Van  Norden,  the  Hon.  \^'arner 
Miller  and  the  Hon.  Noah  Davis.     The  interment 


KI.LIO'IT    ¥.    SHEPARD 

was  in  the  Moravian  Cemetery,  New  Dorp.  Staten 
Island.  Mr.  Shepard  had  civic  and  religious  con- 
victions of  lofty  and  pure  character,  and  whether 
on  the  forum  or  with  his  editorial  pen,  he  was 
persistent  in  the  pursuit  of  these  lofty  aims.  Mr. 
Shepard,  while  he  had  the  enjoyment  of  great 
wealth,  was  far  from  yielding  to  any  temptation  to 
give  himself  up  to  ease  and  material  enjoyment. 
His  salient  characteristic  was  his  earnestness  in 
everything  he  undertook,  nor  did  he  speak  aught 
but  conviction  in  his  assaults  on  what  he  deemed 
wrong,  false  or  vicious.  There  was  no  tinge  of 
duplicity  in  his  nature.  His  home  life  was  beau- 
tiful.    He  was  a  generous  and  faithful  friend  of 


UNiyERSIT/KS   AND    THEIR    SONS 


223 


New  York  University  when  that  institution  was 
far  less  favored  by  such  friends  tlian  has  come  to 
be  the  case  since,  and  will  lon<^  be  remembered  as 
one  of  the  founders  of  I'liiversity  Heights. 

E.  n.  .s. 

TALCOTT,  James,   1835- 

Bcnefactor. 

Born  in  \A^est  Hartford,  Conn.,  1835;  attended 
Westfield  Academy  and  Williston  Seminary,  Mass.  ; 
engaged  in  business  in  New  York  City ;  active  in 
promoting  educational  interests. 

JAMES  TALCOTT  was  born  inWest  Hartford, 
Connecticut,  in  1835.  He  traces  his  de- 
scent from  the  Talcot  family  of  Warwickshire  and 
later  of  Colchester,  Ksse.x  county.  Kngland.     The 


JAMKS    T.M.COTT 

earliest  known  ancestor,  John  Talcot,  was  living 
in  England  previous  to  1558.  The  Harleian 
Manuscripts  in  tlie  British  Museum  contain  the 
arms  and  the  family  motto.  Virtus  So/a  Av/'i7i/trs. 
Among  the  English  Talcots  were  representatives  in 
the  clerg)'  of  the  Church  of  England.  Others  were 
aldermen,  justices,  merchants,  etc.  The  founder 
of  the  American  branch  of  the  family,  John  Talcott, 
came  to  America  in  1632.  He  was  one  of  a  colony 
of  one  hundred  persons  that  founded  the  present 
City   of    Hartford,  Connecticut.     In  the   Colonial 


and  Revolutionary  periods,  the  Talcotts  took  an 
active  and  prominent  part  in  the  government,  in 
the  Indian  uprisings  and  in  the  war  with  the 
mother  country.  A  member  of  the  family  was 
Governor  of  Connecticut  from  172410  1741.  On 
the  female  side  Mr.  lalcott  is  descended  from  the 
Rev.  Thomas  Hooker,  the  lirst  settled  clergyman 
of  the  City  of  Hartford.  A  bas-relief  on  the 
present  Capitol  building  at  Hartford  represents  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Hooker  in  the  center  of  a  group  of  Colo- 
nists. We  have  no  space  to  trace  in  detail  the 
lives  of  these  high  minded  and  fearless  men  who 
left  their  native  shores  and  came  to  this  great 
land  to  find  freedom  for  worship  and  space  and 
opportunity  for  development.  They  have  given 
to  their  descendants  of  this  family  and  others 
those  traits  of  courage  and  devotion  to  religion 
and  education  which  has  led  to  the  building  of  the 
great  colleges  throughout  the  land.  Mr.  Talcott's 
early  education  was  all  that  could  be  obtained  in 
his  native  town  and  at  Westfield  Academy  and  Wil- 
liston Seminary  in  Massachusetts.  Two  brothers 
graduated  with  high  honors  from  Yale  College. 
The  early  death  of  his  father  made  it  necessary  that 
he  should  remain  at  iiome  as  head  of  the  fam- 
ily. Not  only  did  he  obtain  a  thorough  education 
in  his  native  place,  but  also  what  has  determined 
decisively  his  subsequent  career,  —  a  strong  and 
vigorous  physical  constitution,  which  has  enabled 
him  to  endure  the  strain  of  city  life.  We  can  hardly 
overestimate  the  value  of  the  New  England  home 
training  of  a  generation  back.  It  lacked  many  of 
the  advantages  of  the  present  day,  but  these  were 
compensated  for  by  the  development  of  a  strong 
body,  a  \igorous  and  healthy  mind  and  by  the 
fostering  of  the  highest  moral  standards.  Many  men 
who,  like  Mr.  Talcott,  were  reared  in  such  homes 
have  built  the  educational  institutions  of  to-day. 
Their  early  training  coupled  with  the  experiences 
of  mature  years  has  enabled  them  to  see  the  need 
of,  and  given  them  the  courage  to  build  and  endow 
institutions  for  the  higher  education  of  young  men 
and  women.  Mr.  Talcott  moved  to  New  ^'ork  Cit)' 
early  in  life.  As  a  New  England  man  it  was 
especially  fitting  that  he  should  represent  some  of 
the  largest  manufacturing  establishments  of  New 
England  by  the  sale  of  their  products.  He  started 
in  business  in  a  small  way.  as  many  other  men 
have  done,  and  by  dint  of  hard  work  and  devotion 
to  a  single  purpose  has  maintained  a  career  of 
continued  prosperity.     Mr.   Talcott    is  at    present 


224. 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR   SONS 


actively  identified  with  his  great  business,  which 
numbers  over  twenty-five  separate  departments 
or  stores  and  annexes  in  different  parts  of  New 
York  City,  each  with  its  distinct  and  complete 
organization,  but  accountable  to  the  parent  head. 
These  departments  represent  the  selling  agencies 
for  over  one  hundred  mills  manufacturing  textile 
fabrics  principally  of  American  manufacture.  The 
growth  of  New  England  and  of  the  country  at  large 
has  made  this  career  possible,  as  in  the  case  of  other 
successful  merchants,  but  it  was  also  only  possible 
as  the  result  of  an  early  training  and  the  personal 
qualities  of  the  man.  Mr.  Talcott  has  always 
been  deeply  interested  in  religious,  educational 
and  philanthropic  affairs.  Some  years  ago  he 
erected  a  handsome  library  building  in  his  native 
town.  He  was  one  of  the  founders  of  Barnard 
College  in  New  ^'ork  C'ity  and  has  been  interested 
in  the  development  of  Oberlin  College  in  Ohio,  of 
Mt.  Holyoke  College  in  Massachusetts,  and  of  the 
schools  in  Northfield,  Massachusetts,  and  else- 
where. To  the  work  for  young  men  and  women 
in  New  York  City,  as  represented  in  the  Colleges 
and  in  the  Young  Men's  and  \\'omen's  Christian 
Associations,  he  has  given  continuous  and  sub- 
stantial aid.  E.  G.  s. 


TIFFANY,    Charles   Lewis,    1812- 

A  Founder  of  University  Heights. 

Born  in  Danielsonville,  Conn.,  1812;  has  conducted 
a  large  jewelry  business  in  New  York  City  since  1837; 
a  founder  of  University   Heights. 

CHARLES  LEWIS  TIEFANY  was  born  in 
Danielsonville,  Connecticut,  February  15, 
1812,  son  of  Comfort  T.  and  Chloe (Draper) Tiffany. 
He  is  in  the  sixth  generation  from  Squire  Humphrey 
'I'iffany,  of  England,  iiis  ancestors  for  several  gen- 
erations having  been  residents  of  Massachusetts. 
Comfort  Tiffany  moved  to  Danielsonville  to  engage 
in  the  manufacture  of  cotton  goods,  and  the  son's 
first  business  training  was  in  his  father's  cotton 
mill  and  country  store.  In  1837  he  removed  to 
New  York  City  to  join  his  former  schoolmate,  John 
B.  Young,  and  in  September  of  that  year  the  firm 
of  Tiffany  &  A'oung  was  formed,  Comfort  Tiffany 
advancing  one  thousand  dollars  to  the  young  men. 
With  this  modest  capital,  and  in  the  midst  of  the 
worst  commercial  crises  this  country  has  experi- 
enced. Tiffany  &  Young  opened  their  fancy  goods 
and  stationery  store  in  the  lower  part  of  the  old- 
fashioned    dwelling-house    then    standing    at    259 


Broadway.  The  sales  for  the  first  three  days 
amounted  to  four  dollars  and  eighty-nine  cents. 
Gradually  the  business  increased,  and  in  1841  the 
adjoining  store  on  the  corner  of  Warren  Street  was 
rented.  Mr.  Tiffany  early  saw  the  artistic  and 
commercial  value  of  Chinese  and  Japanese  goods, 
and  was  the  first  dealer  to  introduce  them  and  give 
them  prominence  in  New  York  City.  In  addition 
the  firm  carried  a  stock  of  umbrellas,  walking-sticks, 
cabinets,  jars,  pottery  and  curios.  Gradually  the 
scope  of  the  business  widened,  and  Bohemian  glass, 
French  and  Dresden  porcelain,  cutler^',  clocks  and 
fancy  Parisian  jewelry  were  added  to  the  stock  in 


CHAKI.KS     I,.     TIFFANY 

the  order  named.  In  1847  the  expanding  needs 
of  the  business  required  its  removal  to  271  Broad- 
way. J.  L.  Ellis  was  then  admitted  to  partnership, 
and  the  firm  style  became  'I'iffany,  Young  & 
Ellis.  In  1848  the  firm  began  the  manufacture  of 
jewelry,  by  its  exquisite  designs  and  careful  work- 
manship at  once  attracting  attention  and  command- 
ing the  highest  class  of  custom  trade.  Diamond 
jewelry,  watches,  clocks,  silver-ware  and  bronzes 
now  became  the  leading  articles  of  .stock.  In  1848 
the  firm  purchased  a  large  consignment  of  diamonds 
in  Paris,  where  prices  had  depreciated  owing  to 
political  disturbances;  the  sale  of  these  stones  netted 
a  handsome  profit.     Again  in  1887,  at  the  sale  of 


UNIVERSITIES  -AND    'I'll EI R    SONS 


225 


the  crown   jewels  in   Paris,  the    house   of   Tiffany 
purchased  one-third  of  the  entire  quantity  at  a  cost 
of  five  hundred  thousand  dollars,  this  being  one  of 
the  largest  single  purchases  of  precious  gems  ever 
made.     In  1850  (Jideon  F.  T.  Reed  of  Boston  was 
admitted   to    partnership,   and    immediately    after- 
wards the  Paris  house  was  established  in  the   1-^ue 
Richelieu,    unck'r     the     name     Tiffany,    Reed     & 
Company,  the  new  member  of  the  firm  acting  as 
resident   partner.      Since    Mr.    Reed's    retirement 
this    branch    of    the    house    has    been    known    as 
Tiffany   iS:    Company,   and   is   now  located  in  the 
Avenue    de  I'Opera.     The  Paris  house  has  been  a 
great  aid  to  the  firm,  enabling  it  to  take  advantage 
of    fluctuations    in    price,  and    at    the   same    time 
building   up    a    distinguished  clientage    which  in- 
cludes  representatives    of   every  European    court. 
Mr.  Tiffany's  firm  was  the  first  in  this  country  to 
adopt  the  English  standard  of  fineness  in  produc- 
tions of  sterling  silver,  that  of  925-1000  fine.     The 
original  and  artistic  designs  in  silver  have  received 
distinguished   recognition   at  every  World's   Fair, 
having  been  awarded  the  Grand  Prix  at  the  Paris 
Expositions  of  1878  and   1891,  and  fifty-six  prizes 
at   the    Chicago    Exposition    in    1893.     The    firm 
completed  and  occupied  in  1897  a  new  factory  at 
Forest     Hill,     Newark,    New    Jersey,     which     is 
equipped  with  the  most    elaborate    improvements 
and  appliances  for  the  manufacture  of  silver-ware. 
In  all  departments  the  growth  of  the  business  has 
been  phenomenal,  the  same  artistic  excellence  and 
careful  workmanship  having  been  retained  which, 
for  more  than  a  generation,  have  made  the  firm  the 
foremost  jewellers  of  this  country.     Messrs.  Young 
and  Ellis  retired  from  the  company  in    1853,  new 
partners   were  admitted,  and    from    that   date  the 
firm  name  of  Tiffany  &:  Company  has  been  con- 
tinued.    In   1867   the  business  was  incorporated, 
Mr.   Tiffany  becoming  President   and    Treasurer, 
and  in  the  same  year  the  London  branch  of  the 
house  was  established.     The   present  building  in 
Union  Square  was  erected  and  occupied  in   1870. 
and  at  about  the  same   time   the  manufacture  of 
electro-plated  silver-ware    was  begun   in   Newark. 
Through  all  this   period   Charles   L.   Tiffany  has 
been  the  actual  head  of  the  firm  and  the  enormous 
success  of  the  business  has  been  chiefly  due  to  his 
force  of  character,  accurate  judgment  and  excel- 
lent taste.     His  financial  strength  and  sound  busi- 
ness judgment  have  brought  him  into  demand  as 
a  Director,    in  which    capacity  he   served    in  the 


Bank  of  the  Metropolis,  the  Pacific  Bank,  the 
American  Surety  Company,  and  the  State  Trust 
Company.  I  le  has  always  been  a  liberal  patron  of 
education,  art  and  science.  He  was  one  of  the 
most  liberal  subscribers  to  the  movement  U)  found 
University  Heights,  at  the  time  of  the  proposed 
removal  of  New  York  University.  He  also  has 
taken  an  active  interest  in  the  Metropolitan 
Museum  of  Art,  and  the  American  Museum  of 
Natural  History,  and  is  a  member  of  the  National 
Academy  of  Design,  the  New  York  Society  of 
Fine  Arts,  of  which  he  was  a  founder,  the 
American  Geographical  Society,  and  the  New  York 
Historical  Society.  At  the  Paris  Exposition  of  1878 
he  was  created  Chevalier  of  the  National  Legion  of 
Honor;  he  has  also  received  from  the  Czar  of 
Russia  the  Gold  Medal,  Praemia  Digno,  a  distinc- 
tion rarely  conferred  upon  a  foreigner.  Mr. 
Tiffany  married,  November  30,  1841,  Harriet  O.  A. 
^'oung,  who  died  November  16,  1897.  Pour 
children  are  living:  Annie  Olivia  (Mrs.  Alfred 
Mitchell),  Louis  C,  Louise  H.,  and  Burnett  Y. 
Tiffan)'.  * 

WHITE,    Stanford,   1853- 

Benefactor. 

Born  in  New  York  City,  1853;  educated  in  private 
schools  and  under  tutors  ;  studied  architecture  in  office 
of  H.  H.  Richardson,  New  York  City  and  abroad  ;  prac- 
ticing architect ;  a  founder  of  University  Heights. 

STANFORD  WHITE  was  born  in  New  York 
City,  November  9,  1853.  His  first  American 
ancestor,  John  White,  a  passenger'on  the  ship  Lion 
in  1632,  settled  in  Cambridge,  Massachusetts,  and 
the  following  year  became  a  freeman,  and  in 
1 634-1 635  was  a  Selectman  of  that  town.  He  was 
in  the  migration  from  Massachusetts  to  Connecticut 
in  1636,  and  became  one  of  the  original  proprietors 
of  Hartford.  Later  he  moved  to  Hadley,  Massa- 
chusetts, was  a  Representative  to  the  General  Court 
in  1664  and  1669,  and  died  in  1683.  Nathaniel 
White  1629-17  I  I.  his  son,  remained  in  Connecti- 
cut and  frequently  represented  Middletown  in  the 
General  Court.  The  great-grandfather  of  Mr. 
Stanford  White,  the  Rev.  Calvin  White,  was  born  in 
1763  and  died  in  1853.  He  was  an  Episcopal 
clergjman,  and  for  many  years  Rector  of  St.  James 
Parish,  Derby,  Connecticut.  In  his  latter  years  he 
became  a  convert  to  the  Roman  Catholic  faith,  but 
did  not  enter  its  Priesthood.  Richard  Mansfield 
White,  a   shipping    merchant   of    New  York,   was 


226 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR    SONS 


the  grandfather  of  Stanford  White.  The  latter's 
father  was  Richard  Grant  White,  one  of  the  most 
accomplished  men  of  letters  in  his  day.  He  was 
born  in  New  York  City,  May  22,  1821,  and  was  in- 
tended for  the  church,  but  after  graduating  from 
the  University  of  the  City  of  New  York,  studied 
medicine  and  law  and  in  1845  was  admitted  to  the 
Bar.  Literature  had,  however,  more  attractions  for 
him,  and  he  became  the  critic  on  art  of  The  New 
York  Courier  and  Inquirer  in  1845,  ^"^  assisted 
in  founding  The  New  York  World  in  i860.  For 
twenty  years,  1858  to  1878.  was  he  Chief  of  the 
United  States  Revenue  Marine  Bureau  for  the  I)is- 


Sr.\NFt)KI)     WHITK 

trict  of  New  York.  He  was  the  writer  of  the 
weekly  letters  to  The  London  Spectator  signed 
"  A  Yankee  "  during  the  Civil  War,  compiled  an 
anthology  on  the  poetry  of  the  war  and  published 
books  on  the  Knglish  language,  on  foreign  travel 
and  on  Shaksperean  study,  the  great  labor  of  his 
lifetime  being  an  annotated  edition  of  Shakspere's 
plays.  Stanford  White,  his  son,  was  educated  in 
private  schools  and  under  tutors,  taking  the  degree 
of  Master  of  Arts  at  the  University  of  New  York. 
His  architectural  training  was  in  the  office  of 
Charles  D.  Gambrill  and  H.  H.  Richardson,  and 
he  was  the  chief  assistant  of  Mr.  Richardson  in  the 
construction  of  that  artist's  masterly  work.  Trinity 


Church,  Boston.  From  1878  to  1880  he  passed 
his  time  in  Europe,  travelling  and  studying,  and 
when  he  returned  in  1881  formed  a  partnership 
with  Charles  V.  McKim  and  William  R.  Mead, 
under  the  firm  name  of  McKim,  Mead  &:  White. 
Mr.  White,  in  collaboration  with  his  partners,  has 
designed  many  of  the  important  buildings  of  the 
country  during  the  last  fifteen  years.  He  designed 
the  Villard  houses  on  Madison  Avenue  now  be- 
longing to  the  Hon.  \Miitelaw  Reid,  the  ISLadison 
Square  Garden,  the  Century  Club,  the  Metropoli- 
tan Club,  New  York  University,  the  University 
of  Virginia,  the  Washington  Arch,  the  house  of 
the  Hon.  William  C.  Whitney  of  New  York.  Cullum 
Hall,  West  Point,  the  Battle  Monument  of  West 
Point  and  the  Oelrichs  house  in  Newport.  He  has 
also  been  associated  with  Mr.  St.  Gaudens  in  many 
works,  the  most  important  of  which  are  the  ped- 
estals of  the  Farragut  Statue  in  New  York,  the 
Chapin  Statue  in  Springfield,  INLissachusetts,  the 
Lincoln  and  Logan  Statues  in  Chicago,  the  Adams 
Tomb  in  the  Cemetery  near  \^'ashington,  and  the 
Osborne  and  Goelet  mausoleums  in  ^^'oodla■^vn 
Cemetery  in  New  York  City.  The  interiors  of  the 
Whitney  house,  the  Metropolitan  Club,  the  Villard 
houses  and  the  Players'  Club  are  the  most  impor- 
tant of  his  interior  works.  He  also  designed  the 
chancel  of  the  Church  of  the  Ascension  and  the 
baldachino  of  the  Church  of  the  Paulist  Fathers. 
In  1884  Mr.  White  married  Bessie  Smith,  a  mem- 
ber of  a  family  descended  from  Colonel  Richard 
Smith,  the  original  patentee  of  Smithtown,  Long 
Island,  among  her  ancestors  being  General  Nathan- 
iel Woodhull,  who  was  slain  at  the  battle  of  I-ong 
Island.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  White  have  one  son,  Law- 
rence Grant  White.  Mr.  White  is  a  member  of  the 
Institute  of  Architects  and  of  the  leading  clubs, 
including  the  Metropolitan,  Union,  University, 
Grolier,  Players',  Century,  Meadowbrook  and  the 
Adirondack  League.  He  also  belongs  to  many 
prominent  artistic  and  literary  organizations.  His 
New  York  residence  is  in  Gramercy  Park,  and  his 
country  home  is  at  St.  James,  Long  Island.        * 


PIERSON,   Israel  Coriell,   1843- 

Member  of  Council  1890- ,  Secretary  1896- . 

Born  in  Westfield,  N.  J.,  1843;  preparatory  educa- 
tion in  Fort  Edward  Institute  ;  graduated  N.  Y.  Univ., 
1865;    A.M.  in  course;  Ph.D.,  i8go ;    engaged   in   life 


UNII^ERSITIES   AND    THEIR    SONS 


227 


insurance  business  since  1867;  Actuary  of  Washington 
Life  Ins.  Co.,  New  York  City,  since  1880;  member 
N.Y.  Univ.  Council  since  1890,  and  Secretary  since 
1896. 

ISRAKI-  CORIKLL  IMKRSON,  I'n.I)..  was 
born  in  Westlield,  New  Jersey,  August  22, 
1843,  son  of  William  Halsey  and  Elizabeth  Miller 
(Coriell)  Pierson,of  English  and  Huguenot  descent. 
At  the  Fort  Edward  Institute,  in  Eort  Edward, 
New  York,  he  was  prepared  for  College,  and 
entered  the  Academic  Department  of  New  York 
University  in  1861,  a  member  of  the  Class  of 
1865.  Several  honors  fell  to  his  lot:  the  Presi- 
dency of  the  Class  and  of  the  Eucleian  Literary 
Society  ;  election  to  the  learned  body  of  Phi  Beta 
Kappa,  and  to  the  Zeta  Psi  Fraternity,  and  an  ora- 
tion at  Commencement.  Following  graduation  Mr. 
Pierson  was  for  one  year  engaged  in  teaching  in 
the  Adelphi  Academy  of  Brooklyn,  and  in  1867, 
in  which  year  he  received  the  Master's  degree  in 
course  from  the  University,  he  entered  upon  the 
life  insurance  business.  His  first  experience  was 
obtained  in  association  with  the  Equitable  Life 
Assurance  Society  and  with  the  New  York  Life 
Insurance  Company,  and  later  he  joined  the 
Washington  Life  Insurance  Company  of  New  York 
City,  of  which  he  has  been  Actuary  since  1880. 
He  is  an  Associate  of  the  Institute  of  Actuaries 
of  London  ;  a  corresponding  member  of  the  "  In- 
stitut  des  Actuaires  Frangais  "  and  of  the  "  Asso- 
ciation des  Actuaires  Beiges ; "  and  in  America 
he  is  Second  Vice-President  of  the  Actuarial 
Society  of  America.  He  is  also  a  fellow  of  the 
New  York    Academy  of    Science,  and  a  member 


of  the  American  Mathematical  Society.  He  has 
twice  been  Secretary  of  International  Congresses 
of  Actuaries  —  at  Brus.sels  in  1895,  at  London  in 
1898,  and  at  Paris  in  1900.  The  first  of  Mr. 
I'ierson's  writings  on  insurance  was  published  in 
1889  by  the  Washington  Life  Insurance  Company  : 
Mortality  Experience.  This  was  followed  in  1890 
by  "  Life  Insurance  as  an  Applied  Science,"  which 
was  presented  as  a  successful  thesis  for  the  degree 
of  Doctor  of  Philosophy  conferred  by  the  Uni- 
versity in  that  year.  In  1891  appeared  Double 
Endowments,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Actuarial 
Society  of  America,  and  in  1893,  Life  Insurance 
in  the  United  States ;  this  treatise  was  printed 
in  the  1894  Jaarboekje-Levensverzekering  of  Am- 
sterdam. With  New  York  University  Mr.  Pierson 
has  kept  in  intimate  touch.  Since  1890  he  has 
been  a  member  of  the  University  Council,  serving 
as  Secretary  of  that  body  since  1896.  He  has  been 
President  of  the  Alumni  Association,  and  in  1894 
was  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  the  University 
Alumni  Biographical  Catalogue.  It  remains  to 
speak  of  his  efforts  in  behalf  of  the  Zeta  Psi 
Fraternity,  previously  mentioned.  Of  this  organi- 
zation he  has  been  and  is  now  a  Grand  officer  ; 
he  compiled,  in  association  with  Thomas  I.  Chat- 
field,  the  Semi-centennial  Song  Book  in  1897  ;  was 
Secretary  of  the  Committee  on  the  Zeta  Psi 
Directory  in  1893,  and  of  the  Committee  on  Pub- 
lication of  the  Biographical  Catalogue  of  the 
Fraternity  in  1899.  Mr.  Pierson  was  married 
November  i,  187 1,  to  Catherine  Hetfield  Edgar, 
and  has  two  children  :  Josephine  (Pierson) 
McKenzie  and  Mabel  Edgar  Pierson.  * 


GENERAL    INDEX,    PART    I. 


PAGE 

Publishers'  Preface i 

Introduction  —  Higher  Education    in    the  United 

States I 

Table  of  Educational   Benefactions,  187 1 -1896     .  4 

Table  of  Incomes  of  Universities  and  Colleges     .  5 

American  and  European  Standards  Compared      .  5 

Table  of  Students  in  American  Universities,  &c.  .  5 

The  Pre  eminence  of  the  College  Graduate      .     .  7 

Classification  of   15,000  Conspicuous  Americans  .  8 

Requirements  for  Admission  to  American  Colleges.  9 

Courses  of  Study  in  Early  Times 10 

Why  Latin  and  Greek  are  Studied 12 

Their    Peculiar    Function  in   Education    Further 

Explained 14 

P^lementary,  Secondary  and  Higher  Studies     .     .  19 

Universities  of  Learning 23 

Assyria  and  Egypt 25 

Greek  and  Saracen  Learning 26 

The  Medianal  Schools 27 

The  Universities 29 

Scholasticism 30 

Organization 31 

Tenure  and  Power 32 

South  America 23 

Canada 34 

United  States 34 

Present  Aspect -and  Tendency 38 

History  of  New  York  University 43 

Chapter  I  Magna  Voluisse  —  New  York  in 
1830  and  the  Academic  Conven- 
tion of  that  Year 45 

Appendix  to  Chapter  I 58 

II     Chancellor  Mathews  and  Washing- 
ton Square 60 

Appendix  to  Chapter  II      ...     .  75 
III     The  Eucleian  and  the  Philomathean 
—  Professor  Samuel  Finley  Breese 


VI 


VII 


Chapter  III  —  Contintted : 

Morse  and  the  Invention  of  the 
Electric  Telegraph  —  Some  Ear- 
lier Alumni  —  Ex-Attorney-Gen- 
eral B.  F.  Butler's  Plan  for  a  Law 

School 

IV  Chancellor  Frelinghuysen  and  the 
Earlier  History  of  the  University 
Medical  School 

Appendix  to  Chapter  IV    .     .     . 
V     The  Interim  of  1S50-1852  —  Chan 
cellor  Ferris  —  The  Law  School 

Appendix  to  Chapter  V       .     .     . 

Chancellor  Howard  Crosby  and  the 
Crisis  of  1881 

Appendix  to  Chapter  VI     .     .     .     . 

The  Second  Interim :  Chancellor 
John  Hall  — Vice-C  hancel  lor 
Henry  M.  MacCracken  .  .  .  . 
VIII  Chancellor  MacCracken  and  Uni- 
versity Heights  —  Perfecting  of 
the  University  System  —  The 
Ottendorf  Germanic  Library  — 
School  of  Accounts,  Commerce 
and  Finance  —  The  Sandham 
Prize 

The  Reorganization  of  the  Medical 
School  —  The  Veterinary  College, 

Appendix  to  Chapter  IX    ...     . 

Reorganization  of  the  Law  School 
—  Founding  of  the  Graduate 
School,  and  of  the  School  of  Peda- 
gogy —  Expansion  of  the  Course 
in  Engineering  into  the  School  of 

Applied  Science 

XI     The  Hall  of  Fame 

XII     Social  and  Athletic  Notes  of  Uni- 
versity Heights 

Appendix  to  Chapter  XII .... 


87 
103 

>o3 
140 

141 
166 


168 


IX 


X 


iSi 

214 

227 


232 
243 

254 
266 


229 


INDEX    OF    SUBJECTS,    PART    I. 


Academic  Convention  of   1830      .     .     45,  48,   52,  58,  59,  60 

Atlelphic   Monthly    Magazine 79 

Adelphic  Society 78,79 

Admission  of  Women 156,  175,  176 

Admonition 94,  95,  96 

Age  of  Students 87 

Almshouse,  The  Old Si.  58 

Alumni  Memorial 196 

Alumni,  Some  Karly        82-S4,  94-95 

American  C"olleges  in  1830 60 

American  Philological  Association 154,  198 

American  School  at  Athens 177 

Andrews,  Loring,  Gift  of '35-' 36 

Anthon,  George  C 105,  10S-109 

Association  Hall 243 

Auditorium 243 

Authors'  Corner 252 

liachelor  of  rhilosophy.  Degree  first  conferred      .     .        133 

Haseball 259,  262 

Bellevue  Hospital  Medical  College 218 

Berkeley  Oval 258 

Biological  Club ...  254 

Botta,  Ann  Lynch 120 

Botta,  Vincenzo 120 

Burning  of  the  Medical  College  Building  ....  134 
Butler,  B.  F.,  his  Plan  for  a  Law  Faculty  ....  S5-86 
Butler,  Charles,  elected  President  of  the  Council  .     .       103 

Calculus  Club 254 

Camera  Club 254 

<-"anipus 241,  243,  253 

Carnegie  Laboratoiy 223,  224 

Chancellor's  Residence 192 

Chancellor's  Salary 105 

Change  of  Name 207 

Chapel.  The 68,81,87,89,93 

Charles  Butler  Hall 18S,  209 

Chemical  Laboratory 1S6 

Chess  and  Checker  Club 254 

Chester  Field 255 

Cholera  of  1832 62,  76 

Churches  of  New  York  City  in  1830 45-47 

Civil  Engineer,  the  Degree  of,  fii«t  conferred  ...       130 


Civil  War,  The 130 

Classics 54'  57,  S"*^!  62-63 

Clinton  Hall 61,62 

Cocoa  Club 254 

Colonnade 243,  244 

Columbia,  Relations  with 50-S'>97 

Commencement 93,  94 

Cornerstone  of  Washington  Square  Building  laid      .    65-66 

Council,  The  First 52,  61 

Course  of  Instruction 71 

Crosby,  Howard,  inaugurated  Chancellor      ....        144 
Crosby,  Howard,  retired .        165 


Crosby,  Howard 111-113 


Delta  Phi 

Delta  Upsilon 

Doctor  of  Philosophy,  Degree  first  conferred    .     .     . 

Dormitories 

Draper,  Henry 133, 


-35 
255 
'35 
243 
'71 


Draper,  John  W 90,  168 


54 
45 


Elective  System 

Erie  Canal 

Eucleian  Society,  The  ....  67,  7S-80.  84,  85,  126,  1S8 
E.xecutive  Committees  of  the  Council  .  .  .  58-59,  106 
E.xaminations 93 

Ferris,  Lsaac,  inaugurated  Chancellor 114-115 

Ferris,  Isaac,  resigned 139 

Finances  of  the  University      .     61,  73,75-76,  101,  103,  105 

First  Enrollment  of  Students 76-78 

First  Photograph  of  the  Human  Face 140 

Football 257-260 

Founders'  Day 179 

Founders,  The  Nine 48,  49 

Free  Academy 101-102 


Frelinghuysen,  Theodore,  elected  Chancello- 
Frelinghuysen,  Theodore,  inauguration  of  . 
French  Colleges 


.         87 
.  89-90 

•  55-56 

Gallatin,  Albert,  elected  President  of  Council    ...         60 

Gallatin's  Educational  Ideas 57 

German  Universities 55 

Glee  Club .    20S,  254 

Gould  Hall 208.  262 


231 


2-22 


UNIVERSITIES  AND    THEIR   SONS 


PAGB 

Graduate  School,  The 23S-240 

Graduate  Study 56 

Grammar  School 103 

Gymnasium,  The  ....    94,  242,  243,  255,  256,  257,  261 

Hackettstown  Club 254 

Hall,  John,  inaugurated  Chancellor 171 

Hall  of  Fame 200,  243-253 

Hall  of  Philosophy 246 

Harpies 254 

Honorarium 55 

Incorporation  of  the  University 61 

Instruction,  The  Beginning  of 61 

Interim  Plan  of  Myndert  Van  Schaick      ....     107-108 

Items  from  the  Minutes,  1841-1844 94 

Item,  The      .     .     .     .     ■ 254 

Johnson,  Ebenezer  A 92 

Johnston,  John  Taylor 121,  176 

Jurists'  Corner 252 

La  Crosse 178 

LaGarde  Library  of  Oriental  Learning     .     .      194,  195,  239 
Language  Hall  .     186,  188,  190,  191,  194,  195,  202,  246,  252 

Law  Commencement 131-132 

Law  Faculty 85 

Law  Library 196 

Law  School  .     85-87,  121-123,  '3°'  '39'  '46-147.  '49.  '5'. 
'53.  156.  '57.  '59.  177.  179.  '8'.  '9'.  =07.  214.  232-237 

Legislative  Grants 74,  102 

Lewis,  Morgan       51,62 

Library 68,  243 

Literary  Societies 78-So 

Loomis,  Elias    ...  ■     .       129 

MacCracken,  Henry  M,  elected  Chancellor       ...       181 

Mali  Estate,  purchase  of 181 

Martin,  Benjamin 173 

Mason,  Cyrus 103-105 

Mathews,  James  M.,  elected  Chancellor 61-63 

Medical  College,      96-100,  109-111,  123,  130,  134,  138-139, 
150,  151-152,  154-156.  157.  159.  '62,  169,  195,  207 

214-224,  227-231 

.Meeting  to  establish  the  University 48 

Memorial  Library  .     .     .      190,  198,  202,  206,  209,  258,  262 

.^[orse,  Samuel  F.  B 80-82,115 

Morse's  Telegraph       81-82 

Mott,  Valentine 97>  '33 

Mulligan,  Rev.  John 64,  72 

Museum  of  the  Hall  of  Fame 198,  244 

National  Academy  of  Design 80-S1 

New  York  City  in  1830 45-4S 

New  York  Historical  Society 49 

New  York  University  Germanic  Library 206 

New  York  University  Medical  Society 222 

New  York-American  Veterinary  College       .     .     .   224-227 

Officers  of  the  University,  First 60-61 

Ohio  Field,     182,  188,  243,  256,  258,  259,  260,  261,  262-263 


Pamphlet  Concerning  Establishment 49-50 

Phi  Gamma  Delta 255 

Philomathean 67,  84-85,  177 

Politics  of  the  University  in  1844 95 

Population  of  Cities  in  1830 45 

Preparatory  Schools       263-264 

Prince  of  Wales,  The  Visit  of 127-129 

Proceedings  of  Convention  of  1830 53 

Professors,  Early        63-65,  70,  72,  75,  90-93 

Proudfit,  John 75 

Psi  Upsilon 177-178,  255 

Quarterly,  The 169,172,174,175,176 

Railroads,  The  First 45 

Removal  of  Undergraduate  Faculty 72-73 

Sandham  Prize 214 

School  of  Accounts,  Commerce  and  Finance       .     .  211-214 

School  of  Applied  Science 242-243 

School  of  Chemistry 131 

School  of  Engineering 207,208,210,214,242 

School  of  Pedagogy      ....   191,  196,  206,  232,  240,  242 

Secret  Societies        94 

Septimi 252 

Shareholders 52,  59-60,  61 

Soldiers'  Quarters         252 

Statesmen's  Corner 252 

Stonecutters'  Riot 66 

Students,  The  First 76-78 

Summer  School       208-210 

Suspension  Considered,  105,  156,  157-159,  160-162,  163-165 

Talmadge,  James 70,  loi 

Tappan,  Henry  P 63,  113 

Teachers'  Corner     ....  252 

Teaching  as  a  Profession 56 

Triangle,  The 254 

Turkish  Collection  of  Books 153 

Union  of  Bellevue  and  New  York  University  Medical 

Colleges        218-222 

University  Building, Washington  Square, 63, 64,  65-70,  79,  89 

University  Glee  Book       126-127 

University  Hall        .     256 

University  Heights,  Official  Opening  of 206 

Value  of  Money  in  1830        47 

Van  Schaick,  Myndert 134 

Vethake,  Henry       64 

Violet,  The 185,  204-205,  254,  256 

Wainwright,  Jonathan  M 48 

Washington  Gallery 244 

Woman's  Advisory  Committee      .     .     .     180,  210,  240-241 

Y.  M.  C.  A 1 88,  254 

Zeta  Phi 93 

Zeta  Psi 254,  255 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS,    PART    I. 


University  Seal 43 

Titlepage  I'amphlet  at  New  ^'ork  Historical  Society   .  49 

Facsimile  Titlepage  Proceedings  at  Convention       .  53 

Facsimile  Titlepage  of  Charter Oi 

Clinton  Hall 62 

First  University  Huilding,  Washington  Sciuare  ...  67 

Council  and  Faculty,  1836 69 

Course  of  Instruction,  1836 71 

First  Medical  Faculty,  1S41       99 

Stuyvesant  Institute — First  Medical  Huilding      .     .     .  110 

College  Faculty,  1859        125 

Commencement  Invitation,  1864 131 

Commencement  Announcements,  1864        132 

Commencement  Program,  Law  School,  1865.     .     .     .  133 

Old  New  York  Hospital 1 38 

Earliest  Sunlight  Picture  of  a  Human  Face   ....  140 

Bellevue  Hospital  in  1874 152 

University  Medical  College,  East  26th  Street       .     .     .  155 

Charles  Butler  Hall 185 

Hall  of  Chemistry 186 

Bird'seye  View  of  University  Heights  (as  proposed)    .  187 

Looking  South  from  University  Heights 188 

Looking  North  from  Hall  of  Fame 189 

University  Building,  Washington  Square 190 

Council  Room,  Washington  Square  Building       .     .     .  191 

Chancellor's  Residence 192 

Biological  Laboratories 193 

School  of  Science  Laboratories 194 

Laboratory  of  Tests,  School  of  Science 195 

Hall  of  Languages 196 

Memorial  Monument 197 

University  Library 199 

Auditorium,  University  Library 200 

Rotunda,  University  Library 201 

Fa9ade,  University  Library 203 

Dome  of  Rotunda,  Library 204 

Ante-Room  to  Chancellor's  Office 205 

Gould  Hall 208 

Music  Room,  Gould  Hall 209 

Entrance,  Washington  Square  Building 213 

Bellevue  Hospital,  1900 217 

Clinic,  Medical  College 219 

Lecture  Room,  Medical  College 221 


I'AfiR 

Carnegie  Laboratory,  Medical  College 223 

The  Veterinary  College 225 

Law  Faculty,  1900 234 

Class  Room,  School  of  Law' 235 

Law  Library,  School  of  Law 236 

Library,  School  of  Pedagogy 240 

Assembly  Room,  School  of  Pedagogy 241 

The  Hall  of  Fame        245 

Museum  of  Hall  of  Fame,  Central  Room 246 

Fountain  and  Tablet,  Hall  of  Fame 24S 

The  Colonnade,  Hall  of  Fame 250 

Vase  given  by  Miss  Gould 252 

Psi  Upsilon  House 255 

Looking  East  from  Library  towards  Gould  Hall      .     .  257 

Gymnasium  and  Association  Hall 258 

Gymnastic  Team,  1 899-1 900 259 

Football  Team,  '97        260 

Baseball  Team,  '97 261 

Track  Team,  '98 262 

Portraits  : 

Wainwright,  J.  M 48 

Lewis,  Morgan 51 

Gallatin,  Albert 57 

Mathews,  James  M 63 

Vethake,  Henry 64 

Tappan,  Henry  P 72 

Morse,  Samuel  F.  B 80 

Butler,  Benjamin  F 85 

Frelinghuysen,  Theodore 88 

Johnson,  Ebenezer  A 93 

Loomis,  Elias 95 

Butler,  Charles 104 

Van  Schaick,  Myndert 106 

Crosby,  Howard 112 

Ferris,  Isaac 114 

Botta,  Vincenzo  (bust) 120 

Botta,  Ann  Lynch 121 

Johnston,  John  Taylor 122 

Loomis,  Alfred  L 135 

Davies,  Henry  E 148 

Hall,  John 169 

Abbott,  Austin 233 


233 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SUBJECTS,    PART    II. 


PAr.n 

Abbott,  Austin ill 

Abbott,  Benjamin  V 56 

Adler,  George  J 48 

Alden,  ("arlos  C 130 

Allen,  Jerome 106 

Alexander,  George 88 

Andrews,  Loniig 71 

Andrews,  William  L 96 

Ashley,  Clarence  D 121 

Ayres,  Wintield 112 

Kaird,  Henry  M 58 

Ballard,  Addison 122 

Hangs,  Lemuel  Holton     ....  1 50 

Banks,  David 90 

Beck,  Lewis  C 28 

Bedford,  Gunning  S 42 

Bell,  Roscoe  R 138 

Benedict,  Charles  S 197 

Belts,  Samuel  R 5 

Biggs,  George  P 180 

Biggs,  Hermann  M 151 

Bliss,  Collins  P 152 

Bonner,  Robert 200 

Bostwick,  Charles  F 126 

Bosworth,  Francke  H 152 

Botta,  Ann  C.  (Lynch)    ....  57 

Botta,  Vincenzo 56 

Bouton,  Archibald  L 178 

Boynton,  Perry  S 187 

Brainerd,  Cephas,  J r 198 

Bristol,  Charles  L 125 

Brodhead,  George  L 187 

Brown,  Marshall  S 124 

Brown,  Samuel  A 188 

Brush,  Charles  B 80 

Bryant,  Joseph  D 148 

Buchner,  Edward  F 145 

Bulkley,  Edwin  M 199 

Bull,  Richard  H 54 

Bush,  George 22 

Butler,  Benjamin  F 28 

Butler,  Charles 30 

Butler,  William  A 62 

Cann,  Frank  IL      .     .          ...  186 
Carroll,  Charles      .     .                    •77 


rA<ii; 

Coakley,  Cornelius  G 153 

Coe,  Henry  C 139 

Colby,  Frank  M 143 

Collingwood,  ¥ 179 

Cone,  Spencer  H 18 

Cox,  .Samuel  H 16 

Crosby,  Howard     ....           •  ^'5 

Curtis,  Benjamin  F.    .     .          .     .  175 

Davies,  Charles 50 

Davies,  Henry  E 75 

Deems,  Charles  F 83 

Delafield,  Edward 15 

Delafield,  John  ...                     .  i  r 

Delafield,  Joseph 11 

Dench,  Edward  B 154 

DeWitt,  Thomas 40 

Dickson,  Samuel  H 49 

Disosway,  Gabriel  P 19 

Dodge,  William  E. 61 

Doremus,  R.  Ogden 201 

Douglass,  I^avid  B 26 

Draper,  Heniy 63 

Draper,  John  C 60 

Draper,  John  W 34 

Dunham,  Edward  K 135 

Duryea,  Samuel  B 203 

Edmondson,  Thomas  W.     .     .     .  148 

Ellinwood,  Frank  F 107 

Erdmann.  John  F 155 

Erwin,  Frank  A 122 

Ferris,  Albert  Warren     .     .     .     .  191 

Ferris,  Isaac 31 

Fisher,  Edward  D 140 

Flint,  Austin,  Jr 166 

Flint,  Charies  R 102 

Ford,  Willis  E 141 

Fordyce,  John  A 155 

Foresti,  Elentario  F 44 

Frelinghuysen,  Theodore     ...  41 

Gallatin,  .\lbert 3 

Gallaudet,  Thomas  H 22 

Garmany,  Jasper  J 168 

GiU,  Harry  D 168 

23s 


I'AliP 

Gillett,  Ezra  H 7.5 

Gillett,  William  K no 

Gould,  Jay 204 

(ireen,  John  (,' 45 

Griswold,  (ieorge,  3d 8 

(iross,  Samuel  I) 51 

Guurard,  Arthur  K 188 

Hackley,  Charles  W 27 

Hall,  Charies  C 195 

Hall,  John 82 

Hall,  Robert  W 109 

Hanbold,  Herman  A 184 

Haskin.s,  C.  W 177 

Havemeyer,  William  F 98 

Henry,  C'aleb  .S 39 

Hering,  D.  W 91 

Herter,  Christian  A 156 

Hewitt,  Abram  S 94 

Hoffman,  E.  A 195 

Inman,  John  H 212 

Ireland,  John  B 213 

Isaacs,  Abram  S 136 

Isaacs,  I.  S 214 

Jackson.  Samuel  Macauley.     .     .  129 

Jacques,  David  R 76 

Janeway,  Edward  G 137 

Janeway,  Theodore  C 185 

Jesup,  Morris  K 70 

Johnson,  Ebenezer  A ^2 

Johnson,  Willis  Fletcher      .     .     .  104 

Johnston,  John  T 49 

Judd,  Charies  H 157 

Kelly,  Robert 29 

Kent,  William 40 

Ladue,  Pomeroy 123 

LaGarde,  Louis  A 169 

LeFevre,  Egbert 158 

Lenox,  James 12 

Lewis,  Charles  H 182 

Lewis,  Morgan 4 

Lewis,  Tayler 57 

Liautard,  A.  F 170 


236 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    THEIR   SONS 


PAGE 

Loeb,  Morris 112 

Loomis,  Alfred  L loi 

Loomis,  Elias 47 

Lusk,  Graham 159 

Lusk,  William  C 171 

Maclay,  Archibald 17 

MacCracken,  Henry  M 99 

MacCracken,  John  H 192 

MacDonald,  Carlos  F 160 

Mandel,  John  A 161 

Martin,  Benjamin  N 52 

Mason,  George  C 171 

Mathews,  James  M 6 

McAlpin,  David  H 105 

McAlpin,  David  H.,  Jr 150 

Mcllvaine,  Charles  P 20 

McLouth,  Lawrence  A 127 

Miller,  George  A 143 

Milnor,  James 17 

Morgan,  J.  Pierpont 215 

Morrow,  P.  A 106 

Morse,  Samuel  F.  B 23 

Mott,  Valentine 13 

Munn,  John  P 102 

Munro,  CJeorge 97 

Korthrup,  W.  P 142 

Norton,  William  A 27 

Koyes,  Henry  D 162 

Opdyke,  William  S 88 

Osborn.  (Jeorge  W 172 

Ottendorfer,  Oswald 217 

Paine,  Martyn 44 


PAGE 

Park,  William  H 179 

Pattison,  Granville  S 43 

Pierson.  Israel  C 226 

Piffard,  Henry  G 134 

Pomeroy,  John  N 69 

Post,  Alfred  C 52 

Post,  George  B 219 

Prince,  J.  Dyneley 118 

Quackenbos,  Henry  F 194 

Reid.  John  M 219 

Richards,  Thomas  A 72 

Robinson,  Beverley 132 

Roome,  William  J 220 

Rounds,  Arthur  C 144 

Rounds,  Ralph  S 149 

Rusby,  Henry  H 172 

Russell,  Isaac  Franklin  ....  84 

Ryder,  J.  E 174 

Sabin,  A.  H 183 

Satterlee,  F.  LeRoy 220 

Say  re,  I-ewis  A 131 

Say  re,  Reginald  H 163 

Schell,  Augustus 87 

Schwab,  Hermann  C 221 

Scratchley,  Francis  A 190 

Shaw,  Edward  R 114 

Shepard,  Elliott  F 222 

Shipley,  James  H 186 

Sihler,  E.  G 116 

Skidmore,  Lemuel 89 

Sloan,  Samuel 93 

Smith,  Abram  A 164 

Smith,  William  W 197 


PAGE 

Snow,  Charles  H 115 

Sommer,  Frank  H 147 

Spring,  Gardiner 46 

Stevenson,  John  J 78 

Stewart,  George  D 165 

Stoddard,  Francis  Hovey    .     .     .  108 

Stowell,  William  L 185 

Stuart,  Mary  (Macrae)     ....  218 

Stubbert,  J.  Edward 183 

Swett,  John  A 55 

Syms,  Parker 166 

Talcott,  James 22^ 

Tappan,  Henry  P 24 

Taylor,  William  M 89 

Tiffany,  Charles  L 224 

Tompkins,  Leslie  J 133 

Torrey,  John 21 

Trimble,  William  B 189 

Vanderpoel,  Aaron  J 94 

Vanderpoel,  Samuel  0 95 

Van  Rensselaer,  Cortlandt  ...  ^^ 

Van  Schaick,  Henry 93 

Van  Schaick,  Myndert    ....  9 

Vaux,  Downing 180 

Vethake,  Henry 22 

Wainwright,  Jonathan  M.    .     .     .  19 

Ward,  Samuel 12 

Wegmann,  Edward 181 

Weir,  Samuel 128 

Wheelock,  William  A 80 

White,  Stanford 225 

Winter,  Henry  L 189 


^ryt. 


a< 


^<i>^1^ 


.^  /   ^ 


5\^" 


-C"' 


•rK^' 


■^>^  ^^^ 


-*m 


^"^^  ..:.>Vi^^* 


